Notes and Essays -- John Brown

Opinion  A university in Kyiv is under siege — and running more than 12 hours a day. March 16, 2026 7 min By Nicholas A. Christakis, The Washington Post   Nicholas A. Christakis lectures in a bomb shelter at the Kyiv School of Economics. (Courtesy of KSE) Nicholas A. Christakis is a physician and sociologist who directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University. He hosts “For the Love of Science” on YouTube. I’d never taught in a war zone before. But when the rector of the Kyiv School of Economics called last autumn, I found it impossible to say no. Three days in a nice hotel with a fortified bomb shelter while the rest of the country endured daily attacks? The visit seemed like a small show of solidarity with scientific colleagues and the Ukrainian people. It felt, too, like an opportunity to witness theory in practice. Having spent my career studying the biological and social roots of collective human behavior, I understood that wider circles of people exchanging ideas can mak...

Elena Gold  ·  Follow; Quora Lived through the collapse of the Soviet Union  9mo Ukraine already took back half of the territory that Russia captured in the first weeks of the invasion in 2022. But Ukraine may not need to fight to recapture territory, like Russia is fighting. There is another way. Analyst  Andrew Perpetua  writes: “Ukraine does not have an adequate air force, but it can create the effects of an air force using other methods and tools. For example, long-range drones can be deployed in a series of nested concentric circles to mine and harass supply roads, effectively cutting them off. One layer of drones could strike targets 100 km out, the next at 80 km, then 60 km, 40 km, and finally, the remaining drones could dominate the last 20–30 km leading to the front. With sufficient drone coverage density, the impact on enemy logistics can closely mirror that of a conventional Air Force — cutting off supplies and limiting troop movements. Furthermore, t...

Kyiv’s forces have notched their biggest domestic territorial gains in more than two years after Russia lost the use of Starlink    A soldier from the Timur Special Forces Unit of Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate, who goes by the call sign Konosh.    By  Nikita Nikolaienko ,  Ian Lovett Following  and  Daria Matviichuk   |  Photography by Serhii Korovayny for WSJ March 20, 2026 11:00 pm ET; original article contains additional illustrations. ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine—When  Elon Musk  flipped the off switch on Russian forces’ Starlink internet connections in February, Ukraine’s military went on the offensive. Russian commanders had lost access to live video of the battlefield and communications with troops. Ukrainian soldiers moved in on Russian positions with little threat from drones—normally an omnipresent danger. Now, Ukrainian forces have notched their biggest domestic territorial gains in more than two years, dashin...