Dr Emma Salisbury
@salisbot.bsky.social
Naval Iconoclast, Military-Industrial Expert
Foreign Policy Research Institute, Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre, War on the Rocks
Foreign Policy Research Institute, Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre, War on the Rocks
I've been asked to do my first book blurb, which is delightful both because I get a free book about naval strategy and because it makes me feel like a proper academic.
Must avoid calling it "a provocative and richly detailed classic from the pen of a master."
Must avoid calling it "a provocative and richly detailed classic from the pen of a master."
February 4, 2026 at 3:15 PM
I've been asked to do my first book blurb, which is delightful both because I get a free book about naval strategy and because it makes me feel like a proper academic.
Must avoid calling it "a provocative and richly detailed classic from the pen of a master."
Must avoid calling it "a provocative and richly detailed classic from the pen of a master."
Artificial intelligence is all very well, but when do we get artificial strength, constitution, dexterity, charisma, and wisdom?
February 4, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Artificial intelligence is all very well, but when do we get artificial strength, constitution, dexterity, charisma, and wisdom?
Shahed approaches USS Lincoln. Shot down by an F-35.
Hours later the IRGC threaten to board an American-flagged tanker.
Carefully calculated escalation.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Hours later the IRGC threaten to board an American-flagged tanker.
Carefully calculated escalation.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Exclusive: US shoots down Iranian drone approaching aircraft carrier, official says
The U.S. military on Tuesday shot down an Iranian drone that "aggressively" approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the U.S. military said, in an incident first reported by...
www.reuters.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Shahed approaches USS Lincoln. Shot down by an F-35.
Hours later the IRGC threaten to board an American-flagged tanker.
Carefully calculated escalation.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Hours later the IRGC threaten to board an American-flagged tanker.
Carefully calculated escalation.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Just realised I have a Noam Chomsky book on my shelves (bought secondhand for £2, natch) and I'm throwing it straight in the recycling so it can actually do some good in the world
a man is carrying a bag in front of a garbage can that says 04 60573
ALT: a man is carrying a bag in front of a garbage can that says 04 60573
media.tenor.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Just realised I have a Noam Chomsky book on my shelves (bought secondhand for £2, natch) and I'm throwing it straight in the recycling so it can actually do some good in the world
BBC: Will you be in our stable of experts for when the US strikes Iran?
Me: NEIGH
...
Me: But also yes ofc
Me: NEIGH
...
Me: But also yes ofc
a black and white photo of a horse wearing a bridle with its mouth open
ALT: a black and white photo of a horse wearing a bridle with its mouth open
media.tenor.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:17 PM
BBC: Will you be in our stable of experts for when the US strikes Iran?
Me: NEIGH
...
Me: But also yes ofc
Me: NEIGH
...
Me: But also yes ofc
I'm on my second media request of the day and it's only lunchtime, please could insane naval things stop happening at least long enough for me to finish my emotional support KitKat
a man in a suit and tie is scratching his head while standing in front of a crowd .
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is scratching his head while standing in front of a crowd .
media.tenor.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:45 PM
I'm on my second media request of the day and it's only lunchtime, please could insane naval things stop happening at least long enough for me to finish my emotional support KitKat
If he goes to Reform I would probably expire from laughing
New: Peter Mandelson quits the Labour Party
February 1, 2026 at 10:54 PM
If he goes to Reform I would probably expire from laughing
I still vividly remember the first time a man made me feel deeply uncomfortable in public.
I was maybe 10 or 11, in a Metro carriage, late 90s. And it's been a thousand times since then.
I hope we can keep the current outrage going for the sake of the girls who follow.
I was maybe 10 or 11, in a Metro carriage, late 90s. And it's been a thousand times since then.
I hope we can keep the current outrage going for the sake of the girls who follow.
We really have come a LONG way in a pretty brief amount of time as a culture on “oh, maybe it’s actually creepy and gross to incessantly perv on teenage girls everywhere all the time.”
there were multiple different countdown clocks until the Olsen twins turned 18
reddit had its infamous 'jailbait' community online until late 2011
all of this shit was just out in the open, it was awful
reddit had its infamous 'jailbait' community online until late 2011
all of this shit was just out in the open, it was awful
February 1, 2026 at 6:18 PM
I still vividly remember the first time a man made me feel deeply uncomfortable in public.
I was maybe 10 or 11, in a Metro carriage, late 90s. And it's been a thousand times since then.
I hope we can keep the current outrage going for the sake of the girls who follow.
I was maybe 10 or 11, in a Metro carriage, late 90s. And it's been a thousand times since then.
I hope we can keep the current outrage going for the sake of the girls who follow.
TL cleanse - the recent adaptation of Interview with the Vampire is absolutely excellent.
Those books were my teenage obsession and I'm so glad someone has finally got Lestat right. You could almost feel Tom Cruise internally screaming "NO HOMO" in the movie version, which is very much not it.
Those books were my teenage obsession and I'm so glad someone has finally got Lestat right. You could almost feel Tom Cruise internally screaming "NO HOMO" in the movie version, which is very much not it.
a man in a suit and tie says tremendous while talking to another man
ALT: a man in a suit and tie says tremendous while talking to another man
media.tenor.com
February 1, 2026 at 3:09 PM
TL cleanse - the recent adaptation of Interview with the Vampire is absolutely excellent.
Those books were my teenage obsession and I'm so glad someone has finally got Lestat right. You could almost feel Tom Cruise internally screaming "NO HOMO" in the movie version, which is very much not it.
Those books were my teenage obsession and I'm so glad someone has finally got Lestat right. You could almost feel Tom Cruise internally screaming "NO HOMO" in the movie version, which is very much not it.
Sometimes I wonder if my postgraduate education was a well-disguised monkey's paw wish, wherein I can't just switch off and play Genshin Impact at the weekend any more because I now know what shaping operations to bomb Iran look like
a cartoon of snow white sitting in a cell
ALT: a cartoon of snow white sitting in a cell
media.tenor.com
January 31, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Sometimes I wonder if my postgraduate education was a well-disguised monkey's paw wish, wherein I can't just switch off and play Genshin Impact at the weekend any more because I now know what shaping operations to bomb Iran look like
The White House descending into the Death of Stalin, what a treat and a surprise
January 28, 2026 at 9:38 PM
The White House descending into the Death of Stalin, what a treat and a surprise
"Just following orders" famously being a defence that works super well
Kristi Noem: "Everything I've done, I've done at the direction of the president and Stephen"
January 28, 2026 at 9:36 PM
"Just following orders" famously being a defence that works super well
Me checking the news every day now
January 28, 2026 at 7:40 AM
Me checking the news every day now
The correct term is "people experiencing Frenchness"
January 27, 2026 at 7:21 PM
The correct term is "people experiencing Frenchness"
Reposting my article from last year on the UK without America, because *gestures broadly*
warontherocks.com/2025/08/brit...
warontherocks.com/2025/08/brit...
British Grand Strategy Without America
William D. James, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony (Oxford University Press, 2024) Back in June, academics and naval officers from
warontherocks.com
January 27, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Reposting my article from last year on the UK without America, because *gestures broadly*
warontherocks.com/2025/08/brit...
warontherocks.com/2025/08/brit...
Reposted by Dr Emma Salisbury
New guide to Chinese Navy (PLAN) mine sweepers. China has the largest mine warfare fleet of any navy.
Often overlooked, if you don't know much about mine countermeasures this might be of interest.
Here -> www.hisutton.com/China-PLAN-m...
Often overlooked, if you don't know much about mine countermeasures this might be of interest.
Here -> www.hisutton.com/China-PLAN-m...
January 27, 2026 at 9:01 AM
New guide to Chinese Navy (PLAN) mine sweepers. China has the largest mine warfare fleet of any navy.
Often overlooked, if you don't know much about mine countermeasures this might be of interest.
Here -> www.hisutton.com/China-PLAN-m...
Often overlooked, if you don't know much about mine countermeasures this might be of interest.
Here -> www.hisutton.com/China-PLAN-m...
Obviously this is classic GWOT brain but it is also a man who has never looked after a family or dealt with admin in his life and thus has no idea that the most logistics-focused people on the PLANET are irate middle-aged women
The rest of it is even funnier
January 26, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Obviously this is classic GWOT brain but it is also a man who has never looked after a family or dealt with admin in his life and thus has no idea that the most logistics-focused people on the PLANET are irate middle-aged women
My ongoing bugbear has been people calling directed energy weapons "novel effectors" but it turns out I should have been more worried about Trump calling them, and I shit you not, "The Discombobulator"
apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump says US used secret weapon to disable Venezuelan equipment in Maduro raid
President Donald Trump says the U.S. used a secret weapon he called “The Discombobulator” to disable Venezuelan equipment when the U.S. captured Nicolás Maduro.
apnews.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:26 PM
My ongoing bugbear has been people calling directed energy weapons "novel effectors" but it turns out I should have been more worried about Trump calling them, and I shit you not, "The Discombobulator"
apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com/article/trum...
With *absolutely no* sympathy implied, Farage is going to regret this as he now has a critical mass of incompetent former Tory leadership candidates who think they could run the party better.
(That critical mass is two.)
Watch it crumble and rejoice!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
(That critical mass is two.)
Watch it crumble and rejoice!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Ex-Tory Home Secretary Suella Braverman defects to Reform UK
The MP was unveiled as Reform's latest recruit by leader Nigel Farage at a rally, bringing the number of the party's sitting MPs to eight.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 26, 2026 at 1:30 PM
With *absolutely no* sympathy implied, Farage is going to regret this as he now has a critical mass of incompetent former Tory leadership candidates who think they could run the party better.
(That critical mass is two.)
Watch it crumble and rejoice!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
(That critical mass is two.)
Watch it crumble and rejoice!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The US government might be kinda into projecting an aura of 1984-esque surveillance right now but no government has enough resources to (a) hack into and (b) usefully parse everyone's Signal chats.
Just don't invite a fed into the group - although an Atlantic journalist is ironically probably fine.
Just don't invite a fed into the group - although an Atlantic journalist is ironically probably fine.
I think it is *incredibly* irresponsible for someone like @stonekettle.bsky.social, with a huge following, to claim that Signal is just as insecure as texts or other public social media.
This is a classic “making perfect the enemy of the good” error.
This is a classic “making perfect the enemy of the good” error.
January 25, 2026 at 10:24 PM
The US government might be kinda into projecting an aura of 1984-esque surveillance right now but no government has enough resources to (a) hack into and (b) usefully parse everyone's Signal chats.
Just don't invite a fed into the group - although an Atlantic journalist is ironically probably fine.
Just don't invite a fed into the group - although an Atlantic journalist is ironically probably fine.
I am going to have to fully read the NDS this week and I do not want to
January 25, 2026 at 6:23 PM
I am going to have to fully read the NDS this week and I do not want to
We should all remember that:
(a) Eugenics was an idea straight out of white America;
(b) US fascists were a big thing in the 1920s;
(c) WWII can be internalised by these people as America coming across the Atlantic to teach us feckless Europeans how to Do Violence Properly, not to beat Nazis.
(a) Eugenics was an idea straight out of white America;
(b) US fascists were a big thing in the 1920s;
(c) WWII can be internalised by these people as America coming across the Atlantic to teach us feckless Europeans how to Do Violence Properly, not to beat Nazis.
These pathetic worms imbibed constant WWII documentaries and decided to sell their souls to the Nazis anyway.
January 24, 2026 at 6:59 PM
We should all remember that:
(a) Eugenics was an idea straight out of white America;
(b) US fascists were a big thing in the 1920s;
(c) WWII can be internalised by these people as America coming across the Atlantic to teach us feckless Europeans how to Do Violence Properly, not to beat Nazis.
(a) Eugenics was an idea straight out of white America;
(b) US fascists were a big thing in the 1920s;
(c) WWII can be internalised by these people as America coming across the Atlantic to teach us feckless Europeans how to Do Violence Properly, not to beat Nazis.
I am watching Queer Eye this weekend because it reminds me of so many of the things I love about America and it's very hard to remember right now that all of that is still there somewhere.
But it is. It is.
But it is. It is.
January 24, 2026 at 5:01 PM
I am watching Queer Eye this weekend because it reminds me of so many of the things I love about America and it's very hard to remember right now that all of that is still there somewhere.
But it is. It is.
But it is. It is.
This really feels like that time the Delphic Oracle told Croesus that if he went to war, he'd destroy a great empire - and he destroyed his own.
Rep. Greg Steube: "You see Macron and the French sending troops to Greenland. I would love to see the US military up against French troops in Greenland, because it would not last very long. It would be a very small skirmish ... we don't care about what Macron and the French want."
January 23, 2026 at 8:59 PM
This really feels like that time the Delphic Oracle told Croesus that if he went to war, he'd destroy a great empire - and he destroyed his own.