Lawrence Freedman
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ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman
@ldfreedman.bsky.social
53K followers 120 following 570 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

ioponomarenko.bsky.social
Illia Ponomarenko @ioponomarenko.bsky.social · 9h
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 · 12h
I doubt any troops cheered Custer.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 1d
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 · 2d
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 · 4d
They could all possibly be true or equally apocryphal!

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 4d
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 · 4d
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 · 4d
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 · 4d
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 · 5d
They only asked me for $75. I feel cheap.

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 5d
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 · 8d
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 · 8d
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

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 8d
Our two part interview with Richard Moore, former head of MI6, produced a lot of fascinating and candid observations. The first part looked at how MI6 works and fits in with rest of government (£/free trial), samf.substack.com/p/how-mi6-wo...
How MI6 works
From 2020 until last September, Richard Moore was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) also known as “C”.
samf.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 8d
New post out:

"Putin is not getting an accurate picture"

Part two of our fascinating interview with former MI6 Chief, Richard Moore.

This time looking at working with the US under Trump, and what he makes of Putin, Xi and the situation in Iran.

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/p...
"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”.
open.substack.com

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 11d
There was a time when academics just expected to be trusted. Days long gone.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 11d
I had a backlog …

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 11d
Good luck at staying retired then.

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 11d
Retirement - for me - just meant off the payroll.

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

shashj.bsky.social
Shashank Joshi @shashj.bsky.social · 11d
Good interview with Richard Moore, in which he discusses the less well known work of "reports officers", as opposed to case officers. "Their job is to handle the material coming in from the field. They do all of that due diligence" samf.substack.com/p/how-mi6-wo...

Reposted by Lawrence Freedman

samfr.bsky.social
Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 11d
New post out:

"How MI6 works"

We interviewed Richard Moore the man who was "C" - Chief of MI6 - until September.

In part one we talked about MI6 operates - how does C work with the Prime Minister? Does he think there's a "deep state" etc...

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/h...
How MI6 works
From 2020 until last September, Richard Moore was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) also known as “C”.
open.substack.com

ldfreedman.bsky.social
Lawrence Freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social · 13d
What is going on in the trilateral negotiations with US, Russia, and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi? Why do the Russians talk about a mythical deal supposedly agreed at the Alaska summit? Can Ukraine rely on US security guarantees? All in my latest post (£/free trial), open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/g...?
Groundhog Day?
The state of the current negotiations over Ukraine
open.substack.com