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Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

interpret.csis.org

71–80 of 263 posts

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#71
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Power is power. The US has due process, judicial transparency, and free speech. There are still rich people that operate above the system, but they're largely still accountable and the free press can crucify them. Authoritarian regimes have execution vans, no freedom of the press, no free speech, and a paranoid leadership that will jail or kill anyone who threatens their power. They lock citizens inside and prohibit…

> I'm no fan of the party in power in the US, but I can campaign and speak out against them. I can raise money to oppose them. I can band together with like minded individuals to protest.

You can. Just not in any way that matters. And you won’t. Because that takes organization and all existing organizations that matter are captured by the system and novel ones would quickly be.

Perfect example: The US just launched a disastrous and illegal (both in their own and the UN system) war at the behest of a foreign power/influential minority against the will of its people and against its geopolitical interest. And the “opposition” does less than nothing. There is little anti-war protest and none of consquence.

Compare it with 2003 and earlier wars: The American public has been all but neutralized as a political force. Not that it could do much even then.

> That's superior to unilateral oppression.

You prefer the illusion of power.

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Are you new to this site? I ask because your comment is entirely against the decorum we try to maintain here. This is a place for meaningful discussion (on topics pertaining to engineering and science in particular), it is not like Reddit where we hurl insults on one another in some apparent attempt to ratio people we disagree with.

Meaningful discussion. Bike shedding, mostly. And illiterates hiding behind llm-generated content. I’m new to this site, sure. Stop impeding my „freedom of speech”.

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#73
post #7

Why is Chinese army propaganda on this site? It's not news that the PLA will oppose technology that gives the US military an advantage.

CSIS is republishing work from PLA affiliated writers from PLA affiliated think tanks, published an a PLA affiliated journal because it does in fact capture aspects of internal PLA thinking. This article is from 2023, it's not written in the context of the current administrations policies and rhteroic. While we can always be certain that there are aspects of external facing PR/propaganda, we also should consider "how…

I don't think that Starlink affects nuclear deterrence / the MAD doctrine in any meaningful way. But it does seriously affect "conventional" warfare. And China is rather visibly preparing for a conventional war.

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#74

I noticed this the other day with the Anthropic upholding its redline. I think this is the first time in history where consumer tech exceeds military tech. Historically, it was always military tech trickles down to consumer.

This is a completely unfounded conspiracy theory, but I think it’s a fun one. I think Elon Musk is running these companies the same way that he is a top ranked Diablo player. He just plays one on TV. The decision makers in the military industrial complex pushed black programs into a group of private company so they could scale and cut red tape while shedding contractors with really serious performance problems. So no…

Conspiracy theories aren't very productive. But the one thing that continues to bother me is how there is no great explanation for why TSLA is still worth much. It's a shrinking car company that is failing to execute at FSD and says it's going to make humanoid robots instead of cars.

There is no good reason TSLA should be valued any more than 10% of its current valuation, and even that would be rich. There is a fine argument it should be worth 3-4% of what it currently is.

It is almost like there's a connection between PayPal, Elon Musks fortunes, and crypto.

I still wonder who Satoshi really was. I wonder how Microstrategy remains solvent.

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#75

[flagged]

> If they can build a peaceful relationship with Taiwan without military involvement

Xi fucked this up because he’s a dictator.

Taiwanese polling on national identity was mixed until the 2010s [1]. Left at peace, it would have probably voted for reintegration in our lifetimes. But then Xi decided the post-Mao system of political competition within the CCP was inconvenient, launched his wolf warriors on all of China’s neighbors, annexed Hong Kong prematurely and started warmongering with Taiwan, all of which has lead to an avoidable but now-permanent polarization across the strait.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_on_Taiwanese_i...

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#76
post #35

It's not great that they found starlink terminals on Russian drones (they've since tried to lock them down more). These should be export controlled and geo-locked as they are arguably much more powerful than any missile.

SpaceX already does geo-lock them to an extend. But the terminals are exported to so many countries that any meaningful controls are impossible.

Terminals in Ukraine are whitelisted (with whitelist being supplied by the Ukrainian MoD). Meaningful controls are possible, it's what led to the ukrainian forces advancing and liberating territory recently.

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#77

It's not great that they found starlink terminals on Russian drones (they've since tried to lock them down more). These should be export controlled and geo-locked as they are arguably much more powerful than any missile.

Not only that. It seems to have been more Russian starlink terminals than Ukrainian ones.

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Wow, nativism from the left is wild to see. Obama was the son of an immigrant vs the grandchild of one for Trump. There’s a lot of valid criticism of Melania but claiming it’s because she “can’t” speak English is wild (she speaks with an accent but so what). I’m tired of attacks on personal characteristics that have no bearing (or are even outside their control) rather than on legitimate things like ideas, temperamen…

It’s a shill/troll account. Flag and move on.

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#79
post #55
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The terminal knows where it is at all times.

The Starlink terminal can't know based on only its position which side it's being used by. Equipment is often used in enemy territory.

That is a tiny minority of the use. The vast majority of Russian use has been on Russian controlled land.

Re: Starlink militarization and its impact on global strategic stability (2023)

#80
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SpaceX already does geo-lock them to an extend. But the terminals are exported to so many countries that any meaningful controls are impossible.

Terminals in Ukraine are whitelisted (with whitelist being supplied by the Ukrainian MoD). Meaningful controls are possible, it's what led to the ukrainian forces advancing and liberating territory recently.

You missed my point. It's impossible to meaningfully control the export of physical terminals. But as I pointed out above, SpaceX has already been doing some geo-locking.
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