Frederik Pedersen
Frederik Pedersen
@fahpedersen.bsky.social
Army Officer. Previously @ Princeton. Latest publication: "Narrow windows of opportunity: the limited utility of cyber operations in war" (https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyae014)
Pinned
How much do offensive cyber ops really matter for conventional warfare?

Using data from Ukraine, we found that it's tough for cyber ops to significantly impact warfighting — as we published last year.

A year on, little has changed.

doi.org/10.1093/cybs...
Narrow windows of opportunity: the limited utility of cyber operations in war
Abstract. The use of offensive cyber operations in war is no longer theoretical conjecture. Still, as we witness their use, important questions remain. How
doi.org
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
If the government won't bail out my crypto losses, I'm going to become an even bigger libertarian.
February 6, 2026 at 2:04 AM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
EXCLUSIVE: EU wants defence data secured without US tech
EXCLUSIVE: EU wants defence data secured without US tech
The European Defence Artificial Intelligence Data Space would allow EU countries to share sensitive defence data
dlvr.it
February 2, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
I gave a campus talk last night on Trump's first 100 days for the WUD Society & Politics group. A student asked me if I thought that, at some point, we might start to describe the US as a competitive authoritarian regime. I said that we were already there, it's just that most folks haven't noticed:
February 26, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
cultural illiteracy is a deeply-rooted way of life for silicon valley's worst actors
January 30, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
If the U.S. pulled back from NATO, could Europe really defend itself? My latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com tackles that critical question from both history and capability www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
If the US Leaves NATO, Europe Can Protect Itself
As a former supreme allied commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, I never contemplated the idea of the US leaving the world’s most vital security alliance. But the crisis over Greenland’...
www.bloomberg.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
The official policy of the government of the United States of America is that they will murder anyone they want, that they will tell any lie necessary to justify that murder, and that no one who resists them has any rights they are bound to respect.
/1
January 24, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
Helmand, July 2009. Danish soldiers resting after 8 hours of breaching minefields and clearing houses. Seconds later, I had to wake them to move forward again.

To claim allies weren't on the front lines is a lie and an insult to those who served and lost.

We stepped up. That's what allies do.
January 24, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
Some Europeans will be reassured by this, and wind down the (cautious) assertiveness of recent days.

But it shows that displays of European resolve move Trump in ways that the misguided sycophancy of previous 12 months never did. It's a reason to press forward, not pull back.
Trump on NATO: "We never ask for anything, and we never got anything. We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be frankly unstoppable. But I won't do that. Okay?"
January 21, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
Can’t be emphasized enough that the US-led global order has been to US advantage.

Trump’s complaint is basically: You accepting that we’re No. 1, with international institutions and conventions tilted in our favor—because you benefit from it too—was really unfair to us, let’s make it worse for all.
January 21, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
This effort to curry favor by acting like an insult comic will be forgotten within the Trump administration in a day, but will make headlines and be remembered for decades in the countries being insulted.
January 21, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
Trump ruling out the use of military force does not defuse this crisis

Europe & Denmark's red lines are territorial integrity & the right of self-determination for the people of Greenland. They do not want to join the US

Trump has to give up his ambition for sovereign control
January 21, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
It is very naive to think that the tensions over Greenland have been reduced, along with the threat it represents, after Trump's speech.

Latching on to a single phrase, glossing over the rest of it, is sticking ones head in the sand.

Hoping it just goes over isn't a strategy.
January 21, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
Attn news commentators: Trump saying he could use force to obtain Greenland but won’t is not Trump saying he won’t use force to obtain Greenland. It is Trump using force as a threat to obtain Greenland. That is why he mentions it.
January 21, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
If you're only reading headlines and see "Trump Says He Won't Use Force" it will give you a misimpression of both how bellicose this speech is and how dug in he is on Greenland.
January 21, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
How hard is it to read a book?
January 20, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
Here is the full text of Carney's speech. Very much worth reading.

paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney...
The Carney doctrine
Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech
paulwells.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
Despite tariff threats France is sending more military support to Greenland.
The frigate Bretagne is deployed, and Arctic elite troops will follow, France’s ambassador says.
“The very existence of the Kingdom of Denmark is at stake. And so is the fate of NATO and the EU.”

www.dr.dk/nyheder/indl...
Frankrig vakler ikke trods Trumps toldtrussel: 'Vi vil være der for jer'
Frankrigs ambassadør i Danmark understreger vigtigheden af at stå sammen.
www.dr.dk
January 20, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
If you listen very carefully, you can hear Charles de Gaulle screaming I BLOODY TOLD YOU SO from some rural French cemetery.
January 17, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
2026 is seeing that the U.S. Army is mobilizing a unit specialized for winter conditions, but not knowing if the intended mission is violent repression of an American city or stealing territory from a U.S. treaty ally.
January 18, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
I think the White House badly underestimates the strength of the pan-European folk memory of 1930s appeasement, and how deep it still cuts. I suppose this is what happens when you learn in school that WW2 started in 1941 in Hawaii.
January 18, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
US discourses that frame Europe as in eternal decline that have been embedded in American culture since the mid-18th century have left America's elites unprepared for the potential strategic implications of European integration
January 17, 2026 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
I want to be clear about what I’m saying here. The only way to restore credibility as a reliable and safe ally is to totally and utterly repudiate this administration. That cannot happen at the ballot box. It has to be done by the Republican Party. That is the only way to regain any level of trust.
I'm game for them deciding that it's easier to get a bunch of quo warranto writs and fail votes to remove the insurrection disqualification.
January 17, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
Trump can put a million-percent tariffs on Denmark, and it still doesn't change the answer about Greenland. There are only two possible endings to this bizarre story. Either Trump gives up, or else he goes through with a military invasion.
January 17, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
The Danish military gears up to defend Greenland
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
Denmark’s Army Chief Says He’s Ready to Defend Greenland
Danish forces are moving to the island to show NATO—and Trump—that they’re serious about security.
www.theatlantic.com
January 14, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Frederik Pedersen
A problem with current geopolitical analysis is how in its lack of attention to internal dynamics of great powers it does not take adequately into account how increasingly wild external projection of power by the US, Russia and China is driven by their growing domestic fragility
January 7, 2026 at 9:30 PM