The Re-Up
Allow me to reintroduce myself…
My name is Tony Stark, and I’m the creator of Breaking Beijing. Recently, this blog has seen a rapid influx of new subscribers, at least in part because of its mention in Sinocism’s Essential Eight and the Sharp China podcast last week. (There are thousands of us. We are legion.)
So I thought it might be time to get everyone up to speed on who I am and how we run things around here.
In case you can’t tell, Tony Stark is my nom de plume. I’m a China policy and military operations specialist, currently working in the private sector. I’m a former active duty Army infantryman, Georgetown SSP alum, and former U.S. House staffer where I worked on the issues that I now write about.
I’m also the author of the Prometheus Award-nominated, military-science fiction novel, EX SUPRA. It’s the story of the war after the next war (and the fall of Taiwan). It follows in the tradition of novels like Clancy’s Red Storm Rising and Ghost Fleet but…darker. It’s a blend of cyberpunk, Apocalypse Now, and military techno-thriller. The full description can be found below:
In 2035, an AI-driven disinformation campaign turned us on ourselves. We became the enemy's first strike weapons, and as we set fire to our own country, the People's Liberation Army seized half of the Pacific. From the first combat jump on Mars to the climate change-ravaged jungles of Southeast Asia, EX SUPRA blends the bleeding edge of technology and the bloody reality of combat. In EX SUPRA, the super soldiers are only as strong as their own wills, reality is malleable, and hope only arrives with hellfire. Follow John Petrov, a refugee turned CIA paramilitary officer, Captain Jennifer Shaw, a Green Beret consumed by bloodlust, and many more, as they face off against Chinese warbots, Russian assassins, and their own demons in the war for the future of humanity.
You can read my interview with journalist and Team House podcast co-host Jack Murphy about the book and the future of war here.
Anyway, back to Breaking Beijing. This Substack is all about breaking through the policy sphere with plain-spoken analysis and actionable recommendations. Breaking Beijing came about thanks to the advice of Sinocism’s Bill Bishop and plenty of negative, frustrating experiences with the think tank community. As both a policy staffer and graduate student, I grew tired of reading the same bland think tank reports, where even when there was excellent research and analysis done, the policy recommendations were so watered down and bland that it made the entire paper worthless. I also grew tired of reading 50 pages just to find the authors recycling the same recommendations and findings over and over again with new buzzwords, as we have done so often with foreign policy since 2001. (Don’t even get me started on the wall of acronyms, buzzwords, and PowerPoints that this town hides behind when it doesn’t know what to do.)
So that’s what Breaking Beijing is (mostly) about: creating real, tangible policy analysis, recommendations, and generating discussions in a manner that folks inside and outside the Beltway can understand. I recognize my audience ranges from OSD to Wall Street and Silicon Valley, so I try to write as plainly as possible. I write how I talk. Breaking Beijing is meant to actually assist in winning the competition for the 21st Century, deterring conflict, and fighting and winning wars if we must. In other words, this Substack is meant to be a blueprint, not just a place to bloviate.
Now, a couple more things…
Breaking Beijing does accept guest submissions, the guidelines for which you can find here.
Ex Supra has done quite well, particularly for a debut novel. As such, I am currently working on a direct sequel, Project Duality, the first three chapters of which you can find in order here, here, and here. You can also find sample chapters from Ex Supra here, here, and here. The perpetually-delayed audiobook is on track to launch next week (I promise).
I love holiday specials. Every year I write a spooky, Halloween themed story set in the same universe as Ex Supra. Spooktaculars Part 1 and Part 2.
I’ve grabbed some of my favorite articles and listed them below, if you’d like to catch up on your Breaking Beijing readings, then check these out:
a. A Short Course in the Sino-American War. My most-read article, and a practical syllabus for getting up to speed on the basics of US-China competition and conflict. Basically the sources and things you’d need to know if you were an aspiring graduate student, or an action officer in the Pentagon.
b. Plan Noble. The article I’m most proud of, I took my experience in writing policy and strategy and converted it into a whole, counter-CCP strategy document.
c. Where did all the China Hawks go? My breakdown of the current state of China policy in the natsec community and where we went wrong.
d. Common Misconceptions of US-China Competition. Basically the top ten conversations I have with folks on a regular basis and the myths that need to die.
e. The Death of the Davidson Window. I killed the Davidson Window (ie the 2027 invasion timeline) before it was cool.
f. Army of the Pacific. There’s a lot of (toxic) discourse around the US Army’s role in a Taiwan fight, this was my attempt at clarifying roles and explaining where the Army can do more.
g. The Great AI Panic. I am neither a hysteric nor an evangelist of AI, but I do worry about its creators and the panic they incite…among other things. My attempt at a reality check on the technology and the culture.
h. On Collision Warfare. My underappreciated treatise on the future of warfare in space.
And so, now you’re pretty much caught up! Thanks for reading and all your support! I do this in my spare time but still manage to put out on average an article or story about once every other week. If you want to reach out you can email me here: BreakingBeijing@substack.com. You can also find me on X/Twitter @ Iron_Man_Actual. Don’t forget to subscribe!