Mid October 2025, I noticed an intriguing SCMP article: China’s military mouthpiece calls for ‘deep integration’ to beat joint operation weakness. In my view, the opposite is true: deep integration will increase vulnerability. Moreover, Russia will require its Max messenger app pre-installed on all smartphones sold in Russia (eg, CNN), similar to the mandatory...
Military
The law of unintended consequences
A few minutes ago, a thought 'entered' my mind: the law of unintended consequences. I wanted to waive it because I was sure that I had written about it. I did not though. I only mentioned it in a few blogs: If Good does bad, does Good become Bad? (2021) and The micro-macro conundrum (2019). The law of unintended consequences is the principle that actions often...

Artificial Intelligence, an updated SWOT analysis
On 12 June 2023, I published my blog Artificial Intelligence, a SWOT analysis. I still like its perspective but it lacks focus. Today, I publish my update on the key ingredients in my SWOT analysis, being Technology (Strength), Energy (Weakness), Health (Opportunity), and Beliefs (Threat). Source: my 2023 blog Artificial Intelligence, a SWOT analysis Source: my 2025...
China tells EU it can’t accept Russia losing its war against Ukraine
Intro LO: This recent SCMP article came as a surprise to me because this geopolitical angle was brand new. Is this perhaps an example of the ancient saying the blind leading the blind ?? This SCMP article also reveals that China is far weaker than anyone is assuming. Quite often, bullying and/or sacrificing an ally matches with the behaviour of a (true) Superpower,...
You need friction to move forward
A local friend made the (Dutch) comment above. He urged me to consider this and write about it. His smirky smile suggested that his remark had an ambiguous (eg, sexual) context, which is rather common. Actually, Science (eg, Boston Uni, Physics, TH) agrees with his observation: Yes, friction is necessary for forward motion in many cases. When an object pushes...
Iran has no friends. Persia has.
Intro LO: Following the recent bombings of Iran by Israel and USA (eg, Wiki-1, Wiki-2), I've been wondering whether Iran has any friends given the absence of any support (eg, China, Russia). Bloomberg came to a similar conclusion: Iran Stands Alone Against Trump and Israel, Stripped of Allies. Similarly, Israel and Turkey have few friends. The combination of...

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