Archive - Xinanigans

China This Week: Strategic Moves and Messaging

April 3 – April 9, 2026

18 hrs ago • Erika Lafrennie

Field Observation: The Strategy Trap

Why failures that look like bad strategy are often failures of the systems beneath it.

Apr 8 • Erika Lafrennie

Why Institutions Keep Choosing the Wrong Tools in Strategic Competition

And why recognizing misalignment does not change how institutions act

Apr 7 • Erika Lafrennie

China This Week: Strategic Moves and Messaging

March 27 – April 2, 2026

Apr 3 • Erika Lafrennie

Field Observation: Kharg Is Not the Problem

Why targeting Kharg Island misreads how Iran generates leverage—and risks reinforcing control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Apr 1 • Erika Lafrennie

March 2026

Why Military Solutions Substitute Poorly for Administrative Ones

Force produces effects. Administrative systems determine outcomes.

Mar 31 • Erika Lafrennie

China This Week: Strategic Moves and Messaging

March 20 – March 26, 2026

Mar 27 • Erika Lafrennie

Field Observation: Decapitation Without Collapse

How targeting leadership instead of governance systems produces the illusion of success without changing outcomes

Mar 25 • Erika Lafrennie

Why Policy Tools Fail When Misaligned With Governance Incentives

When external pressure meets governance systems organized around different priorities, policy tools are rarely rejected—they are absorbed.

Mar 24 • Erika Lafrennie

China This Week: Strategic Moves and Messaging

March 13 – March 19, 2026

Mar 20 • Erika Lafrennie

Field Observation: Summits as Administrative Checkpoints

The upcoming meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will generate the usual debate about leverage and concessions.

Mar 18 • Erika Lafrennie

Why Better Forecasts Don’t Fix Strategic Blindness

Even the most sophisticated uncertainty planning cannot correct a deeper mistake: misidentifying the terrain on which competition actually unfolds.

Mar 17 • Erika Lafrennie

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