Compiled by Athena Smith.
Articles
Russian Revenge and Putin’s Campaign Against the West
Eric Green reviewed Hanna Notte’s book “We Shall Outlast Them: Putin’s Global Campaign to Defeat the West,” describing the work as an insightful look into Russia’s foreign policy and how it impacts the lives of people around the world. Green outlined Notte’s description of the turning point marked by Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, why Russia is enjoying considerable success globally, and what the costs of Moscow’s confrontational approach will be for Russia’s power.
In 2022, Russia’s conduct changed abruptly. As historian Sergey Radchenko explained, “Whereas previously, special operations supported foreign policy, today special operations are foreign policy.” Radchenko added that Russia’s leader had seemingly determined that his country no longer had a stake in preserving anything of the postwar order. Hanna Notte’s “We Shall Outlast Them” offers a valuable overview for both experts and generalists seeking to understand what this new Russian foreign policy looks like on the ground and how it affects the lives of people across the globe.
Technological Sophistication of Drones and Required Interoperability
Seungmin Helen Lee outlined the prominent role drones play in geopolitical conflicts as artificial intelligence (AI) drives their technological advancement. Lee argued that the evolving use of drones will require interoperability from allied nations on drone hardware, drone software, and other military equipment. She concluded that allied nations should share lessons learned and support one another just as adversaries such as China, North Korea, and Russia do with their respective drone technologies.
The increasing sophistication, use, and impact of military drones create an imperative for allied nations to collaborate not only to ensure that AI-enabled drone attacks, kill chains, and swarming are executed accurately but also to ensure that allied nations’ drone technology is interoperable and that the intelligence embedded in drones is protected from adversaries.
The Ritual Bitcoin Sacrifices Will Continue Until Security Improves
In the latest edition of the* Seriously Risky Business *cybersecurity newsletter, Tom Uren described North Korea’s theft of about $6.3 billion dollars from the Binance cryptocurrency exchange; the pressure tech executives exert to speed up the pace of their software development using artificial intelligence, potentially to the detriment of security; and more.
We don’t put too much hope in crypto recovery procedures reaching parity with those found in the banking sector. Sure, there are mechanisms such as sanctions that are intended to make laundering cryptocurrency more difficult, but at this point North Korea has a well-oiled, automated cryptocurrency laundering machine.
Podcasts
Lawfare Daily: The President’s Hand in Russia’s Covert Action: Benjamin Wittes sat down with Julia Curlee to discuss Curlee’s essay on Russia’s 2016 election interference as judged by the standards intelligence professionals use for covert action. They discussed why, unlike covert operations which usually pay off early and fade, Moscow's gains have grown over the past decade.
Videos and Webinars
Lawfare Live:** The Trials of the Trump Administration, November 6:** On Friday, Nov. 6, at 4 p.m. ET,
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