What Cognitive Warfare Actually Looks Like: DeMarco Banter

A distorted mirror, an Axios article, and the battle for orientation I read an Axios article the other morning that stuck with me longer than I expected. Not because it was particularly dramatic, but because it triggered a simple question: if what the article suggests is true, do people actually realize what they are looking at? …

The Kill Line: Strategy in an Age of Thresholds: DeMarco Banter

Modern strategy is increasingly about thresholds rather than targets. In Chinese video-game culture, the kill line refers to a simple mechanic: the point at which a character’s remaining health is so low that any additional hit—no matter how small—results in elimination. Above the line, mistakes are survivable. Below it, they are terminal. Recovery is no longer possible. …

Iran, The Global Risk Budget and the Volatility Tax Through the Trinity: DeMarco Banter

Great powers do not run one war at a time. They run a portfolio of risk. The binding constraints are not courage or rhetoric; they are magazine depth, industrial replenishment speed, alliance cohesion, and senior-leader attention. A U.S. campaign against Iran therefore cannot be evaluated in isolation. It must be assessed against the broader risk …