Cold War Daily

Is technology making you feel helpless? According to this analysis of the writings on Peter Thiel’s philosophy and the Pope Leo XIV, there is a reason why: Silicon Valley is trying to engineer power away from existing, often democratic, institutions.  Around 6.40 in the Google LLM Notebook generated dialogue, it discusses the Silicon Valley ideology that seeks to shift power away from physical stakes, institutions and governments.  Some quotes: “The Silicon Valley business strategy inevitably morphs into a profound political vision. The sources identify a fascinating generational tension at play here. Thiel and his cohort basically belong to Generation X, okay? […]

Is technology making you feel helpless? According to this analysis of the writings on Peter Thiel’s philosophy and the Pope Leo XIV, there is a reason why: Silicon Valley is trying to engineer power away from existing, often democratic, institutions. Around 6.40 in the Google LLM Notebook generated dialogue, it discusses the Silicon Valley ideology that seeks to shift power away from physical stakes, institutions and governments.  Some quotes: “The Silicon Valley business strategy inevitably morphs into a profound political vision. The sources identify a fascinating generational tension at play here. Thiel and his cohort basically belong to Generation X, okay? […]

It’s been a while…I’m trying something new…The sources discussed in this Google LLM Notebook generated audio are posts by former Russian Oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and US journalist Heidi Siegmund Cuda. They discuss the reality of journalism in a time of information overabundance. They also and the way bad-faith voices can continually hijack the political agenda of democracies. (This is a hobby podcast, and its content is independent of my workplace. CZ)

Given the interest in Elon Musk’s flirtation with the Kremlin view on Ukraine, the topic of the Western tech world’s openness to Kremlin narratives has emerged again. I’ve gotten a small spike of interest in a presentation I made at SXSW in 2018. So I’ll share it here again in a downloadable form. If I did the same presentation today, I’d have much to add – including about Elon Musk.

…and information disorder, untruths, trolling, disinformation. The virtual event is an effort to resurrect the global language of democracy after its rough start in the new century. One of the traits of this era is escalating complexity of systems. No form of government knows that better than liberal democracy — just look at the news and social media feeds in a democratic country on any given day. So it’s crucial in this time that there is a way to conceive of democracy simply, and as a whole.

Too much information, too much contradiction and too much confusion. In this era, how do we even think about where democracy stands in the world? The former president of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves, in a speech in honour of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, offers a clear-eyed assessment of the state of democracy today in competition with Russia, China  and other autocracies. He notes how there once was moral clarity about where the West stood in relations to these countries. Not so now: one of the fallouts of 30 years of globalisation, the internet and free trade is this great blurring, which sees […]

The strategy of declassifying intelligence around Russia’s intentions to invade Ukraine has recast the global narrative about Russia, and possibly about authoritarianism too. The way the White House declassified and shared intelligence on Putin’s military intentions has effectively now robbed Russia of narrative control. But the campaign to forewarn the public of an imminent invasion has had another collateral effect so far: It has blown up a certain unofficial view on US power, on the Western alliance, and on democracy that had come to colour the broader debate between democracy  and authoritarianism. 

The US election nears, and a lot is riding on the outcome from Russia. The US DoJ reveals an influence campaign run through Russia’s international propaganda arm, RT. How significant is the indictment of the two RT employees? A short podcast with myself and Matt Sussex from the ANU.

I wanted to push a little deeper on the question of how (or even why) US foreign policy should be more in sync with the middle class. (Writing in 2026: This was a part of the Biden policy that was missed by the public and media alike).

As Allied troops stormed the beaches, one military expert stressed the goal of fairness in the system designed to save democracy. This has lessons for democracy today. The meaning of D-Day today for democracy.

The Lincoln Project helps fill out the vicious side of the ledger against Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Will it help clear the space for the virtuous side of US politics to take over? The question with the Lincoln Project is whether it can reach the persuadable voters who matter in the presidential election. The Lincoln Project helps fill out the vicious side of the ledger against Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Will it help clear the space for the virtuous side of US politics to take over? The question with the Lincoln Project is whether it can reach the persuadable voters who matter in the presidential election.

It’s been a while, and I’m trying something new…Using Google LLM Notebook, I’ve generated an audio analysis of specific social media comments. They are from former Russian Oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and journalist Heidi Siegmund Cuda, as well as my own prompts. The ideas consider the reality of 20th Century journalism in a time of 21st Century information overabundance. (This is a hobby account, and its content is independent of my workplace.) CZ