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First up this week, a couple of good military blogs to bookmark (if you aren\u2019t already acquainted). The Modern War Institute at West Point runs the cracking <\/span>War Council Blog<\/span><\/a>, which surveys all aspects of the modern battlefield. Here\u2019s a fascinating MWI read that <\/span>makes the case for concrete as a weapon<\/span><\/a>: \u2018No other weapon or technology has done more to contribute to achieving strategic goals<\/span>\u00a0of providing security, protecting populations, establishing stability, and eliminating terrorist threats.\u2019 Back home, props to the Australian Army for opening up the conversation around the future of land power and army modernisation through the <\/span>Land Power Forum<\/span><\/a>. And on the back of the Submarine Institute of Australia\u2019s recent Canberra conference, it\u2019s germane to also give a shout-out to their nascent blog effort, <\/span>Deep Thinker<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Linda Jakobson and her team <\/span>China Matters<\/span><\/a> have done a great deal to promote a <\/span>deeper discussion<\/span><\/a> around the challenges and opportunities in the Australia\u2013China relationship. And it\u2019s not just a conversation for seasoned voices, with China Matters recently hosting their <\/span>inaugural young professionals meeting<\/span><\/a> in Canberra. You can catch up with meeting summary, policy recommendations, agenda, discussion papers and more <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s some long reads on which to slide into the weekend. David Remnick\u2019s <\/span>masterful profile on Obama<\/span><\/a> after the election of Donald Trump. It\u2019s an immense and insightful piece of writing. And in case you missed it, Jeffrey Goldberg <\/span>turned it up to 11<\/span><\/a> in reporting his <\/span>interviews with Henry Kissinger<\/span><\/a> for <\/span>The Atlantic.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n In our populism pick of the week,<\/span> over at <\/span>Project Syndicate<\/span><\/i><\/a>, Princeton\u2019s Harold James likens the rise of populism to the interwar period in the 20th century which saw the rise of Italian fascism in response to Soviet communism. He also asks an important question for anyone peering into the future: \u2018Can a firewall be built to prevent such political contagion?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Kicking off this week\u2019s fresh research is a great new report from New America which offers five policy recommendations for government and media officials based on a close examination of media reactions to Orlando\u2019s Pulse nightclub attack;<\/span> War and Tweets: Terrorism in America in the Digital Age<\/span><\/i><\/a> is a must-read for any media politics wonks. A sinister read from the Atlantic Council,<\/span> The Kremlin\u2019s Trojan Horses<\/span><\/i><\/a> (PDF), unpacks how Russia is using ideologically friendly politicians, parties and press in France, Germany and the UK to create a pro-Russia current under the country’s mainstream politics and media. A<\/span> longer effort from RUSI<\/span><\/a> offers some thoughts on the long road and important task ahead of Antonio Guterres, the next Secretary-General of the UN: committing the organisation to gender equality goals to improve its peacekeeping operations. And finally, two great new releases from the Center for a New American Security:<\/span> the first<\/span><\/a> on the effects of the Third Offset Strategy on the US\u2013ROK alliance, and<\/span> the second<\/span><\/a>, which prescribes eight policy recommendations to bolster the security efforts behind the US rebalance to Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s<\/span> a hoax created by the Chinese<\/span><\/a> to oust US manufacturing or a global phenomenon one needs to have a<\/span> \u2018totally open mind\u2019<\/span><\/a> about, it\u2019s pretty clear that the president-elect knows next to nothing about climate change.<\/span> A great piece from <\/span>New York<\/span><\/i> magazine fact-checks<\/span><\/a> the section of DJT\u2019s recent interview with <\/span>The New York Times<\/span><\/i> where he discussed his views on climate change\u2014which at one point descended into a ramble on the evils of wind turbines and how they \u2018kill all the birds\u2019. Another read on from <\/span>The Economist<\/span><\/i> urges countries to stay the course<\/span><\/a> on COP 21 commitments, even if the US backs away from its leadership position.<\/span><\/p>\n If that\u2019s too depressing for you, then now\u2019s a great time to remind yourself about<\/span> the process of DiCapriation<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0\u2018evidence of a man\u2019s tendency to follow a predetermined track of beauty\u2019 that\u2019s just as applicable to the ugliness that\u2019s taken hold of America as it is to Leonardo DiCaprio\u2019s A+ looks. Right now, the US is at its rock-bottom <\/span>The Revenant<\/span><\/i> Leo-D phase, but as the graph reminds us, America will be handsome again.<\/span><\/p>\n Podcast<\/b><\/p>\n In the <\/span>latest podcast from The GroundTruth Project<\/span><\/a> (18 mins), GT fellow Chris Bentley visits the watery northwest coast of Jakarta as it slowly sinks into the megacity\u2019s rivers. As whole neighbourhoods are razed to accommodate waters crumbling the edge of Indonesia\u2019s capital, Bentley asks what processes Indonesians are using to adapt to the flooding more damaging than the effects of climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n Videos<\/b><\/p>\n Strategy supremo Eliot\u00a0A. Cohen of Johns Hopkins University delivered a keynote to the first-ever War Studies Conference hosted by the Modern War Institute at West Point. Cohen spoke on <\/span>the domestic political challenges of deterrence<\/span><\/a>, before sitting down to for a chat with the <\/span>NYT<\/span><\/i>\u2019s David Sanger (72 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n Stopping an enemy ballistic missile after it has been launched is no easy task. This short <\/span>CSIS informational video<\/span><\/a> (3 mins) looks at just one of the technology challenges involved, determining what part of the \u2018threat cloud\u2019 released by a missile is actually the warhead that must be destroyed\u2014a process called Midcourse Discrimination that\u2019s carried out by sea, air, land and space capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n Events<\/b><\/p>\n Melbourne: Lowy\u2019s Rodger Shanahan and <\/span>Lydia Khalil<\/span><\/a> will take to the stage next week to explore the future of the foreign fighter threat. Register <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n