geopolitics

4300 words, 14 minutes. This post was circulated privately in April 2020. Three months later the government announced that Huawei 5G equipment will be removed from the UK by 2027, a reversal of their previous position. I’ve updated the timeline with that development. Otherwise, the text is almost unchanged from the original. Keep that in mind. It follows my July 2019post on the consideration the UK and its allies are giving to Huawei as a supplier of 5G mobile equipment. »

4095 words, 16 minutes. A Diplomatic (Chinese) Design Presented to the U.S. – 12th February 1881 by Thomas Nast, for Harper’s Weekly. I rarely mention vendors here, so this post is an exception. It’s the second in my “Projectionist”series. The series is ultimately about power and the great forces and constraints shaping our world. I’m going to talk about 5G, Huawei, China and the consideration the UK and her allies are giving to the use of Huawei’s products in national mobile networks. »

4300 words, 17 minutes (full). 1500 words, 6 minutes (short). The seven great monarchies of the ancient eastern world. Rawlinson, George. Pub. Lovell 1862. Sketched from North Palace, Koyunjik (Nineveh).` Leak Summary APT34 is an Advanced Persistent Threat group associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Its source code and tools were recently leaked via a Telegram channel. In addition to those tools, information was divulged about the group’s targets which included companies and governments in the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar, and Turkey among others. »

750 words, 3 minutes. The reason I don’t post on Cyber Security current affairs? It’s a scramble to be first. If I’m to write something, what should it be? What’s my angle? Which lens do I use on the microscope, or since this is a mass medium, the projector? What film can I show you that you haven’t already seen a dozen times? I’ll attempt to answer these questions here, and in so doing introduce what may become a new thread of posts. »

1750 words, 7 minutes. Sketch by Sir William Rothenstein, 1933. “Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland. Who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island. Who rules the World-Island commands the world." - Sir Halford Mackinder, Democratic Ideals and Reality. 1919. Do you work in technology, are you building a company? You should think about how your product or service fits with the wider world because aligning with large movements is a winning system. »