Security Dilemmas
@securitydilemmas.bsky.social
I'm Richard Purcell, Louisiana native, proud UNC alum, former Capitol Hill staffer, SAIS grad, and (hopefully) keen observer of foreign policy and national security. Nukes are my specialty.
Pinned
Nuclear Damage Limitation in an Era of Great Power Competition
Editor’s note: This is the second piece in a two-part series examining the role of damage limitation strategy in U.S. nuclear war planning. Read part one here. With the apparent reemergence …
globalsecurityreview.com
This is the second part of my article in Global Security Review about damage limitation in the modern world:
Golden Dome makes Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative look like a serious policy blueprint. At least Reagan didn't try to get private investors to pay for SDI.
U.S. Space Force General Reaffirms Tight Timeline For Golden Dome | Aviation Week Network
The DOD is following a strict schedule to deploy an initial Golden Dome for America capability in just more than two years and an expanded architecture by 2035.
aviationweek.com
January 29, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Golden Dome makes Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative look like a serious policy blueprint. At least Reagan didn't try to get private investors to pay for SDI.
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
After being held in two of them as a boy, I fought for decades urging America to never again build concentration camps and put human beings in them. It breaks my heart to watch this happen twice now in my own lifetime.
January 27, 2026 at 9:30 PM
After being held in two of them as a boy, I fought for decades urging America to never again build concentration camps and put human beings in them. It breaks my heart to watch this happen twice now in my own lifetime.
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
The Washington Post has a superb corps of dedicated foreign correspondents. I rely on their work and so do countless others. May that always be the case.
January 27, 2026 at 3:08 AM
The Washington Post has a superb corps of dedicated foreign correspondents. I rely on their work and so do countless others. May that always be the case.
This is the statement of someone who is pathologically lacking in self-awareness.
January 27, 2026 at 12:52 AM
This is the statement of someone who is pathologically lacking in self-awareness.
Key point by Rep. Seth Moulton: “The core of Trump’s idea, a miracle missile shield that will make America invincible from nuclear attack, is dangerous and destabilizing . . . Golden Dome will make nuclear war more likely, not less.”
January 26, 2026 at 11:51 PM
Key point by Rep. Seth Moulton: “The core of Trump’s idea, a miracle missile shield that will make America invincible from nuclear attack, is dangerous and destabilizing . . . Golden Dome will make nuclear war more likely, not less.”
This article is so painful to read.
After 80-year bond, Germans find breaking up with the U.S. is hard to do
To many Germans, Americans were saviors after World War II, and they feel especially hurt over President Donald Trump’s disdain for Europe and traditional alliances.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:46 PM
This article is so painful to read.
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
It's only absurd to call Trump a fascist if your definition of "fascism" is "something that can't happen in the United States of America."
Trump Sounds a Lot Like You-Know-Who
He’s no Hitler. But his speech in Davos about Greenland eerily echoes 1938.
lnk.thebulwark.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:30 PM
It's only absurd to call Trump a fascist if your definition of "fascism" is "something that can't happen in the United States of America."
Amen to this.
EU chief diplomat Kallas: World’s woes mean it’s time to start drinking
High representative says global events mean now could be a good time to hit the bottle.
www.politico.eu
January 21, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Amen to this.
Trump's only been back in office for a year. How bad are things going to be two or three years from now?
With Threats to Greenland, Trump Sets America on the Road to Conquest
www.nytimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 7:36 PM
Trump's only been back in office for a year. How bad are things going to be two or three years from now?
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
One more thing Trump should know but doesn’t: Schelling shows to compel behavior you need not only to threaten but to offer an agreed outcome. Trump’s unreliability means no deal is dependable (see USMCA), so compellance less likely successful.
January 18, 2026 at 11:05 PM
One more thing Trump should know but doesn’t: Schelling shows to compel behavior you need not only to threaten but to offer an agreed outcome. Trump’s unreliability means no deal is dependable (see USMCA), so compellance less likely successful.
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
Old enough to remember when the U.S. was using economic coercion to punish aggression and territorial conquest rather than in service of those illegal objectives.
January 17, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Old enough to remember when the U.S. was using economic coercion to punish aggression and territorial conquest rather than in service of those illegal objectives.
Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be tough.
- FDR, 10/13/1940
- FDR, 10/13/1940
Stephen Miller Offers a Strongman’s View of the World
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel in order to be tough.
- FDR, 10/13/1940
- FDR, 10/13/1940
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
Watched this twice, got choked up both times. Something hopeful during a very difficult time.
This afternoon, retired Army general Stanley McChrystal spoke at the retirement ceremony hosted by HRC for six trans service members who were forced out under Trump’s ban.
“I shouldn’t have to be thanked for being here. First off, we shouldn’t be here. This shouldn’t be happening.”
Full remarks:
“I shouldn’t have to be thanked for being here. First off, we shouldn’t be here. This shouldn’t be happening.”
Full remarks:
January 9, 2026 at 2:08 AM
Watched this twice, got choked up both times. Something hopeful during a very difficult time.
I can’t help but wonder how Maduro’s capture is being seen by Pyongyang. It will also almost certainly heighten Kim Jong Un’s threat perception. If a security crisis arose on the Korean peninsula, that perception would add fuel to an already combustible situation involving nuclear-armed nations.
January 7, 2026 at 9:35 PM
I can’t help but wonder how Maduro’s capture is being seen by Pyongyang. It will also almost certainly heighten Kim Jong Un’s threat perception. If a security crisis arose on the Korean peninsula, that perception would add fuel to an already combustible situation involving nuclear-armed nations.
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
War is too important to leave to the warmongers
January 7, 2026 at 12:08 AM
War is too important to leave to the warmongers
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
As a politically liberal national security & mil-tech wonk... Yes, a LOT of truth to this, in many academic IR departments too.
January 7, 2026 at 12:06 AM
As a politically liberal national security & mil-tech wonk... Yes, a LOT of truth to this, in many academic IR departments too.
From the WP:
January 5, 2026 at 11:56 PM
From the WP:
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
Ironic that our celebration of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence will be led by a mad king.
The foreign policy of a personalist dictatorship. There are no constraints.
Trump in a single gaggle on Air Force One just threatened:
-- a second strike against Venezuela
-- Cuba
-- Mexico
-- Colombia
-- Iran
-- Greenland (which in turn would be an attack on the EU and Denmark)
-- a second strike against Venezuela
-- Cuba
-- Mexico
-- Colombia
-- Iran
-- Greenland (which in turn would be an attack on the EU and Denmark)
January 5, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Ironic that our celebration of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence will be led by a mad king.
Reposted by Security Dilemmas
Trump seems to harbor belief that Venezuela intervention will deter challenges to US elsewhere. If US gets bogged down in a needless Latin American military campaign, the opposite is more likely.
January 4, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Trump seems to harbor belief that Venezuela intervention will deter challenges to US elsewhere. If US gets bogged down in a needless Latin American military campaign, the opposite is more likely.