Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Mar 7

DoD Minerva grant on space/cyberspace nexus canceled. What is worse is how they did it, for a minute there we thought it might survive but instead they were just going down the list slowly...

Drones Now Rule the Battlefield in the Ukraine-Russia War

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Mar 3

Incredible headline but the hubris to say this when EW jamming has forced a shift to fiber which now leads to new shifts (cutting drones, new optical sights, universal fiber platforms)
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Drones have changed the war in Ukraine, with soldiers adapting off-the-shelf models and swarming the front lines.

Hegseth Orders Pentagon to Stop Offensive Cyberoperations Against Russia

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Mar 3

We officially have a know-nothing team working cyber. There is no offense/defense in cyber and you don't let your guard down while trying to poke the enemy - even Jake Paul knows that...

Eric Geller @ericjgeller.com · Mar 3

I can confirm Politico's reporting on the Trump NSC's cyber team: Bulazel, Goldman, Work, and Brose, with a clear theme of embracing a more confrontational approach to cyber operations against adversaries. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Eric Geller @ericjgeller.com · Mar 3

I can confirm Politico's reporting on the Trump NSC's cyber team: Bulazel, Goldman, Work, and Brose, with a clear theme of embracing a more confrontational approach to cyber operations against adversaries. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

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Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Mar 3

Guess I should react but this is obviously grossly horrific. The thing that gets me is the idea we cut off offensive operations, offense/defense language is inadequate in cyber and most troubling is stopping basic monitoring of malware and ransomware.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/u...

The defense secretary’s instructions, which were given before President Trump’s blowup with the Ukrainian president, are apparently part of an effort to draw Russia into talks on the war.

Ciaran Martin: Nobody plays politics with cyber

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 26

As academics have been saying for nearly a decade, cyber is a poor tool for coercion (Borghard and Lonergan 2017, Valeriano et al 2018) and useless to hold territory. Bigger question is why policymakers were convinced by hype beats and snake oil salesmen.

Holyrood @holyroodmag.bsky.social · Feb 26

"You can’t conquer a country with cyber otherwise the Russians would have done it."

@ciaranm.bsky.social speaks to Sofia Villegas www.holyrood.com/news/view,ci... @holyroodconnect.bsky.social

Having been at the helm of the UK’s cyber defences, Ciaran Martin talks about navigating a world increasingly shaped by ...

www.holyrood.com

Ciaran Martin: Nobody plays politics with cyber

Holyrood @holyroodmag.bsky.social · Feb 26

"You can’t conquer a country with cyber otherwise the Russians would have done it."

@ciaranm.bsky.social speaks to Sofia Villegas www.holyrood.com/news/view,ci... @holyroodconnect.bsky.social

Having been at the helm of the UK’s cyber defences, Ciaran Martin talks about navigating a world increasingly shaped by ...

www.holyrood.com

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Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 23

Impressive to lose Canada, France (probably gone before this), and Germany in one month.

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · Feb 23

1. Background to the epochal change in German and European politics after the election. Merz, the presumed next Chancellor has said that Europe is setting out to "achieve its independence from the US, step by step." @abenewman.bsky.social and I explain the background in our book, Underground Empire

Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy

Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy [Farrell, Henry, Newman, Abraham] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy

www.amazon.com

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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · Feb 23

1. Background to the epochal change in German and European politics after the election. Merz, the presumed next Chancellor has said that Europe is setting out to "achieve its independence from the US, step by step." @abenewman.bsky.social and I explain the background in our book, Underground Empire

Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy

Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy [Farrell, Henry, Newman, Abraham] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy

www.amazon.com

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Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 20

Sure looks like my battle buddy and coauthor Ben Jensen

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 16

I think we need to go back to calling people imposters because the entire Executive branch thinks they can solve the country's problems by treating it like a startup.

#Reviewing Sid Meier’s! Lessons in Game Design: Civilization and Wargames

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 15

What game/situation provoked this? Missed Metternich in Civ 7

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 15

1) Sure, they have better bread and bikes
2) Sec Pete just did, the whole purpose was to counter Russia
3) Kursk? UA protections? Reparations?

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Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 15

Been stuck in #Civ7 and its nice to be reminded that I once wrote a very personal piece about wargaming and Civilization 6.
thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2....

Constructing open worlds and the freedom to develop innovative strategies that incubate strategic minds or threaten authoritarian societies are the unexplored frontiers. The lessons in game design tha...

thestrategybridge.org

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 15

The real problem is that many restrainers will go along with Trump's military cuts because they have always wanted to cut the DoD. But you have to do it in the right way, not through some magic of technology that isn't even winning the current war. Get in the real game

Opinion | Reimagining the American War Machine

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 15

This is a horrific, for one it provides no solutions offering instead do things faster. It adds, we can go lighter w drones buying into the hype of revolutionary technologies when on the battlefield they have gone wired within a period of about 3 months.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/o...

The biggest challenge for any peacetime military is preparing for the next war.

YouTube video by bbakkebb

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Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 12

The world is burning and I need to post more Kpop memes. Two meetings, a class to prep, and a Champions League game to watch
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nGX...

Coca Cola 🔋 MOMO

www.youtube.com

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 12

I reject the acronym DEI because it removes context and agency from the platform, eliminating the meaning of the program in favor of some anspectic term.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Feb 12

"[For the Right], D.E.I...is the mere presence of a woman or nonwhite person or disabled or transgender person in any high-skilled, high-status position. And their alternative isn’t some heretofore unknown standard of merit; it is the reintroduction of something like segregation."

(gift link)

Opinion | Trump’s War on D.E.I. Is Really a War on Civil Rights

The genius of the right-wing crusade against D.E.I. is that the term is amorphous enough that it can mean many different things to many different people.

President Trump’s Campaign of ‘Structural Deregulation’

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 12

Academics need to stop applying fancy words to what is outright chaos and destruction. This is not normal, its an outlier, and its malicious.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/pres...

The administration’s aggressive approach aims to compromise the capacity of the federal government to fulfill its core functions.

www.lawfaremedia.org

Russia behind plot to plant bombs on cargo planes, Western official says

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 12

You mean like when Russia loaded bombs on planes bound for the US and no one said anything because it was during the election and transition and now Russia gets to keep Ukrainian territory too?
www.nbcnews.com/news/world/r...

The case is the latest example of a wider Russian sabotage campaign to disrupt Western support for Ukraine, officials say.

www.nbcnews.com

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Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 12

And I am not a fan of the NFL but I sure watched a bunch of games this year because of *all this*

Trump to nominate Sean Cairncross as national cyber director

Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 12

Good news, the NCD lives! I thought it might be slowly eliminated along with other cuts. Bad news, our new national cyber director appears to have zero cyber security background so its open season for the sham/scams in cyber security policy - per usual.
www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Cairncross is a former top official at the RNC and previously led a federal foreign aid agency during the first Trump administration.

www.politico.com

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Brandon Valeriano, PhD @drbvaler.bsky.social · Feb 12

NBA and Football (soccer), US team is really good

Opinion | Trump’s War on D.E.I. Is Really a War on Civil Rights

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Feb 12

"[For the Right], D.E.I...is the mere presence of a woman or nonwhite person or disabled or transgender person in any high-skilled, high-status position. And their alternative isn’t some heretofore unknown standard of merit; it is the reintroduction of something like segregation."

(gift link)

The genius of the right-wing crusade against D.E.I. is that the term is amorphous enough that it can mean many different things to many different people.