I write about AI and Geopolitics
Bill Friend Key Takeaways: The Geopolitical Mandate: The current trajectory is a zero-sum race whose competitive intensity was set primarily by the United States. To avert systemic collapse, the U.S. is best positioned to step back first and unilaterally initiate a verifiable global pause. If the architect of the race stops, the rest of the world is … Read more
On July 6, 2026, I polled 13 frontier AI models. Prompt: For each of the following dimensions, answer with exactly Yes or No — is the world prepared? Follow each answer with one paragraph of justification grounded in specific evidence from your training data. Do not qualify your answer with words like ‘partially,’ ‘somewhat,’ or ‘to some degree.’ Choose … Read more
The United States of America’s 250th Anniversary of Independence July 4, 2026 Anniversaries are like stepping stones. This anniversary is one of those stones — not a destination, but a place to pause before taking the next step. So, where are we? Ask a lot of different people that question, and you’ll get a lot … Read more
Documented Damage, the Tools That Were Ignored, and Where to Look Next Executive Summary Parts 1 and 2 established the ecological mechanisms and the regulatory architecture that make cumulative watershed collapse nearly invisible. This final installment shows the damage is no longer hypothetical. In Paulding County, Georgia — and in watersheds like the Potomac and … Read more
Executive Summary More than 1,500 new data centers are in various stages of development across the United States, with 67% of planned facilities slated for rural areas that have historically experienced little industrial hydrological stress. These facilities are routinely sited and permitted as individual projects, making their cumulative impact on regional aquifers, river systems, and … Read more