Iskander Rehman
Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation. Applied history, grand strategy and Asian security.
- The best post-crisis analysis I have read so far--with a particularly useful discussion of what "the combination of new norms on attribution, the precedents set by provocative targeting, the chaotic information warfare environment, and new drone technologies" mean for future India-Pakistan crises.
- This article is well worth a read. @gesineweber.bsky.social has rapidly emerged as one of the most probing, knowledgeable and nuanced analysts of French and European security.
- Reposted by Iskander RehmanMacron took the nuclear-sharing debate one step further in his marathon TV appearance last night, stating that France was open to discussing the stationing of 🇫🇷 nuclear warheads in other allied European countries on.ft.com/4jOcabW
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- "Between 2010 & 2019, 🇨🇳 & 🇷🇺 scientists jointly published fewer than 300 English-language papers on topics related to artificial intelligence—far less than the output of joint 🇺🇸-🇨🇳 research collaboration." One interesting nugget among many in this excellent report. www.cnas.org/press/press-...
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- Honored by this generous review by @lindsaypowell.bsky.social of my book “Iron Imperator” in @warontherocks.bsky.social (1/12) warontherocks.com/2025/05/reth...
- On this day, thinking of my Franco-British grandfather, Major Peter Fawcett of the King’s African Rifles, who also served as liaison officer with the the Free French, and of my Norman great-grandparents, Hippolyte and Marcelline Durand, who served in the French resistance.
- Reposted by Iskander RehmanIndia cannot dedicate its entire air force, surface-to-air missiles, and drones to fighting Pakistan. A chunk of it is kept at the ready to deter China. To be credible, any strength comparisons of India and Pakistan must account for that: for a two front scenario India has insufficient equipment.
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- Hard to think of a more riveting location for the military historian than the isle of Malta. Already plotting at least two longform essays on different aspects of this doughty island’s fabled military history.
- “Taiwan imported about 70% of the calories its people ate in 2023, but is largely self-sufficient in rice, vegetables, fruit & seafood. It has stockpiled about 7 months’ worth of rice and 12 months of meat. There are contingency plans for instant noodles.” economist.com/briefing/202...
- "Modeling (America's AGI) approach on the broader Apollo program would provide a better template for whole-of-society competition, ensuring U.S. safety, security, and prosperity." A smart, nuanced piece of analysis by RAND colleague Matt Chessen & Craig Martell.
- "Gold and green are the fields in peace, red are the fields in war, black are the fields when the cannons cease, and white forevermore." The Pulitzer-prize-winning dean of American cartoonists, John McCutcheon, in the Chicago Tribune, August 1914.
- Excellent piece in @foreignaffairs.com by @ldfreedman.bsky.social on a topic dear to my heart: protracted warfare: www.foreignaffairs.com/age-forever-...
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- One of the most interesting (and perhaps still somewhat under-examined) ramifications of the war in Ukraine--the growing strategic convergence between Asian & European democracies, and the sizable role now played by the ROK's defense industry in Europe. breakingdefense.com/2025/04/sout...
- “Ironically, the only thing Taiwan has enough of are generals and admirals: 308 to be exact. The ratio of general and flag officers to servicemembers is approximately 2.5 times higher than that found in the U.S. military.”
- Very much looking forward to reading this.
- Great piece. I'd add that the 1978 animated film is a dark masterpiece which, as a child, I found both enthralling and chilling in equal measure.
- "To achieve scale, Washington must transform its alliance architecture from a collection of managed relationships to a platform for integrated & pooled capacity building across the military, economic, & technological domains." Excellent and timely piece: www.foreignaffairs.com/china/undere...
- Excellent, bipartisan set of papers on US-China technology competition published by the @pellcenter.bsky.social : www.pellcenter.org/the-project-...
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- Very much looking forward to reading the new essays in the most recent Washington Quarterly--especially @sheenagreitens.bsky.social 's reflections on protracted warfare, & Toshi Yoshihara and Evan Montgomery's analysis of China's coercive options vis a vis Taiwan twq.elliott.gwu.edu
- “A wise king is not less a father of those subjects who shall live at the distance of three or four generations, than of those who live in his own time.” The Duke of Sully cautioning against the lure of quick fixes & stressing the importance of longer-term grand strategy archive.org/details/memo...
- “Everything has become part of the marmalade upon which, at the bidding of President Wilson, we construct a new edifice with no foundations other than useless abstractions.” A growingly frustrated French Ambassador (Paul Cambon) in 1919. Turn of the century diplomats had the best turns of phrase.
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- I had never seen these haunting photos by Lewis Hine. Remarkable. www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/0...
- A rigorous, nuanced piece of analysis by @jjjcameron.bsky.social
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- "This is a difficult call for the Ministry of Defence, trying to balance cost, availability and capability. In a straight choice between the Typhoon and the Lightning, it has probably made the correct decision. But the timing could hardly be worse." www.spectator.co.uk/article/is-t...
- There is a lot that can be said about this tour de force reporting from @nytimes.com on US military involvement in Ukraine since Russia's brutal invasion. One thing, in particular, however did jump out to me when reading about the failed 2023 counteroffensive (1/9) www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
- Well it would seem this will indeed the cover for my next book on Sully, Richelieu & Mazarin. Due next year. In the meantime, given the nature of my day job at RAND, I'll be spending a lot of my weekends over the next few months deeply immersed in the bloody first half of the seventeenth century.
- Reposted by Iskander RehmanExcellent work by new NYT headline writer Werner Herzog
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- "ROK intelligence suggests if North Korea’s rate of export continues, it could affect its ability to sustain a conflict on the Korean Peninsula. In other words, North Korea is potentially compromising its own military readiness to support Russia’s needs." A must-read on the DPRK's role in Ukraine.
- This should be Taiwan's goal too.
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