Category Archives: Analysis

WSJ: “Killer Drones” On Ukraine’s Front Lines

The Wall Street Journal (October 14, 2024): “Darwin” is one of Ukraine’s deadliest drone pilots in its war against Russia.

Chapters: 0:00 A race to adapt 1:38 “Darwin” 2:48 Artillery strikes 4:01 Personal evolution 6:37 In the bunker 8:32 Drone strike 12:20 Just the beginning

But the 20-year-old must contend with his own personal evolution after hundreds of successful missions in a modern survival of the fittest.

#Russia #Ukraine #WSJ

WSJ: How ‘Project 2025’ Benefits Kamala Harris

The Wall Street Journal (October 3, 2024): Project 2025–a once obscure conservative policy book—has emerged as a defining element of the 2024 presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Chapters: 0:00 Project 2025 0:35 The campaign trail 5:10 Voters reactions

The former president has gone to great lengths to distance himself from the far-right policy playbook, while it has become a political lightning rod for the Democrats. WSJ takes an inside look at how the controversial agenda is transforming campaign strategies and voter decisions.

#Election #Project2025 #WSJ

Technology Quarterly: ‘Chipmaking & AI’ (Fall 2024)

Technology Quarterly: Silicon returns to Silicon Valley

The Economist (September 19, 2024): The latest issue of TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY is focused on:

Silicon returns to Silicon Valley

AI has returned chipmaking to the heart of computer technology, says Shailesh Chitnis

The semiconductor industry faces its biggest technical challenge yet

Node names do not reflect actual transistor sizes

How to build more powerful chips without frying the data centre

AI has propelled chip architecture towards a tighter bond with software

Researchers are looking beyond digital computing

The end of Moore’s law will not slow the pace of change

Generative AI: Speeding Up Amazon Package Delivery

CNBC (September 17, 2024): For decades, Amazon has set the standard for fast package delivery. When Prime launched in 2005, two-day shipping was virtually unheard of. By March 2024, 60% of Prime items were delivered same or next day. Now Amazon wants to push that number even higher, using generative AI, despite concerns about energy and cost.

Chapters: 2:14 Two-day to same-day 5:51 Robot revolution 9:18 Predicting orders 12:11 Routes and personalization

CNBC got an exclusive look at Amazon’s use of generative AI to optimize delivery routes, make more intelligent warehouse robots, and better predict where to stock new items.

How “Kamikaze Drones” From Iran Are Wreaking Havoc In Ukraine & Israel

The Wall Street Journal (August 28, 2024): Iran’s Shahed drones have disrupted Red Sea shipping, threatened U.S. troops in the Middle East and caused chaos in Ukraine. These precise one-way attack suicide drones mark a major shift in drone warfare.

Chapters: 0:00 Shahed drones 0:31 What they are and how they work 2:45 How they stack up to other drones 4:01 Who’s using these drones? 6:02 Defenses against these drones

WSJ looks at how Iran’s kamikaze drones work, how they are being used across the globe by militant groups and Russia and the defense mechanisms used against them.

Strategy Behind Ukraine’s Invasion Of Russia (WSJ)

The Wall Street Journal (August 22, 2024): Ukraine’s invasion of Russia was a gamble for Kyiv as they push deeper into the Kursk region. But as Moscow intensifies its offenses on the strategic Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, strategies on both sides are emerging.

Chapters: 0:00 Where the war stands 0:34 Ukraine tactics in Kursk 1:53 Russia’s response 2:53 What’s next?

If Pokrovsk falls, it will be the largest population center taken by the Russian military since Bakhmut in May 2023. WSJ explains the latest developments on how the Kursk invasions steps up the stakes for both Ukraine and Russia.

Politics: Foreign Affairs Magazine – Sep/Oct 2024

September/October 2024

Foreign Affairs (August 20, 2024): The latest issue features ‘America Adrift’ ….

The Perils of Isolationism

The World Still Needs America—and America Still Needs the World by Condoleezza Rice

America Isn’t Ready for the Wars of the Future

And They’re Already Here by Mark A. Milley and Eric Schmidt

What Was the Biden Doctrine?

Leadership Without HegemonyJessica T. Mathews

Education: “Schooling’s Stagnation” – July 13, 2024

Special reports: Must try harder

The Economist SPECIAL REPORTS (July 8, 2024): The latest special report features “Schooling’s Stagnation” – Must try harder…

Must try harder

Schools in rich countries are making poor progress. They need to get back to basics, argues Mark Johnson

Schools in rich countries are making poor progress

Hanging on to the best of them is getting harder

The rich world’s teachers are increasingly morose

Will artificial intelligence transform school?

Efforts to teach character bring promise and perils

England’s school reforms are earning fans abroad

Technology Report: “Spycraft” – July 6, 2024

Technology Quarterly: Watching the watchers

The Economist SPECIAL REPORTS (July 2, 2024): The ‘Watching The Watchers’ issue features Tools of the spy trade have changed and so has the world in which they are used, says Shashank Joshi

The tools of global spycraft have changed

Illustration of two magnifying glasses with eyes inside on a background of digital files and pointing cursors.
illustration: claire merchlinsky

And so has the world in which they are used, says Shashank Joshi

Afew years ago intelligence analysts observed that internet-connected cctv cameras in Taiwan and South Korea were inexplicably talking to vital parts of the Indian power grid. The strange connection turned out to be a deliberately circuitous route by which Chinese spies were communicating with malware they had previously buried deep inside crucial parts of the Indian grid (presumably to enable future sabotage). The analysts spotted it because they were scanning the internet to look for “command and control” (c2) nodes—such as cameras—that hackers use as stepping stones to their victims.

Ubiquitous technical surveillance has made spying more difficult

Signals intelligence has become a cyber-activity

Sometimes the old ways of espionage are the best

Artificial intelligence can speed-sort satellite photos

Private firms and open sources are giving spies a run for their money

Politics: Foreign Affairs Magazine – July/Aug 2024

July/August 2024

Foreign Affairs (June 25, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Does America Need a New Foreign Policy?…

A Foreign Policy for the World as It Is

Biden and the Search for a New American Strategy

“America is back.” In the early days of his presidency, Joe Biden repeated those words as a starting point for his foreign policy. The phrase offered a bumper-sticker slogan to pivot away from Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership. It also suggested that the United States could reclaim its self-conception as a virtuous hegemon, that it could make the rules-based international order great again. Yet even though a return to competent normalcy was in order, the Biden administration’s mindset of restoration has occasionally struggled against the currents of our disordered times. An updated conception of U.S. leadership—one tailored

The Return of Peace Through Strength

Making the Case for Trump’s Foreign Policy

Si vis pacem, para bellum is a Latin phrase that emerged in the fourth century that means “If you want peace, prepare for war.” The concept’s origin dates back even further, to the second-century Roman emperor Hadrian, to whom is attributed the axiom, “Peace through strength—or, failing that, peace through threat.”

America Is Losing the Arab World

And China Is Reaping the Benefits