Thread by @MollyMcKew

I often say my tweeps are the best tweeps—really, you are.

Inspired by you, I’m so excited to launch GREAT POWER to bring you original, frontline stories about the reality of great power competition in an era of hybrid conflict.

Sign up today! /1

greatpower.us/p/a-heartfelt-…

Since 2016, we've been participants—forced conscripts—in an utterly confusing conflict.

GREAT POWER, a Substack-based newsletter/mini-journal, will explore how these shadow wars target us — as a nation, as individuals, and as de facto combatants. /2

greatpower.us/subscribe

GREAT POWER will be a place for great storytelling & analysis informed by firsthand experience

It will explain the texture of loss & victory as we see it from the trenches of these interstate rivalries so we can learn together why we can’t get it wrong /3
greatpower.us/p/great-power

I'll be the lead author of this project, but we’ll also have amazing guest contributors.

In the coming months, you can expect pieces from/with @Kasparov63 @MarkHertling @john_sipher @StevenLHall1 @Mpolymer @TJQuinnESPN and more! /4

That’s right — there’s a sportswriter in there! Why? Because we’re going to have fun.

Expect content that draws from science fiction, movies, books, sports, and other storytelling that shows us visions of the world that was and the world to come. /5

There will be candid accounts of historical events, intelligence operations, information operations, and more that will help you feel the texture of decision-making in these conflicts.

Overall, we’ll keep talking about how the idea of great power connects to us all. /6

What can you expect from GREAT POWER?

Many of you have been with me on this journey for a while now. But let’s look at how we got here so you can see where this is going. /7

A lot of you found me after I wrote this piece, just before Trump’s inauguration, warning what the Kremlin was up to, and what we needed to do.

I stand by every word.

Needless to say, Trump doesn’t get it, and didn’t do any of this. /8

politico.com/magazine/story…

That long analysis grew out of years of experience on the Russia periphery — learning what the Kremlin was willing to do for even small strategic gains — and especially watching how slow everyone was to realize the enormity of Crimea. /9

During Crimea, @gmaniatis and I wrote a series of pieces about what it all meant, including this one /10

washingtonpost.com/opinions/playi…

I’ve kept bringing you realistic analyses of the Kremlin’s behavior even when they were uncomfortable.

You’ll recall this piece from 2017 maybe, which highlights Kremlin cooperation w/ ISIS & the Taliban, as we talk now about bounties in Afghanistan /11
politico.com/magazine/story…

I’ve also tried to help you get beyond the idea of bots and trolls by writing about narrative and narrative architecture, and how information warfare targets us and is used by malign actors — like this early piece on the ecosystem QAnon fits into. /12

wired.com/story/informat…

(By the way, after reading the Senate’s 5-volume report on 2016, including the counterintelligence report, I think my testimony from 2017 holds up pretty well.) /13
csce.gov/sites/helsinki…

But the pieces I love most are the ones where I get to bring you the stories of the people in the fight.

Like this one, on Estonia (which the Kremlin was sooooooo pissed about!)... /14

politico.com/magazine/story…

... and this one, highlighting the death of a female sniper in Ukraine, and why we should care.

It’s these personal stories that drive it all home for me. The people we need to stand beside, and the cost if we wander off or get it wrong.

/15
politico.com/magazine/story…

Along the way, I’ve tried to introduce you to some of the people I respect and admire and learn from, like the incomparable @Kasparov63... /16

... and of course @MarkHertling /17

politico.com/magazine/story…

And of course, in the absence of other leadership, I’ve tried to help explain how it could be better. /18

defusingdis.info/2019/02/08/rul…

Because really — it’s up to us, basically. Yippee! /19
standuprepublic.com/in-a-time-of-c…

So that’s how I arrived at Great Power, which fuses together all of these areas and will champion great writing that usually doesn’t have a home anywhere else

Call it a new contribution to the American civil defense we desperately need, but don’t have /20
greatpower.us/p/coming-soon

You can subscribe to Great Power for $8/month or $75/year — or sign up as a Founding Member & you’ll have access to special content, plus I’ll send you a mug before Thanksgiving which, inshallah, we can use to toast the inauguration of 46 in Jan 2021! /21

greatpower.us/subscribe

I’m also offering special rates for students (actually students, not all of us with .edu addresses we sometimes abuse...) and active duty military — you can email [e-mail] for more information. /22

Bottom line: I know it’s tough times. Email if you need a discount! We want you in the community.

Paid subscribers have access to all content; free subscribers will have access to some posts and previews of the other content. /23

We’ll start with one original long-read a week, plus a few shorter posts on the latest developments and events. This will expand as the project grows — sign up now so we can get going! /24

Our first original long-read — on all the things about the Russian bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan that no one is talking or asking about — will go live this weekend, so sign up now and don’t miss a word! /25

greatpower.us/subscribe

Finally, if you are one of the first 200 subscribers, you get a special discount AND A MUG for being an early subscriber!

Use this link: /26
greatpower.us/460e8bf3

I’m so excited to bring this new project to you, with you, and I can’t wait to get started.

Subscribe today!

Also, follow @RenewGreatPower for news, updates, highlights, and snark! /27

greatpower.us/subscribe