Essays

Long-form writing from leading scholars and commentators on history, statecraft, warfare, philosophy and culture.

John von Neumann and the ENIAC computer, oil paints over a photograph. Credit: GRANGER - Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

How the information age really began

While the foundations of computing may have been laid by the likes of Babbage and Lovelace, it was John von Neumann's report on the EDVAC system which transformed abstract musings ..

Ananyo Bhattacharya August 25, 2022
A large iron meteorite found at Cape York, Greenland, by the American explorer Robert Edwin Peary, and taken for display purposes to the Museum of Natural History, New York.
essays

Meteorites: our fascination with the ultimate antique

They are more than just reminders of the universe’s origins. Meteorites have been a commodity for investors, a demonstration of the cultural capital of museums, and prized items fo..

Maria Golia August 24, 2022
Armed Forces of Ukraine. Credit: Bumble Dee / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

How Ukraine is winning in the adaptation battle against Russia

The axiom ‘adapt or die’ is never more true than in war. The Ukrainian army’s willingness to modify its approach has been integral to its survival. The ability of other nations to ..

Mick Ryan August 24, 2022
French air-scouts in the First World War. Credit: The Print Collector / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

Spies as agents of peace

Secret intelligence is ultimately a tool of statecraft. How leaders use this tool and how others respond, depends on whether their policy goals and strategic beliefs are geared tow..

Joshua Rovner August 19, 2022
Thousands of citizens and many public advocacy organisations gather to rally on Capitol Hill in protest, resulting from recent reports of domestic and international surveillance. Credit: B Christopher / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

Who’s seeing your data and why?

While many social media users shrug their shoulders at the thought of tech companies selling their data, the transmission is unlikely to stop there. With China's new data protectio..

Elisabeth Braw August 17, 2022
Sean Connery's James Bond in a scuffle with another of his nemesis' Goldfinger (played by Gert Frobe) in the 1965 film, Goldfinger. Credit: Collection Christophel / Alamy Stock Photo.
essays

Bond or Blofeld: war, espionage and secrecy in the twenty-first century

Intelligence services and their governments once sought to create a clear line between confidential information and common knowledge. Now, with the rise of brazen attacks and incre..

Richard Aldrich & Christopher Moran August 16, 2022
Voters
essays

Can democracy and genetic engineering co-exist?

New technologies are not neutral tools, and their wholesale adoption could threaten future human lives.

Richard Heinberg August 16, 2022
Russia Iran talks
essays

How Russia and Iran have united in antipathy towards the West

Iran and Russia's leaderships are bound by ties far deeper than geopolitical coincidences of interest: they share a state of mutual paranoia of the West.

Ali Ansari August 15, 2022
British military intelligence officers of the Second World War, 1943.
essays

The art and science of intelligence in war

Intelligence in war is as much a product of common sense as of technical brilliance. It must be understood and applied wisely to be of any use.

Hew Strachan August 15, 2022

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