Sign in

Jacob Parakilas

@jparakilas.bsky.social
225 followers 200 following 821 posts

RAND Europe defenc/se strategy and policy guy. Dad joker, aircraft/car/ship/armored vehicle nerd, ex-civil servant. Lewiston to London via Lagos.

PostsRepliesMedia
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 19h
(1) Bexhill refugee camp battle, Children of Men (2) Tiger Vs Shermans, Fury (3) War rig Vs motorcycles, Fury Road (4) Convoy ambush, Ronin (5) The bank heist, Heat Could move some of those up or down but I think that's the top five for me.
110
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Nice surprise this morning to discover that the piece Oliver Gill and I wrote on the future of Ukraine's armed forces had been cited and discussed on the Telegraph's Ukraine podcast. Listen here: open.spotify.com/podcast-chap...
open.spotify.com
Putin Expands Army, Record Defence Spending Revealed
Ukraine: The Latest · Chapter · 11m
101
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
My eight year old asked me to tell her the story of WWII as a bedtime story tonight, and I'm torn between extreme pride and utter terror that well before her teenage years this child has my number.
200
Reposted by Jacob Parakilas
ICDS Tallinn @icds-tallinn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Pattern Traps: Safety of Escalation - Patrycja Bazylczyk, @csis.org - Jungsup Kim, Sejong Institute - Sébastien Vallette, French Ministry of the Armed Forces Moderator: @jparakilas.bsky.social, @randeurope.org 📸 Photos: flic.kr/s/aHBqjD5xuR #ABCDTallinn
041
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
At risk of starting a Discourse, I do think the state should be empowered to strip driver's licenses from people who record video on their phones while driving. Dashcam fine, helmetcam fine, but if you're Making Content while going 75 mph you need to take the bus for a while.
110
Reposted by Jacob Parakilas
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 31/08/2026
Across the country, students are preparing to return to school. But no new class will be welcomed at Hampshire College. @hannahgais.bsky.social reports on the fall of that grand pedagogical experiment—and the wider crisis facing higher education.
thebaffler.com
Class Dismissed | Hannah Gais
Private liberal arts schools were never going to kickstart the revolution. But the closure of Hampshire College further narrows the political imaginary.
03410
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
What's an example of perfect casting?
static.klipy.com
Zhukov in Military Uniform
Alt: Jason Isaacs as Marshal Zhukov takes his coat off.
101
Reposted by Jacob Parakilas
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Oliver Gill and I did a medium-depth dive into the future of the AFU. We argue that there are two overlapping but distinct future force structures championed by the traditionalists and transformers, which reflect different risk calculations and victory conditions... www.rand.org/pubs/comment...
rand.org
Forecasting the Next Steps in Ukraine's Military Evolution
Ukraine’s military has changed substantially since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Will its next evolution be shaped by traditionalists or technologists?
123
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Oliver Gill and I did a medium-depth dive into the future of the AFU. We argue that there are two overlapping but distinct future force structures championed by the traditionalists and transformers, which reflect different risk calculations and victory conditions... www.rand.org/pubs/comment...
rand.org
Forecasting the Next Steps in Ukraine's Military Evolution
Ukraine’s military has changed substantially since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Will its next evolution be shaped by traditionalists or technologists?
123
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Random thought, prompted by The Dog Stars (6.5/10, perfectly good way to pass an evening). Seems to me we've got a lot of apocalyptic fiction where society has properly broken down and individual survivors are the focus but a relative dearth of apocalyptish fiction where the state has receded...
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
8yo asked me this evening what the greatest poem ever written is. I volunteered Williams's This Is Just To Say (also the only poem I can recite by heart). DAD. THAT'S DUMB. IT'S JUST ABOUT EATING PLUMS. no, you see there are layers of meaning... NO THERE AREN'T. IT'S JUST PLUMS ALL THE WAY DOWN.
020
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
I took my kids to lunch at a nice-ish gastropub a couple of months ago. Spent the meal nervously policing their behaviour. As we were leaving, an older lady dining with her friends beckoned me over. Oh no, I thought, here we go. "Just want to say your children are very well behaved," she said.
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
In college I wrote a column for the school paper called How Not to Make a Movie where I intentionally sought out the worst films I could and then maxed out my poison pen towards them. Would say the contenders for the top spot would be The Core, Twisted, and like three separate Uwe Boll films.
000
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I really want to know what the series of events that led to the taking of this picture was. "Sorry Prime Minister, did we ever check what was in that box you just carried from Ankara?" "No." "Ok let's just drop it on the airport carpet here and do a quick unboxing vid for the socials... Oh. Oh my."
000
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
In Foreign Policy, my colleague John Kennedy and I took stock of the war, with enormous thanks to @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social for commissioning and editing. foreignpolicy.com/2026/07/07/u...
foreignpolicy.com
Putin May Escalate, but Ukraine Is Winning
In the ongoing battle of narratives, Kyiv’s supporters have every reason to hold the course.
1277
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Still for my money the greatest piece of political rhetoric of all time: --- Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Sorry to report that Disclosure Day is a dud. Whole film premised on the idea that dropping some video footage of UAPs would make the entire world stop dead like the soldiers & guerrillas in Children of Men, ignoring the fact that that *happened* and the public reaction was 'oh wow... anyway.'
110
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
I made something (with Claude's help). How about a nice game of chess? Just... normal chess. Totally normal. totallynormalchess.netlify.app
totallynormalchess.netlify.app
Totally Normal Chess
000
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Haldeman's Forever War
120
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Was trying to figure out what this reminded me of and then it hit me:
The Machine from Contact
030
Reposted by Jacob Parakilas
Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
[Scene is the Tudor royal court. ladies and gentlemen standing round. In the corner a very fat HENRY VIII is hunched over playing a lute.]
 
1 
LADY:
Hey Anne Boleyn -
Who’s that lute player?

ANNE BOLEYN:
I dunno 

[Determined face]

But I’m gonna find out.

[Title lettering panel]:

THIS SUMMER

[Scene is now two musicians - one with a harp, the other is Henry VIII again playing the lute]

HARPIST:
Yo Henry VIII  -  

Who wrote that sick lute riff yo’ jamming?

HENRY VIII:
Why...

[Looking around, modest, surprised at the attention]

I did…!

[Title lettering panel]:

SEE THE STORY

[Scene is now a tudor record producer with ruff and wearing dark sunglasses]:

PRODUCER:
Congratulations Henry 
Your lute thing is a hit and your story is now one of uncomplicated musical success!

[Show a panel with lots of Beatlemania-style scenes of success for Henry the musician - swooning tudor girls, playing lute on stage, waving to fans as he descends from his golden carriage. In the middle of it in Tudor lettering are the words]:

“UNCOMPLICATED MUSICAL SUCCESS MONTAGE”.

[Another scene - a man is saying to Henry]:

MAN:
Say Henry VIII -
Are you doing anything outside this narrative that is very bad or weird?

HENRY VIII:
No.

[Title lettering panel]:

…OF A MUSICAL GENIUS
who definitely didn’t do anything outside this narrative that was very bad or weird

[Scene with Thomas Cromwell]

THOMAS CROMWELL:
Hang on Henry aren't you also a - 

HENRY VIII [jumping in front of him with his lute held aloft]:
LUTE SOLO!

[Final film title panel]:

HENRY VIII: 
Rock Biopic
[rated U]

[Ends]
5554811611
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
(A) I'm pleased to have been able to contribute to this BBC World Service interview about the robotization of the Ukrainian battlefield and what it means. (B) I managed to work in the term "pointy rock" in a contextually appropriate fashion, which I'm proud of. www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-Xp...
youtube.com
Will robots on the frontline mark the end of human soldiers? - BBC World Service
YouTube video by BBC World Service
010
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Android Auto on my phone recently updated to include Gemini. The voice switched to a man, it got worse at finding things and it started to give long winded answers instead of doing what I'd asked. Google, if that was the service I wanted, I'd hire a first year grad student to ride shotgun instead.
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, DC, Marvel, Disney, Pixar, Spielberg, Cameron, Wachowskis, or Ghibli.
media.tenor.com
a man talking on a walkie talkie with the words " a great day comrades we sail into history " below him
Alt: a man talking on a walkie talkie with the words " a great day comrades we sail into history " below him
110
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Ok, can someone explain a transatlantic cultural difference to me: crinkle a candy wrapper slightly too loudly in the Amtrak quiet car and you'll get glared at and shushed. Whereas the quiet car signs on British trains might as well be in Sanskrit for all the heed people pay to them. What gives?
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
File the impressive Ukrainian achievement of "enemy position captured solely by UGVs" in the crowded category of "significant milestones that can nevertheless easily be over-interpreted" - a few thoughts on why from me here: theconversation.com/robots-just-...
theconversation.com
Robots just captured a Russian position in Ukraine – but don’t worry about real-life Terminators just yet
Robots have a growing role on the battlefield – but for the immediate future, they are more likely to support the fight than lead it.
021
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Sad to learn that my alma mater is going to be closing its doors permanently this year. I had a mixed experience at Hampshire - I think I was the odd student there who probably would have been better served by a slightly more conventional place - but for a lot of people it was transformational.
120
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Genuinely weird to look up at the moon this morning and realize that for the first time in my life there are people out there.
The moon seen through trees in the early morning
010
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Nice chat with The Globalist's Georgina Godwin this morning around the difference between types of "drone warfare" in Ukraine and the Gulf and the ways the two are and aren't interlinked. open.spotify.com/episode/48bC...
open.spotify.com
How drone technology has reshaped the wars in Ukraine and Iran
010
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Probably DC to Maine, which I soloed a couple of times. But in terms of how long it *felt*, DC to Western MA, given that it was in a friend's 1996 Camry which vibrated madly between 50-65 mph. "It's fine, if there was something really wrong it'd tell me." Two months later the front wheel fell off.
010
Reposted by Jacob Parakilas
Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @terrystiastny.bsky.social and @jparakilas.bsky.social on events in Mexico and the day's other stuff, plus @jmacrodgers.bsky.social on his terrific new book "The Return Of Russia", which you should all read. monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
Violence erupts in Mexico after killing of cartel boss. Plus: is Hungary a thorn in Europe’s side? - Monocle
Violence sweeps across Mexico after cartel leader El Mencho is killed in military custody. Then: we ask why Hungary is...
063
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Finally saw Avatar 3. My favorite part was the subplot about how "touching steel destroys your soul" being resolved in favor of "yes but have you considered how much it rules to strap an RPG to an arrow and yeet it into a helicopter gunship."
110
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
Slightly diminish a game Partial Annihilation
000
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Really pleased, thanks to the good offices of @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social, to have this piece that Pavlo Shkurenko and I wrote about Russia's military procurement and what it says about their ambitions in Europe out in the world: foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/07/r...
foreignpolicy.com
Russia’s Military Procurement Is a Warning for Europe
Putin’s order books reveal plans for conflict well beyond Ukraine
011
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
Day 1 of holiday break with the kids: Danny Go? Sure, we can listen to that. Day 3: You know, some of these songs are legit catchy. Day 5: we can't listen to anything else? You sure? Day 7: when I come to power he's Danny Going to the Hague.
000
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
I saw the first Transformers in a crowded Chinatown theatre in DC on a hot summer day in 2007. When Optimus Prime rolled into the warehouse, unfolded and introduced himself in Peter Cullen's voice, the entire cinema got on its feet and cheered.
000
Reposted by Jacob Parakilas
Andrew Mueller @andrewmueller.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Latest Daily on Monocle Radio. @tessaszy.bsky.social and @jparakilas.bsky.social on the day's big stories - and the strange disappearance of the hotel bathroom door - plus @joanamoser.bsky.social meets Heidi Ewing, co-director of "Folktales". monocle.com/radio/shows/...
monocle.com
Nato foreign ministers demand a say in a future peace agreement for Ukraine - Monocle
Nato foreign ministers meet in Brussels following a US-Russia summit in Moscow. Then: we look ahead to Australia’s teen social-media...
142
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
More new research on Ukraine and defense technology from my colleagues - this one on defense industrial collaboration. Tooling up together: How Europe and Ukraine can improve defence industrial collaboration | RAND share.google/XM9yMYGq5jYQ...
share.google
Tooling up together
This report briefly examines the factors limiting the developing of defence-industrial collaboration between Ukraine and its allies, and how collaboration can be improved.
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
1999 Toyota Camry A Zipcard 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 2019 Volvo V90 2021 Skoda Enyaq iV
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
My humble contribution to the annual Turkey Discourse is that I think part of the issue is that turkey does not keep particularly well. So even if you enjoy it on Thanksgiving you're likely to find it pretty hard to stomach as your fourth consecutive leftover meal.
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
My current mood, according to Spotify, can best be described as "seasonally appropriate menace."
000
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
The folks at Monocle24 were kind enough to give me a decent chunk of time this morning to talk about our work in Ukraine on emerging technology and military doctrine - you can listen from about 29:40 here: open.spotify.com/episode/1jrr...
open.spotify.com
Why South Korea is proposing military talks with North Korea
011
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
So here's the first part of something that I've been working on for the last twelve months. Not every day I get to say that. www.rand.org/randeurope/r...
rand.org
Innovation and adaptation at war: Supporting Ukraine’s digital transformation
RAND Europe authored a series of reports on how to optimize Kyiv’s technological and policy advantages as Ukraine defends its sovereignty.
364
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Boy Diplomat S3 really jumps the shark doesn't it.
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming Look at my works ye mighty and start running Didn't make sense not to live life fair Your brain gets smart but now you despair Hey now You're king of kings Get your trunk on Its legs Hey now You're colossal But nothing else Re maaains
010
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
I've gotta say one upside of being in GMT and having a mostly American follows list is waking up and scrolling backwards through the desperate and unhinged Oh Please Make It Stop baseball posts. Well done everyone, a brief and welcome return to the internet of the Before Times.
100
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
CHOTINER: So I want to come back to something you said earlier. You described yourself as "a healthcare provider." MAJOR LIO PARTAGAZ: That's right. CHOTINER: Do you think "healthcare" is the right metaphor for what happened to Ghorman? PARTAGAZ: Look, that's... that's a different situation.
1122
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
This was a really interesting conversation - thanks so much to @icds-tallinn.bsky.social for putting it together!
151
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
God help me I did not realize that there were *six* separate NCIS series. How much boat crime can there be??
000
Jacob Parakilas @jparakilas.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
So on a scale where 1 is "everything is fine, normal" and 10 is "Swan Lake on every channel," where does the Spotify Calming Classical playlist in the Brixton McDonald's land?
000