🔮 The Exponential Age’s Maidan moment

For years we didn’t skip a beat in publishing Exponential View every Sunday. This week is different.

We pause the regular Sunday schedule to address the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are not journalists or reporters, but we do take it upon ourselves to provide a frame to help you make sense of the events, and where they may take us. We are watching the post-Cold War era get dismantled. It is a staggering milestone with deep, deep ramifications.

I (Azeem) specialised in Cold War international relations at University. You can find my thesis on the Cuban Missile Crisis somewhere on the internet. I have kept my knowledge warm, last year investing in the 2021 Military Balance, a journal I bought annually in the late 80s and early 90s. In honesty, the complexity of new wars, as we’ve seen across Asia and the Middle East since 1994 baffled my frame. This current conflict speaks to histories I’ve studied informally for more than 30 years.  

Before I go any further, our thoughts are with those …