Dead Carl
@deadcarl.bsky.social
www.deadcarl.com
Writer on Clausewitz, international relations, and German history. Words in American Purpose.
Kiran Pfitzner
Writer on Clausewitz, international relations, and German history. Words in American Purpose.
Kiran Pfitzner
Pinned
Dead Carl
@deadcarl.bsky.social
· Nov 14
The Myth of Military Logic
How "military necessity" became the key-stone of militarism
www.deadcarl.com
Since there's a lot of us migrating, I figured I should make a thread of some of the better things I've written as an introduction (and of course, self promotion:
That “On War” is in large part about learning how to learn, or rather develop judgment, when it comes to war is a major reason it has caused so much confusion. Clausewitz was trying to do something very different from other writers on war and so his text cannot be used the same way.
I've deployed a truly excessive number of Clausewitz quotations to address that terrible article on the war colleges.
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Clausewitz on the Very Bad Ideas to Reform the War Colleges
An Opportunity to Expose Errors and Discuss How One Can Gain Experience From Books
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:45 AM
That “On War” is in large part about learning how to learn, or rather develop judgment, when it comes to war is a major reason it has caused so much confusion. Clausewitz was trying to do something very different from other writers on war and so his text cannot be used the same way.
Reposted by Dead Carl
I am still not over how this "Publius" fellow lays out a very clear and straightforward expression of a desire to never grow up, to gain the powers of an adult without the responsibilities of one, but sublimated into the tactical and the strategic.
I've deployed a truly excessive number of Clausewitz quotations to address that terrible article on the war colleges.
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Clausewitz on the Very Bad Ideas to Reform the War Colleges
An Opportunity to Expose Errors and Discuss How One Can Gain Experience From Books
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:35 AM
I am still not over how this "Publius" fellow lays out a very clear and straightforward expression of a desire to never grow up, to gain the powers of an adult without the responsibilities of one, but sublimated into the tactical and the strategic.
Reposted by Dead Carl
I've deployed a truly excessive number of Clausewitz quotations to address that terrible article on the war colleges.
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Clausewitz on the Very Bad Ideas to Reform the War Colleges
An Opportunity to Expose Errors and Discuss How One Can Gain Experience From Books
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:22 AM
I've deployed a truly excessive number of Clausewitz quotations to address that terrible article on the war colleges.
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Reposted by Dead Carl
stop saying the bulwark is a bunch of unreconstructed neocons. it is not. and Charlie Brown did not have hoes, either.
George W. Bush Can Suck It
He didn’t throw shade at Trump; he whitewashed authoritarianism.
www.thebulwark.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:58 PM
stop saying the bulwark is a bunch of unreconstructed neocons. it is not. and Charlie Brown did not have hoes, either.
Reposted by Dead Carl
I've consistently maintained that the bar for meaningful participation in foreign policy discourse should be low, but I'd like to set it at least one notch above "critiquing an answer on Taiwan without knowing about 'strategic ambiguity'," a bar Barkan fails to clear nymag.com/intelligence...
AOC’s Munich Stumble Is a Warning to the Left
It’s time for progressives to get more sophisticated about national security and foreign policy.
nymag.com
February 18, 2026 at 1:42 AM
I've consistently maintained that the bar for meaningful participation in foreign policy discourse should be low, but I'd like to set it at least one notch above "critiquing an answer on Taiwan without knowing about 'strategic ambiguity'," a bar Barkan fails to clear nymag.com/intelligence...
Reposted by Dead Carl
I am no longer willing to credit people who are angry about this basic fact of the world as passionate anti-capitalists. What they are instead is ignorant, belligerent, entitled consumers. They are not opposed to the capitalist system they just don't like the competition in it.
February 17, 2026 at 10:20 PM
I am no longer willing to credit people who are angry about this basic fact of the world as passionate anti-capitalists. What they are instead is ignorant, belligerent, entitled consumers. They are not opposed to the capitalist system they just don't like the competition in it.
I think a key aspect of the internationalist defense of democracy is integrating center right parties to emphasize that this is genuinely about democracy and it’s not just a rhetorical device for partisan advantage.
February 18, 2026 at 12:12 AM
I think a key aspect of the internationalist defense of democracy is integrating center right parties to emphasize that this is genuinely about democracy and it’s not just a rhetorical device for partisan advantage.
Reposted by Dead Carl
As for the peasants, of course they aren't supposed to change their station. That's impossible anyways! They're just supposed to fulfill their role in the eternal cycle.
acoup.blog/2025/10/17/c...
acoup.blog/2025/10/17/c...
February 17, 2026 at 7:45 AM
As for the peasants, of course they aren't supposed to change their station. That's impossible anyways! They're just supposed to fulfill their role in the eternal cycle.
acoup.blog/2025/10/17/c...
acoup.blog/2025/10/17/c...
Reposted by Dead Carl
i don’t think dems will have the numbers they need to actually dismantle DHS or even just ICE after the midterms, *but* they can spend two years tearing into what’s likely to be a megaton of malfeasance and fraud at DHS and line it all up for a dem AG
corrupt, but also staggeringly incompetent and catastrophically understaffed when it comes to planning and administrative capacity
One of my firm beliefs about ICE's $79B budget is that the organization is so corrupt it'll grift and graft it's way through that pile of dough so fast it'll make heads spin.
February 17, 2026 at 8:05 PM
i don’t think dems will have the numbers they need to actually dismantle DHS or even just ICE after the midterms, *but* they can spend two years tearing into what’s likely to be a megaton of malfeasance and fraud at DHS and line it all up for a dem AG
I disagree with this in that there’s a vast difference between *keeping people poor* and *making people poor*. The former has a use for authoritarians in preventing social disruption, but the latter makes people angry, which is dangerously, especially for a regime not yet consolidated.
Today @zeblarson.bsky.social talks about "mudsill theory," the idea that you need to keep the masses down in order to keep the hierarchy strong. There are parallels to be drawn between 19th century slavery apologists, Salazar's Portugal, and Trump's America www.liberalcurrents.com/the-pain-is-...
The Pain Is the Plan
MAGA is actively seeking to immiserate the country in order to cement their power over the rest of us.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 17, 2026 at 8:04 PM
I disagree with this in that there’s a vast difference between *keeping people poor* and *making people poor*. The former has a use for authoritarians in preventing social disruption, but the latter makes people angry, which is dangerously, especially for a regime not yet consolidated.
It seems like this would be true just from two propositions:
1. Propaganda is effective (or information diet matters)
2. Outrage is favored my algorithms
If these are true, we’d expect a greater share of people to be spending their time angry and miserable than previously.
1. Propaganda is effective (or information diet matters)
2. Outrage is favored my algorithms
If these are true, we’d expect a greater share of people to be spending their time angry and miserable than previously.
it’s the phones. sorry. i know that’s frustrating. i know it feels like saying it’s all about climate change. it feels like saying it’s all about a massive collective action problem where even reformers are complicit in the behaviors they’re trying to annihilate or constrain. but it’s the phones.
February 17, 2026 at 6:04 PM
It seems like this would be true just from two propositions:
1. Propaganda is effective (or information diet matters)
2. Outrage is favored my algorithms
If these are true, we’d expect a greater share of people to be spending their time angry and miserable than previously.
1. Propaganda is effective (or information diet matters)
2. Outrage is favored my algorithms
If these are true, we’d expect a greater share of people to be spending their time angry and miserable than previously.
Reposted by Dead Carl
“The subordination of the political point of view to the military would be contrary to common sense, for policy has declared the war; it is the intelligent faculty, war only the instrument, and not the reverse.”
-Carl v Clausewitz
-Carl v Clausewitz
State department budget: $58 billion
DOD budget: $850 billion
DOD budget: $850 billion
February 16, 2026 at 6:36 PM
“The subordination of the political point of view to the military would be contrary to common sense, for policy has declared the war; it is the intelligent faculty, war only the instrument, and not the reverse.”
-Carl v Clausewitz
-Carl v Clausewitz
Reposted by Dead Carl
For aficionados of nuclear history and nuclear policy, I highly recommend @wellerstein.bsky.social's compelling account of Truman's decisions at the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. My reflections at the link. open.substack.com/pub/markwgoo...
Reflections on Truman’s Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age
One advantage of retirement is having more time to read books.
open.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 3:32 AM
For aficionados of nuclear history and nuclear policy, I highly recommend @wellerstein.bsky.social's compelling account of Truman's decisions at the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. My reflections at the link. open.substack.com/pub/markwgoo...
Reposted by Dead Carl
this is exactly why I am absolutely not willing to overlook anyone who was once “advocating for ending USAID” as merely committing a little oopsie-daisy-booboo, by the way
The Project 2025 author is using millions of dollars in USAID money for his own security detail.
It is estimated that 762,000 people have *already died* as a result of Elon Musk and Russell Vought’s obscene murder of USAID, including more than 500,000 children.
Vought is a mass murderer.
It is estimated that 762,000 people have *already died* as a result of Elon Musk and Russell Vought’s obscene murder of USAID, including more than 500,000 children.
Vought is a mass murderer.
Exclusive: White House uses USAID funds for budget director Vought's security, documents show
The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's budget chief and an archit...
www.reuters.com
February 17, 2026 at 1:50 AM
this is exactly why I am absolutely not willing to overlook anyone who was once “advocating for ending USAID” as merely committing a little oopsie-daisy-booboo, by the way
Reposted by Dead Carl
🧵: I'm uniquely qualified to frisk this. From 2010 to 2014 I was the Cultural Advisor to the Commandant & Professor of National Security & Strategy at US Army War College & the Deputy to the Director of the US Army Culture & Foreign Language Directorate. I'll explain what that meant at the end. 1/
The worst thing you will read today. I used to be a WaRrIoR until I had to wear a suit at the war college!
amgreatness.com/2026/02/16/m...
amgreatness.com/2026/02/16/m...
Making the War Colleges Great Again › American Greatness
As President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth work to restore the focus of America’s military on lethality and warfighting, one of their major tasks has been to reform the institutions…
amgreatness.com
February 16, 2026 at 8:52 PM
🧵: I'm uniquely qualified to frisk this. From 2010 to 2014 I was the Cultural Advisor to the Commandant & Professor of National Security & Strategy at US Army War College & the Deputy to the Director of the US Army Culture & Foreign Language Directorate. I'll explain what that meant at the end. 1/
Unless Republicans are looking incredibly vulnerable come 2027, I would expect Dem primary voters to be too cautious to favor AOC. Considering AOC’s youth and outsider status, if I were her I’d wait for a cycle where primary voters will be more amenable to risk taking.
from the perspective of someone who might want to be president, the best time to run for the white house is now, not later. so if AOC is thinking about it — if the white house is her ambition — then her best bet is to throw her hat in the ring
You Know What? Maybe the Time Is Right for an AOC Presidential Bid
She’s only 36, and there’s a good argument that she should run for Senate and bide her time. But she also could be a formidable White House candidate.
newrepublic.com
February 17, 2026 at 2:48 AM
Unless Republicans are looking incredibly vulnerable come 2027, I would expect Dem primary voters to be too cautious to favor AOC. Considering AOC’s youth and outsider status, if I were her I’d wait for a cycle where primary voters will be more amenable to risk taking.
Reposted by Dead Carl
Every “apolitical military professional” the moment they decide they don’t like policymakers telling them what to do:
February 16, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Every “apolitical military professional” the moment they decide they don’t like policymakers telling them what to do:
Reposted by Dead Carl
Man I don’t know, sometimes for me social media isn’t about trumpeting my own righteousness? Sometimes people do convince me of stuff? Sometimes discussing things with people helps me realize stuff and hone arguments?
February 16, 2026 at 11:46 PM
Man I don’t know, sometimes for me social media isn’t about trumpeting my own righteousness? Sometimes people do convince me of stuff? Sometimes discussing things with people helps me realize stuff and hone arguments?
Reposted by Dead Carl
Evidently, something was broken with the other link. So, here, I've written about the right-wing attacks on PME and civilian educational institutions.
othermeans.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
othermeans.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
The Myth of the Warfighter
The Soldier and the Educational Institutions
othermeans.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Evidently, something was broken with the other link. So, here, I've written about the right-wing attacks on PME and civilian educational institutions.
othermeans.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
othermeans.substack.com/p/the-myth-o...
Reposted by Dead Carl
I really do think this is very instructive of the ratfuckery that any Dem (not just AOC if she does run) is going to face unfortunately and I’m not really sure how you deal with it
Have you ever once seen the New York Times quote Trump like this?
February 16, 2026 at 8:04 PM
I really do think this is very instructive of the ratfuckery that any Dem (not just AOC if she does run) is going to face unfortunately and I’m not really sure how you deal with it
Reposted by Dead Carl
>we shouldn't have people thinking of politics when their job is warfighting
>proceeds to insert a political judgement about the efficacy of the use of violence to achieve a strategic end
curious
>proceeds to insert a political judgement about the efficacy of the use of violence to achieve a strategic end
curious
February 16, 2026 at 6:29 PM
>we shouldn't have people thinking of politics when their job is warfighting
>proceeds to insert a political judgement about the efficacy of the use of violence to achieve a strategic end
curious
>proceeds to insert a political judgement about the efficacy of the use of violence to achieve a strategic end
curious
The coalition had a peak of around 130,000 troops in Afghanistan, a country of 40 million people. It’s more than a little absurd to suggest that no amount of military force could have altered the outcome.
February 16, 2026 at 7:16 PM
The coalition had a peak of around 130,000 troops in Afghanistan, a country of 40 million people. It’s more than a little absurd to suggest that no amount of military force could have altered the outcome.