When God Blew the Wind—and When Drones Took the Sea

This column draws a parallel between the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and the challenges faced by modern naval power in asymmetric warfare. By linking religious symbolism, Lacanian theory, and contemporary geopolitics, it argues that the gap between symbolic belief and material reality has become a defining feature of modern conflict.Chicago-Style BibliographyBlumenthal, Max. “The Islamabad Negotiations Are a Hoax.” YouTube video, 2026.Cronenberg, David, dir. Videodrome. Canada: Universal Pictures, 1983.Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Translated by Bruce Fink. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006.Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book XI: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis. New York: W.W. Norton, 1978.“He Blew with His Winds, and They Were Scattered.” Wikipedia. Gutiérrez, Óscar. “Iran Challenges the Powerful US Navy in an Asymmetric Naval Battle in the Gulf.” El País, March 13, 2026. “A Conflict of Attrition: Iran’s Bet on Asymmetric Warfare.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2026.