war
Armed conflict and preparing for it: military spending, alliances, and what changes when machines are in the loop.
FilterEveryone, all time249 from 74 people
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Co-founder of Y Combinator and Viaweb
Their wordsBefore it became possible to get rich by creating wealth, the way to do it was to be on the winning side in a military or political dispute.
- 2 weeks earlier
- DH
David Heinemeier Hansson quoted
Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals
Their wordsWell-functioning societies need the capacity for formidable violence, such that they may keep the peace, but paired with the control to use that power sparingly.
- 10 days earlier
- MY
Matthew Yglesias quoted
Writes Slow Boring, a near-daily newsletter on American…
Our readingRepublican foreign policy is systematically bad due to inattention to the risks of hawkishness.
Their wordsBut having watched both the George W. Bush and second Trump presidencies unfold, I think it’s because Republicans have systematically bad foreign policy that is inattentive to the downside risk of saber-rattling and hawkishness.
↗The Republican urge to start wars in the Middle Eastslowboring.com
- BD
Brad DeLong quoted
Economics professor at the University of California
Our readingRepublican foreign policy is systematically bad due to inattention to the risks of hawkishness.
Their wordsBut… Republicans have systematically bad foreign policy that is inattentive to the downside risk of saber-rattling and hawkishness….
↗Real Price of Diesel: CHART OF THE DAYbraddelong.substack.com
- MY
Matthew Yglesias quoted
Their wordsI noted at the time that it seemed like a team that would lead the country into war with Iran and then hedged with the observation that presidents sometimes surprise us. So far so good! What I didn’t do in the piece was dwell on the idea at any length, which is too bad because I was right about the team of super-hawks and this seems to have kind of wrecked Trump’s presidency.
↗The Republican urge to start wars in the Middle Eastslowboring.com
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsThe war made round watches fashionable (because all military watches were round).
- 2 days earlier
- BC
Bryan Caplan quoted
Our readingWar cannot be morally justified unless there is high confidence its long-run effects are very good.
Their wordsActual war means killing a lot of innocent people - and that cannot be justified unless you have high confidence that the long-run effects are very good.
↗The Negligence of War and Peacebetonit.ai 2nd of 2 in this piece
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Trade economist, Nobel laureate in 2008 for his work…
Their wordsIt’s at least arguable that Ukraine’s air campaign, which has done much more damage to Russia’s refining than to its crude production, has therefore played a disproportionate role in driving up diesel prices.
- 3 days earlier
- BD
Brad DeLong quoted
Their wordsOsama bin Laden's one concrete strategic goal was to end the American military presence in the Gulf and on the Arabian Peninsula. A generation later, Donald Trump's war on Iran has apparently delivered it for him
- BD
Brad DeLong quoted
Their wordsIn a contest between a coherent weak actor and an incoherent strong one, bet on coherence.
↗CROSSPOST: SPENCER ACKERMAN: Fanute The Houthi Coupbraddelong.substack.com 1st of 3 in this piece
- NS
Noah Smith quoted
Economics writer; author of the Noahpinion newsletter
Their wordsThat was true of industrial technology in 1870-1970; people basically got used to the idea that railroads and factories and oil and industrialized warfare and such matters were central to the way the world was run and to the collective future of humanity. AI is going to be like that going forward, and we’re just going to have to get used to that.
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Their wordsGlobally, the most obvious reason nations have stopped fearing Trump is the debacle in Iran.
- 2 days earlier
- TC
Tyler Cowen quoted
Economist at George Mason University
Our readingChina declined U.S. nuclear-talk proposals in 2023 and broke off meaningful arms control talks.
Their wordsDuring the 2023 U.S.-China nuclear talks, America proposed missile-launch notifications, a nuclear crisis hotline, and processes to limit the use of outer space for military conflict. China declined all of those. Blame the U.S. if you wish (do we always keep our word?), but that is what happened. China also broke off meaningful arms control talks.
↗When discussing AI policy, start with Chinamarginalrevolution.com
- NR
Naval Ravikant quoted
Co-founder of AngelList
Their wordsThe future is more likely AIs fighting AIs (on behalf of humans) than AI fighting humanity.
- 1 day earlier
- BM
Bill McKibben quoted
Writer and climate campaigner
Their wordsone way to understand a data center is that it's a device for burning natural gas, the latest excuse (after Ukraine and Iran) for the fuel that Big Oil is counting on to keep its business model afloat even as the world turns away from internal combustion cars and crude demand begins to drop.
↗The Two Horsemen, Riding in Formationbillmckibben.substack.com 1st of 3 in this piece
- HF
Henry Farrell quoted
Professor of international affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS and co-author
Their wordsSo long as Canada is irrevocably plugged into the US economy, military and other arrangements, it's liable to get stuck with choices that run counter to its national interests.
↗Canada is cosying up to Europeprogrammablemutter.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
- 2 days earlier
- PK
Paul Krugman quoted
Their wordsThe point is that large-scale international trade, while it may sometimes serve the cause of peace, can also create the potential for conflict.
- 1 day earlier
- NS
Noah Smith quoted
Our readingThe War on Terror, including the fight against ISIS, was generally successful and necessary.
Their wordsthe War on Terror, including the fight against ISIS, was generally successful and necessary.
- NS
Noah Smith quoted
Their wordsWhat the United States needs, now more than ever, is general disengagement from the Middle East — an end to military adventures, a dialing back of support for Middle Eastern “allies” (including Israel), and a forceful rejection of Middle Eastern issues in American domestic politics.
- AR
Armin Ronacher quoted
Creator of Flask and Jinja
Their wordsA powerful technology that is out there for everyone to use comes with built-in pacing. In a way it’s the truest form of MAD or proliferation.
- 1 day earlier
- MY
Matthew Yglesias quoted
Their wordsIt's on some levels obvious that we are all very much living in a world that Osama bin Laden made.
↗We’re still underrating 9/11’s impactslowboring.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
- 3 days earlier
- PW
Peter Woit quoted
Mathematician and Senior Lecturer in the Mathematics…
Our readingIsrael's actions in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon amount to ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Their wordsthis is all about support for the ongoing Israeli campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide, which continues with daily slaughter of civilians and demolitions of their homes and communities in Gaza, the West Bank, and now southern Lebanon.
↗The Situation at Columbia XXXVIImath.columbia.edu 1st of 3 in this piece
- 2 days earlier
- PO
Phillips P. OBrien quoted
Professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St…
Their wordsOne point I have tried to get across in this Substack from the very beginning is that in a war, length is far more important than ferocity.
↗Weekend Update #201: It Will Be A Brutal Fall and Winterphillipspobrien.substack.com 1st of 3 in this piece
- PO
Phillips P. OBrien quoted
Their wordsTrying to artificially restrain escalation has led the war to be far more horrible and extensive than it needed to be.
↗Weekend Update #201: It Will Be A Brutal Fall and Winterphillipspobrien.substack.com 2nd of 3 in this piece
- PO
Phillips P. OBrien quoted
Their wordsThe US military is being run by a group that apes the Russians and not the Ukrainians—when we have in front of us one of the best statements of command principles I have ever seen from the latter.
↗Weekend Update #201: It Will Be A Brutal Fall and Winterphillipspobrien.substack.com 3rd of 3 in this piece
- 1 day earlier
- NS
Noah Smith quoted
Our readingAI-enabled cyberwarfare lacks an equivalent of nuclear deterrence's mutually assured destruction.
Their wordsAI hacking doesn’t have mutually assured destruction, like nuclear warfare does.
↗America is still beating China in the AI racenoahpinion.blog
- 2 days earlier
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordspeople are always saying that YC has jumped the shark. You know, and like I remember when people started saying this, which is in about like 2008, right? YC is always this thing that was great, but now it's not what it was, right? Cuz they can't say it was always terrible. They have to admit it was once great.
↗Paul Graham On Startups, Ambition, and Great Foundersyoutube.com 2nd of 16 in this recording
- PG
Paul Graham quoted
Their wordsif you if you divide the YC up into little bits where each startup is part of a pod of 70 startups, then it's just like they were back in 2012 when there were 70 startups.
↗Paul Graham On Startups, Ambition, and Great Foundersyoutube.com 15th of 16 in this recording
- 3 days earlier
- BM
Branko Milanovic quoted
Economist specialising in global income inequality
Their wordsThat reckless expansion is particularly dangerous because it lacks an end point.
- RA
Russ Allbery quoted
Long-time Debian developer and free-software maintainer (remctl
Their wordsAbsolute monarchy lets you enact a political agenda without having to do the hard and frustrating work of persuasion or political (or actual) warfare.
↗Review: The Hands of the Emperoreyrie.org 1st of 2 in this piece