Andy Scollick
banner
andyscollick.bsky.social
Andy Scollick
@andyscollick.bsky.social
Strategic foresight analyst: future security environment, defence policy, strategic planning, warfare development | Climate-energy-defence interactions | Former adviser to Ukraine's military | PhD in complex adaptive systems, sustainability and governance
Pinned
The best kind of insurance is fully comprehensive insurance.

The best kind of security is fully comprehensive security.

There is no security without:

🔹 Human (individual)
🔹 National (civil, military, defence)
🔹 Collective (international)
🔹 Energy
🔹 Climate and
🔹 Food security.
"With significant reserves of lithium, rare earth elements, and other valuable minerals like zinc and beryllium, Nigeria is positioned to become a key player in the global mineral supply chain." www.sfa-oxford.com/lithox/criti...
February 16, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Canada is looking to buy 300,000 new rifles and create a 400,000-strong supplementary reserve force of Canadian citizen soldiers. #ICYMI www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/...
Scott Taylor: The rush to rearm the Canadian Army
Replacing 40-year-old rifles should not cause consternation among even the most ardent peace advocates, says Scott Taylor.
www.saltwire.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Munich 2026 -a benchmark for Europe’s transformation

Some reflections.

The 2026 Munich Security Conference marked the moment when Europe stopped pretending that "things will somehow work out." ⤵️
President Zelenskyy:

Ukraine didn’t choose this war& it's wrong to assume that this is a permanent arrangement that others can stay safe behind Ukraine forever.Ukrainians are people,not terminators.
February 16, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Macroeconomic bill for RU's dependence on oil, gas, coal, grain, and metals exports under financial sanctions keeps rising. 2026 will likely be worst year regardless of whether individual or groups of commodities perform well, bringing in more $
@ruboyinthehood.bsky.social
ridl.io/burning-down...
Burning Down the House – Riddle Russia
Nick Trickett on Russia’s commodity dependence in 2026
ridl.io
February 16, 2026 at 4:27 PM
No laughing matter.
February 16, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Many Kyivans have special go-bags in case they have to run for bomb shelter and, crucially, SLEEP there (or at least stay warm and reasonably relaxed).👇
Planning a "night out" in Kyiv these days be like, since the temperatures are heavily freezing again, while terrorussia-that-wants-peace is preparing another massive missile strike as per monitoring channels.
February 16, 2026 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Today’s movement has been one of the largest USAF fighter deployments to the Middle East we have ever tracked.
www.itamilradar.com/2026/02/16/u...
USAF Deploys 18 F-35A from Lakenheath to the Middle East, Marking One of the Largest Recent Lightning II Movements
At 1400z on 16 February, eighteen F-35A Lightning II of the 495th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath departed for the Middle East, supported by a significant tanker package from RAF Mildenhall. The ai...
www.itamilradar.com
February 16, 2026 at 5:30 PM
If it's Lavrov NOW would be a good time to strike targets in Tehran. #justsaying
The Russian plane is now landing in Tehran.
February 16, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
"Charlie don't surf!"

R.I.P. Robert Duvall 🙌
Apocalypse Now | The Smell Of Napalm In The Morning | Starring Robert Duvall
YouTube video by StudiocanalUK
www.youtube.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
February 16, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Remember: Viktor Orban has built a corrupt, stagnant Hungary that is much poorer than it should be

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
America’s Future Is Hungary
MAGA conservatives love Viktor Orbán. But he’s left his country corrupt, stagnant, and impoverished.
www.theatlantic.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Robert Duvall was a vigorous and subtle actor who always performed with passion and conviction
Robert Duvall was a vigorous and subtle actor who always performed with passion and conviction
From his steely self-effacing consigliere in The Godfather to his surf-crazed Wagner enthusiast in Apocalypse Now, just to see him on screen made me smile
www.theguardian.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Good friend of mine, Myko One, took a Russian bullet in his shoulder when he sped into No Man's Land to rescue a cat near Shyrokyne in 2015. He saved the cat and had her taken home by volunteers to his wife and kids.

Myko was killed by Russian artillery while defending Kharkiv on 28 Feb 2022.
"What cat were you provided with in the Armed Forces of Ukraine?"

Ukrainian Defenders share photos with their cats on the front line

📷: hermano.dh_ /fanatic_oleg / sylenko_ju / dr_karpiuk /nemetz_82 /leonia_veremeyenko / markus_panda / shwainokaras /viktortrofymenko / stalnytskanata /edelweiss_ua/
February 16, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Europe’s path to security without the US ft.trib.al/41a4o6j | opinion
Europe’s path to security without the US
The heads of Nato and EU Commission offer competing visions. Both have a point
ft.trib.al
February 16, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Antarctica isn’t one big tipping point.

New research maps 18 separate ice basins, each with its own threshold. Some in West Antarctica may tip at just ~1–2C warming (i.e close to today’s levels).

Cross the line, and you commit to m’s of sea-level rise over centuries

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mapping tipping risks from Antarctic ice basins under global warming - Nature Climate Change
Climate change threatens the future of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Here the authors show that individual drainage basins have different thresholds and loss patterns, suggesting the need to consider the d...
www.nature.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Noem admits that the reason for placing armed and masked ICE agents at polling stations this November is to ensure only MAGA Repubs can vote.

They don't need to patrol every voting place. Blocking voters from a relatively small number of heavily democratic precincts can flip election outcomes.
February 16, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Yes we do need to 'go faster', and funnily enough Sir Keir, as Prime Minister you are the one person who can make it happen.

So maybe.... make it happen?
Keir Starmer says Britain needs to ‘go faster’ on defence spending
Prime minister is said to be examining how to bring forward plans to spend 3 per cent of UK GDP on military
www.ft.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:45 PM
RIP Lieutenant Colonel William "Bill" Kilgore, aka Robert Duvall
February 16, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
Aligning with the Single Market isn't enough - fully joining both the Single Market and Customs Union would reduce duplication, cut costs, and help UK businesses trade more easily and confidently across Europe. The longer we delay taking action, the longer businesses are going to suffer.
February 16, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Would like to see 'defence spending' upgraded, properly funded and reframed as 'spending on comprehensive security'.

You cannot have human (individual) security without national (civil, military, defence), collective (international), energy, food and climate security.

It's all one system.
Germany calls on France to increase defence spending
Foreign minister puts pressure on Emmanuel Macron amid doubts over US’s commitment to European defence
www.theguardian.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:38 PM
Death comes sweepin' through the hallway, Like a lady's dress
What’s the best song lyric in history?
February 16, 2026 at 6:32 PM
If you don't drop dead from heat stroke, you'll burn to death in a wildfire. If you don't burn to death, you'll die of thirst from drought. If you don't die of thirst, you'll starve to death from crop failure. If you don't starve to death, you'll drown in a flood.

Take your pick.
Weather tracker: New Zealand hit by storms and widespread floods
Low pressure system funnels rain over already saturated areas, compounding risk of further flooding
www.theguardian.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:28 PM
“Our research and modelling shows that, in the worst case, the increase in temperature will be 4.5 degrees by 2100, not 1.5 or 2 degrees … We’ll have a collapse of agriculture, drought will lead to the mass transfer of populations and we won’t be able to secure food,” said Prof Fadi Comair.
Cyprus appeals to residents to cut water use by two minutes a day amid drought
Island’s reservoirs hit record lows even before tourist season starts as Cypriots are warned ‘every drop counts’
www.theguardian.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:24 PM
You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools
What’s the best song lyric in history?
February 16, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Andy Scollick
lol "you could get whatever the dust is down there..."

stirring words from the commander in chief
Q: You said the Iranian nuclear sites have been 'totally obliterated.' What's left to go after?

TRUMP: You could get whatever the dust is down there. If we do it, that's really the least of we mission. But we'd probably grab whatever is left.
February 16, 2026 at 5:31 PM