“You have the watches, we have the time" is a proverb, often attributed to the Taliban, suggesting that while an external power may have advanced technology and resources (represented by watches), the local population has the resilience and willingness to endure a protracted struggle, implying that they can wait out the foreign presence and ultimately prevail.

To the planner time is all; to the strategist timing is everything.

1/7 
We think of war in terms of space: terrain, borders, positions. Robert R. Leonhard argues the decisive dimension is actually time. In Fighting by Minutes, he breaks time in war into four parts. A thread 🧵

8/8 The Future of Power: 7 Key Takeaways 1 Power = outcomes 2 Transition + diffusion 3 3-D chessboard 4 Smart power wins 5 Whose story wins 6 Cyber equalizes 7 Power with, not over Power is spreading. The winners will combine force with credibility. #JosephNye #BookSummary

7/8 Beyond the Myth of American Decline The U.S. is not in absolute decline. What is changing is the “rise of the rest” and the spread of power. Leadership now means power WITH others (coalitions and networks), not just power OVER them. #ForeignPolicy #GlobalLeadership

6/8 Cyber Power: The Great Equaliser Cyberspace has low costs to enter, high anonymity and weak defences. Governments, criminals, hacktivists and terror groups can all project power, which narrows the gap between big and small players. #CyberSecurity #CyberPower

5/8 Whose Story Wins In the information age, success depends on whose army wins and also on whose story wins. With information everywhere, attention and credibility are scarce. Soft power comes from culture, values and legitimate policies. #SoftPower #InformationAge

4/8 Smart Power = Hard + Soft Neither force nor charm is enough on its own. Smart power combines military and economic tools with attraction, using contextual intelligence: knowing which tool fits which situation. #SmartPower #Leadership

3/8 The Three-Dimensional Chessboard Military power is unipolar, with the U.S. far ahead. Economic power is multipolar. Transnational issues such as climate, pandemics and cyber are diffuse, and no one controls them. Play one board only and you lose. #WorldOrder #Strategy

2/8 Two Great Power Shifts Power is moving from West to East as Asia rises (transition). It is also moving from states to firms, NGOs, networks and hackers (diffusion). The second shift is the harder one to manage. #Geopolitics #PowerShift

7 takeaways from book The Future of Power by @Joe_Nye 1/8 Power Is About Outcomes, Not Just Resources Joseph Nye defines power as the ability to affect others to get what you want, using sticks (coercion), carrots (payment) or attraction (soft power). Always ask: power over whom, to do what? #SoftPower #JosephNye

Save this for easy reference. The Future of Power: 7 Key Takeaways 1 Power = outcomes 2 Transition + diffusion 3 3-D chessboard 4 Smart power wins 5 Whose story wins 6 Cyber equalizes 7 Power with, not over

🚩 In sum: "The Mask of Command" reveals that great leadership is as much about persona, presence, communication, and psychological insight as it is about courage or tactics. Command doesn’t just demand action—it demands performance. #leadership #militaryhistory #JohnKeegan

Saved this as a carousel for easy reference.

🧵 A Masterclass in Military Thought: 6 Key Takeaways from "On Operations" by B.A. Friedman Friedman's work challenges modern military dogma, stripping away unnecessary jargon to reveal the true mechanics of warfare. Here’s how you can rethink operational art.👇

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 3️⃣ Sequence: what comes first. Order of events matter. The general that master’s sequential perception understands first, second, third and fourth order consequences of his actions has advantage over his opponent because he has reasoned the most probable sequence of events.

4/7
 2️⃣ Frequency: how often you act. This is tempo. If you act faster and more often than your opponent, they spend the war reacting instead of acting.

3/7 1️⃣ Duration: how long the war lasts. Short wars reward speed and readiness. Long wars reward depth, resources and endurance. A smart side tries to stretch or compress the war to fit its strengths.