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Phillips P. OBrien
@PhillipsPOBrien
Professor of Strategic Studies, @univofstandrews; Author of War and Power (Summer 2025) penguin.co.uk/books/461613/w…
Scotland, Boston and Sicily (whenever possible)
phillipspobrien.substack.com
Joined February 2015
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  • Pinned
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Oct 13, 2025
    Hi All, my latest book, War and Power: Who Wins Wars and Why, is being released in North America in two weeks. The Publisher, Basic Books/Hatchette, has just released a discount code for 20% if you buy through them. Code is WAR&POWER (not case sensitive).
    War and Power
    From hachettebookgroup.com
    417K
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Sep 7, 2022
    Was just talking with a NATO officer about the Russian Army and asked him how long it would take the Finnish Army to seize St Petersburg. He said, ‘not long, only problem they’d face is that the Poles would get there first.’
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Mar 5, 2022
    A tweet thread on why we are almost certainly overestimating the amount of strength the Russian Army has on hand, and the amount they can actually get to Ukraine when their first force losses get so high that it starts becoming combat ineffective. Yes, its logistics. @BoringWar
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Sep 7, 2025
    One of the most remarkable things of the last 9 months is how many Americans seem to believe the President is all powerful and Congress has no say. Actually Congress has been ineffective by choice. It has immense power if it had the courage to use it.
    357K
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Jul 16, 2022
    My whole life’s work has gone up in smoke….
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    Terrible Maps
    @TerribleMaps
    Jul 16, 2022
    "Pearl Harbor was an inside job"
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Feb 5, 2024
    I’m still dumbfounded how easy it was for Putin to coopt the Republican Party through Trump. This is extraordinary. One of the two ruling parties of the most powerful country in the world, doing the bidding of a genocidal dictator. Don’t really know how to process this.
    1.3M
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Oct 2, 2023
    Hi folks, never thought I would have reached this point, but I’m finally thinking this is it for Twitter while Musk owns it. In the last few days he’s been whipping up anti immigrant feeling and he is now mocking a people fighting for their lives against a genocidal dictatorship.
    1.7M
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Feb 18, 2025
    I hope people understand what we are seeing here. 1) Trump and Putin are preparing a common plan to dictate to Ukraine. 2) Ukraine will surprise them (at least Trump) by refusing. 3) The War will continue. 4) The role of Europe will be decisive.
    915K
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Oct 6, 2022
    I certainly would listen to Elon Musk more if, instead of calling for unneeded referendum in Ukraine, he bothered to call for free and fair elections in Russia.
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Jun 11, 2023
    Sometimes we need to take a breath and realize what we are seeing here. The Ukrainians, using NATO equipment for only a few months, and without air superiority, are trying (and maybe succeeding) in driving back what was considered to be one of the world's greatest militaries.
    2.1M
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Nov 9, 2022
    Big winners of the night so far: Biden, Ukraine, non-MAGA Republicans. Big losers: Trump, Putin, Elon Musk.
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Sep 8, 2023
    So Musk had a chance to shorten the war, and chose not to.
    1.6M
  • user avatar
    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Sep 7, 2022
    The Ukrainian move to draw Russian forces into Kherson is clearly one of the great strategic moves of the war. It brought some of the best Russian units into Kherson where they cant be supplied and are being methodically attrited. And made the Russians thin the line in Kharkiv.
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    Phillips P. OBrien
    @PhillipsPOBrien
    Jul 13, 2024
    The Irish, famous for their history of never emigrating….
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    The Irish Times
    @IrishTimes
    Jul 11, 2024
    An Irish man told stunned Ukrainian refugees: ‘We had wars here but we didn’t leave our country’ irishtimes.com/life-style/peo… via @IrishTimesLife
    463K