iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Welcome to Leicester! Sorry your first couple of weeks have been a bit chaotic.

David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I get that but since the main aim of the PhD is to do original research and advance knowledge in that field, why not invest in the students they recruit by putting them on some kind of bursary or scholarship and get the advantage of that new research as well?

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Maybe but he was talking about deliberately enticing out of programmes. I'd like to have asked which ones but didn't have time. I'd guess tech more than humanities, which makes sense but is also a big part of the problem. Not enough people asking 'Should we?' rather than 'Can we?'.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Badly worded on my part. I think doing a PhD takes them to a whole new level and ingrains them to a much greater extent.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I had a conversation about recruiting with a Palantir executive a few years ago. They wanted PhD students because they were clearly bright, but they preferred to get them before they finished their courses. My guess being they didn't want all that pesky critical thinking you learn through a PhD.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Oh dear. I commented but I think I managed to avoid doing that. Mainly because like most ex-int types, I don't have any insider knowledge but I do have an academic perspective. 🤦‍♂️

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Is this also an easier way for states to increase their defence budgets and to justify those increases?

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Excellent article here by @warmatters.bsky.social on how continual technological innovation has allowed states to avoid the hard questions on strategy and force generation.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Electric supply trucks that self-drive into ambushes.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Leon Uris, 'Battle Cry'. Read and re-read countless times.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Be interesting to see how they try to get money out of you this way. BBC cuts mean you need to pay a 'contribution' towards the production?

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

'Systems thinking' is a valid approach in problem solving, or at least problem visualisation, because it helps map the drivers and outputs that affect an issue. However, I suspect the term has been hijacked by the same people who call themselves 'thought leaders' and now means something different.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

That also applies to airsoft and re-enactment kit.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

What a shame the strategy only included STEM and completely ignored all the great defence-related research being done in the Humanities.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I think I've seen the fatal flaw in an otherwise infallible plan.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I was very honoured to receive the IAFIE - International Association for Intelligence Education Instructor of the Year award last week during the International Association For Intelligence Education (IAFIE) Europe conference, presented by IAFIE President Kathy Pherson. @hypirleicester.bsky.social

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Reposted by David Strachan-Morris

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

New post: "Madmen and realists" In which I look at the disaster of Trump's foreign policy. And options for what it could look like under a president who is a bully in obvious cognitive decline. (Free to read) samf.substack.com/p/madmen-and...

samf.substack.com

Madmen and Realists

US foreign policy under Trump and beyond

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I'll confess I did not know that. But then I also think anything other than coffee-flavoured coffee is an abomination, so it's not something I'd ever thought too deeply about. My daughter likes it though so I might try this new found wisdom out on her.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Reminds me of the modern technology I used in the Army in the mid-80s to disseminate reports. (Can't remember exactly which model but it looked like this)

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Just for idle curiosity I checked my 9 year old car (diesel SUV) and it's ULEZ compliant. Not that I'd ever drive in that London!

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I go to Parkrun most weeks and follow a load of Parkrun social media accounts. Literally nobody is talking about this.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

While I do like 'Strange New Worlds' I really hate the novelty episodes.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Sounds like it will nicely complement some of the work done on violent non-state actors and will be a major contribution to the work on those. I'll watch your updates for when that comes out.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

You could make 'Seinfeld' now but the advent of smartphones and internet shopping spikes a lot of the episodes.

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Reposted by David Strachan-Morris

History, Politics & IR at the University of Leicester @hypirleicester.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Publication alert 🚨Leicester’s Stephen Hopkins has co-edited a fantastic new volume with Connal Parr, “Paving the Path to Peace: Civil Society and the Northern Ireland Peace Process”.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Quite. Hence my comment about the scale. But there was the Iraq Liberation Act 1998. Removal of Saddam Hussein was an established foreign policy aim of the US. Scale and timing might have been different but the odds are good both would still have happened under Gore.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Regarding 9/11 itself I think Gore would have reacted much the same as Bush did. Remember the momentum towards action against both AQ in Afghan & Saddam in Iraq had built up during the Clinton Administration. The difference would have been the scale of the responses under Gore as President. 2/2

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I did some work on this during the election, in answer to the question "What is the likelihood of war with Iraq under either Bush or Gore?". Their rhetoric towards Iraq was remarkably similar, but I think Gore would have worked harder on a second UN resolution and built a bigger coalition. 1/2

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Letter in the @irishtimes.com today about Ireland's intelligence services. Hard to fault the logic!

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Similar debate about 'threat' and 'risk' in security studies. Using them interchangeably annoys me as much as people using 'agent' when they mean 'intelligence officer'. And that's a lot of annoyance right there!

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Reposted by David Strachan-Morris

Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The war in Iran has shown that Trump’s inability to perceive reality has become truly dangerous. Iran is a disaster, but Trump’s irrationality could create other, even more perilous situations. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.com

Trump’s Irrationality Is Dangerous

The president’s recent rant is a sign of serious dysfunction in the Oval Office.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

The idea that North Korea and its leaders are 'insane' is itself a flawed premise.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Could we set all the AI systems onto each other to fight it out while we get on without it? Tell them 'there can be only one' and when that 'one' emerges we pull the plug on it.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I'm still very proud of my daughter for the following exchange with her GCSE History teacher regarding the Cold War in the early 1960s. Teacher: Where did this come from? Daughter: My Dad. Teacher: But it's not in the text book. Daughter: Well, it's in his book.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

That looks awesome! We'll all want to see the outputs from that!

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Reposted by David Strachan-Morris

Intelligence and National Security @intnatsecjournal.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

** Call for Papers: Special Issue on Psychology and Intelligence** Guest Editors: Nicole K. Drumhiller and Thomas Preston (Washington State University) Intelligence and National Security invites submissions for a special issue on Psychology and Intelligence.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Normally reaching out for external expertise would be unremarkable during a military campaign, but for an administration that is famously anti-expert and only values opinions that match its ideology, this is a massive sign that they are out of ideas.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

It's the myth of the American Dream. Nobody wants to punish the rich because they think that could be them one day. That might have been true once but now, like most countries, where you end up largely depends on where you started.

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David Strachan-Morris @drdavidsm.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

We were a Pear's Cyclopaedia family. My sister and I would fight over it whenever we got a new one. I have a copy of the last edition on my desk now.

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