Iskander Rehman
@irehman.bsky.social
Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation. Applied history, grand strategy and Asian security.
I was just let go as part of this RIF, along with many dedicated and talented colleagues. I am now open to opportunities in defense and strategy across think tanks, FFRDCs and academia. RAND is a fine institution, and I am proud to have worked there.
October 21, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I was just let go as part of this RIF, along with many dedicated and talented colleagues. I am now open to opportunities in defense and strategy across think tanks, FFRDCs and academia. RAND is a fine institution, and I am proud to have worked there.
Wonderful to talk about the past, present & future of military competition in beautiful Idaho. Very impressed by the level of interest in foreign and defense policy from BSU students & Idahoans young and old. Thanks again to the Boise Committee on Foreign Relations for the kind invitation.
October 15, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Wonderful to talk about the past, present & future of military competition in beautiful Idaho. Very impressed by the level of interest in foreign and defense policy from BSU students & Idahoans young and old. Thanks again to the Boise Committee on Foreign Relations for the kind invitation.
Fascinating discovering the vibrant Basque culture in Boise, Idaho. The more one travels this vast land, the more one realizes it defies easy generalizations.
October 14, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Fascinating discovering the vibrant Basque culture in Boise, Idaho. The more one travels this vast land, the more one realizes it defies easy generalizations.
This declassified 1964 Policy Planning paper debating (and ultimately arguing against) preventive strikes on China’s nuclear program, written only a few months before the PRC’s nuclear test at Lop Nur, is one of the more fascinating historical documents I’ve read in a while
October 6, 2025 at 9:34 PM
This declassified 1964 Policy Planning paper debating (and ultimately arguing against) preventive strikes on China’s nuclear program, written only a few months before the PRC’s nuclear test at Lop Nur, is one of the more fascinating historical documents I’ve read in a while
I enjoyed discussing AI & nuclear stability in Brussels today & having the opportunity to highlight some of the groundbreaking work on AI & national security by my colleagues @rand.org .
Many thanks to @luissimonn.bsky.social at Vrije Universiteit Brussel & the team at NATO DPP.
Many thanks to @luissimonn.bsky.social at Vrije Universiteit Brussel & the team at NATO DPP.
September 25, 2025 at 6:47 PM
I enjoyed discussing AI & nuclear stability in Brussels today & having the opportunity to highlight some of the groundbreaking work on AI & national security by my colleagues @rand.org .
Many thanks to @luissimonn.bsky.social at Vrije Universiteit Brussel & the team at NATO DPP.
Many thanks to @luissimonn.bsky.social at Vrije Universiteit Brussel & the team at NATO DPP.
Great to talk about the past, present & future of proxy warfare, authoritarian military coordination & military experimentation—from the Spanish Civil War to the war in Ukraine—with our Dutch allies @hcss.bsky.social (especially the same week their F35s shot down marauding Russian drones)
September 13, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Great to talk about the past, present & future of proxy warfare, authoritarian military coordination & military experimentation—from the Spanish Civil War to the war in Ukraine—with our Dutch allies @hcss.bsky.social (especially the same week their F35s shot down marauding Russian drones)
After a very long hiatus, Iron Imperator will finally be available in kindle format again on Amazon at the end of the month:
www.amazon.com/Iron-Imperat...
www.amazon.com/Iron-Imperat...
August 11, 2025 at 2:08 PM
After a very long hiatus, Iron Imperator will finally be available in kindle format again on Amazon at the end of the month:
www.amazon.com/Iron-Imperat...
www.amazon.com/Iron-Imperat...
In addition to being a national croquet champion (so British!) he was Secretary of the Ministry of National Service and Special Investigator for the Ministry of Munitions, and attended war cabinet meetings with a young Churchill among others. (2/3)
July 29, 2025 at 3:35 PM
In addition to being a national croquet champion (so British!) he was Secretary of the Ministry of National Service and Special Investigator for the Ministry of Munitions, and attended war cabinet meetings with a young Churchill among others. (2/3)
"You might disperse 1,000,000 men over these immense areas & yet only provide more prey to the dominant Power. On the other hand, these conditions will be reversed when the balance of sea power and air power changes.."
Churchill discussing the dire situation in the Asian theater in early 1942.
Churchill discussing the dire situation in the Asian theater in early 1942.
July 22, 2025 at 1:12 PM
"You might disperse 1,000,000 men over these immense areas & yet only provide more prey to the dominant Power. On the other hand, these conditions will be reversed when the balance of sea power and air power changes.."
Churchill discussing the dire situation in the Asian theater in early 1942.
Churchill discussing the dire situation in the Asian theater in early 1942.
Sully and early modern Western Europeans on seventeenth century Russia. I will confess this was a fun section to write.
warontherocks.com/2025/07/towa...
warontherocks.com/2025/07/towa...
July 17, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Sully and early modern Western Europeans on seventeenth century Russia. I will confess this was a fun section to write.
warontherocks.com/2025/07/towa...
warontherocks.com/2025/07/towa...
Not only because of its abiding intellectual influence, but also, perhaps more importantly, because of the manner in which its manifold inner tensions can help illuminate current challenges to European defense cooperation and unity (3/9)
July 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Not only because of its abiding intellectual influence, but also, perhaps more importantly, because of the manner in which its manifold inner tensions can help illuminate current challenges to European defense cooperation and unity (3/9)
Who was Sully? Why was this grizzled warrior & early seventeenth century statesman admired by figures ranging from Kant to Tsar Alexander I & Winston Churchill? Why was his vision of European unity so influential over the centuries? And what insights can it provide us today? (1/9)
July 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Who was Sully? Why was this grizzled warrior & early seventeenth century statesman admired by figures ranging from Kant to Tsar Alexander I & Winston Churchill? Why was his vision of European unity so influential over the centuries? And what insights can it provide us today? (1/9)
July 1, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Terrific weekend workshop on the lessons from WWII campaigns in the Indo-Pacific for contemporary defense planners. Many thanks to Aaron MacLean & Dan Blumenthal for the invite. (I discussed the fall of Singapore)
June 30, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Terrific weekend workshop on the lessons from WWII campaigns in the Indo-Pacific for contemporary defense planners. Many thanks to Aaron MacLean & Dan Blumenthal for the invite. (I discussed the fall of Singapore)
I very much enjoyed taking part in this event on Gaullist strategic thinking and current debates over European strategic autonomy at the French embassy with the great Julian Jackson and the terrific Léonie Allard, @sophiabesch.bsky.social @michaelshurkin.bsky.social and Aaron MacLean (1/2)
June 21, 2025 at 12:37 AM
I very much enjoyed taking part in this event on Gaullist strategic thinking and current debates over European strategic autonomy at the French embassy with the great Julian Jackson and the terrific Léonie Allard, @sophiabesch.bsky.social @michaelshurkin.bsky.social and Aaron MacLean (1/2)
I've also always been particularly fond of this anecdote, whereby Churchill invited Irving Berlin over for lunch instead of Isaiah Berlin.
May 26, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I've also always been particularly fond of this anecdote, whereby Churchill invited Irving Berlin over for lunch instead of Isaiah Berlin.
...the delay, and the injustice of tribunals; idleness, luxury, and all that is connected with it, debauchery and corruption of manners, confusion of ranks, changes in the value of money, the despotic power of sovereigns, their blind adherence to particular persons, their prejudice in favor .. (3/6)
May 19, 2025 at 9:36 PM
...the delay, and the injustice of tribunals; idleness, luxury, and all that is connected with it, debauchery and corruption of manners, confusion of ranks, changes in the value of money, the despotic power of sovereigns, their blind adherence to particular persons, their prejudice in favor .. (3/6)
"The causes of the ruin or decline of monarchies are: exorbitant subsidies, monopolies, chiefly those relating to corn; neglect of merchandise, trade, agriculture, arts and manufactories; the great number of public employments, the fees and excessive authority of men in office; the cost (...) (2/6)
May 19, 2025 at 9:36 PM
"The causes of the ruin or decline of monarchies are: exorbitant subsidies, monopolies, chiefly those relating to corn; neglect of merchandise, trade, agriculture, arts and manufactories; the great number of public employments, the fees and excessive authority of men in office; the cost (...) (2/6)
An interesting (& resonant) overview of the causes of great power decline from the 17th century-in this instance from the famed Duke of Sully when asked by Henri IV to pen a short memo enumerating "all the things by which I thought the glory of a powerful kingdom might be destroyed or sullied,"(1/6)
May 19, 2025 at 9:36 PM
An interesting (& resonant) overview of the causes of great power decline from the 17th century-in this instance from the famed Duke of Sully when asked by Henri IV to pen a short memo enumerating "all the things by which I thought the glory of a powerful kingdom might be destroyed or sullied,"(1/6)
For those needing a timeline cleanse, I recommend following this Kashmiri photographer’s account. A reminder of the beauty of the people and landscapes of this conflict-wracked region.
x.com/basiitzargar
x.com/basiitzargar
May 16, 2025 at 4:25 PM
For those needing a timeline cleanse, I recommend following this Kashmiri photographer’s account. A reminder of the beauty of the people and landscapes of this conflict-wracked region.
x.com/basiitzargar
x.com/basiitzargar
..and here…You can also purchase the audiobook version (brilliantly narrated by Malk Williams) on Spotify, Apple and other similar platforms open.spotify.com/show/3XSXF2Z... (10/12)
May 13, 2025 at 5:10 PM
..and here…You can also purchase the audiobook version (brilliantly narrated by Malk Williams) on Spotify, Apple and other similar platforms open.spotify.com/show/3XSXF2Z... (10/12)
Finally, for those wishing to further whet their appetite, you can check out the book’s thoughtful and elegantly framed foreword by the renowned British classicist Sir Peter Stothard here…(9/12)
May 13, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Finally, for those wishing to further whet their appetite, you can check out the book’s thoughtful and elegantly framed foreword by the renowned British classicist Sir Peter Stothard here…(9/12)
I’ve been fortunate—the 2023 meme appears to have been quite accurate. A lot of people do, indeed, seem to want to think quite frequently about the Roman Empire—especially those with an interest in strategy & policymaking. www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20... Some additional reviews below: (3/12)
May 13, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I’ve been fortunate—the 2023 meme appears to have been quite accurate. A lot of people do, indeed, seem to want to think quite frequently about the Roman Empire—especially those with an interest in strategy & policymaking. www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20... Some additional reviews below: (3/12)
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.
May 8, 2025 at 8:03 PM
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.
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.
May 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
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.