Lawrence Freedman
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ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman
@ldfreedman.bsky.social
53K followers 120 following 580 posts

Emeritus Professor of War Studies King's College London. Latest Book Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine. Substack Comment is Freed https://samf.substack.com/

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Sir Lawrence David Freedman, is a British academic, historian and author specialising in foreign policy, international relations and strategy. He has been described as the "dean of British strategic studies" and was a member of the Iraq Inquiry. He is an Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London. .. more

Political science 82%
Sociology 6%
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Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

csis.org
CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies @csis.org · 2h
As Ukraine marks the 4th anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, CSIS experts look to the war’s past and future, examining its impacts on Ukraine, Russia, & the world as the conflict continues into a 5th year.

See our analysis: https://www.csis.org/programs/four-years-later-russias-war-ukraine
Four Years Later: Russia’s War in Ukraine | CSIS
As Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, CSIS experts look to the war’s past and future, examining its impacts on Ukraine, Russia, and the world at large as the conflic...
www.csis.org

Reposted by Olga Onuch

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
Apparently I need to keep my thoughts to myself …

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
Guest post today from @dsquareddigest.bsky.social on how to reframe the debate on planning , arguing for sorting out the contentious issues early on in the process to avoid lengthy and costly delays. This one is free. samf.substack.com/p/build-the-...
Build the Rail! Save the Snails!
How to speed up the planning system without trashing the environment
samf.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman, Tim Bale, Mark E. Schaffer

samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 1d
New post out:

We have a guest post today from the excellent @dsquareddigest.bsky.social.

"Build the Rail! Save the snails!"

Or how we don't need to sacrifice the environment to speed up our mad planning processes.

(Free to read)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...
Build the Rail! Save the Snails!
How to speed up the planning system without trashing the environment
open.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 3d
New post out:

Why are Reform's poll ratings falling?
How worried should be about Palantir?
How long does Starmer have left?

And lots more of your questions...

Topics covered listed below.

(£/free trial)

samf.substack.com/p/why-have-r...

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 6d
New post from @ldfreedman.bsky.social

Is Ukraine's position improving?
What's Russia's breaking point?
Is House of Dynamite accurate?

Answering your questions - part one

Topics covered pictured below.

(£/free trial)

samf.substack.com/p/is-ukraine...

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 6d
Thanks to readers for so many questions - more than can be answered in one post. Topics covered include implications of Ukraine being able to counterattack now, why Putin keeps on going, threats to UK, China, arms control, and House of Dynamite (£/free trial), open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/i...
Is Ukraine's position improving? What's Russia's breaking point? Is House of Dynamite accurate?
Answering your questions (part one)
open.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman, Edgar Morgenroth

ioponomarenko.bsky.social
Illia Ponomarenko @ioponomarenko.bsky.social · 7d
No, I still can’t get this out of my head, and I keep trying to grasp the full abyss of this idiocy, unsuccessfully.

Russia spent years, decades "fighting all of NATO," turning America into "radioactive ash" every night on state TV.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 8d
I doubt any troops cheered Custer.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 9d
Assuming Starmer days as PM are numbered, Sam considers how he might be replaced and by whom, and what if any difference this will make to the way we are governed. (£/free trial), samf.substack.com/p/after-star...
After Starmer
What would Labour do differently under a new leader?
samf.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

warinthefuture.bsky.social
Mick Ryan @warinthefuture.bsky.social · 9d
There reasons why the U.S. administration might seek to rush along peace talks. But there are major risks with a rushed peace process, and these significantly outweigh any benefits of such a deal. As the saying goes, "if you want it bad, you get it bad."
mickryan.substack.com/p/rushing-to...
Rushing to Failure with Current Peace Talks? The Big Five, 8 February edition
There many reasons why the U.S. administration might seek to rush along peace talks. But there are a variety of major risks involved in a rushed peace process, and these significantly outweigh any be...
mickryan.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 12d
They could all possibly be true or equally apocryphal!

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 12d
Distinguished man to Sir Thomas Beecham. ‘I believed you conducted before my brother recently.’
Beecham, who has no idea: ‘ah yes and how is your brother?’
Distinguished man: ‘oh, still King.’

Reposted by Judith Freedman

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 12d
Once had privilege of listening to Ian McKellen perform at Oxford. Seemed timely then - even more so now.
lalahaenzy.com Omg. WTF is Happening? @lalahaenzy.com · 12d
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Lawrence Freedman, Christian Odendahl , and 45 more

lalahaenzy.com
Omg. WTF is Happening? @lalahaenzy.com · 12d
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 13d
They only asked me for $75. I feel cheap.

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 13d
New post out:

"The most dangerous man in America"

Understanding "Trump's Prime Minister" Stephen Miller - the nexus of all the streams of right-wing thought and behaviour that embody the current regime.

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The most dangerous man in America
Understanding Stephen Miller: “Trump’s Prime Minister”
open.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

andreashopf.bsky.social
Andreas Hopf 🇩🇪 🇨🇭 🇬🇧 🇸🇪 @andreashopf.bsky.social · 16d
If you have not yet subscribed, @ldfreedman.bsky.social Substack is a must. Insightful interview with Richard Moore, until September 2025 head of MI6.

He is spot on regarding China. I noticed it over the years from Chinese students in Europe that Europe is seen as a museum populated by weaklings.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 16d
And in the second part Richard discusses the challenges of working out what is going on in the Kremlin (and what Putin knows), as well as China and Iran (£/free trial), samf.substack.com/p/putin-is-n...
"Putin is not getting an accurate picture"
This is the second part of our interview with Richard Moore, who from 2020 until last September was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) also known as “C”.
samf.substack.com