This week, Alan, Quinta, and Scott sat down with Lawfare deputy foreign policy editor and RatSec rookie Dana Stuster, to talk through the week’s big national security news, including:

• “Chechens Coming Home to Roost.” Ukraine’s surprise counteroffensive in Kharkiv has proven to be a massive success, leading Russian troops to surrender seized territory as they beat a retreat. At the same time, supporters of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—including Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov—are becoming more openly critical of how the Russian government is managing the campaign. What will these setbacks mean for the future of the conflict—and the Putin regime itself? 
• “Did You Know You Can Eat Them With the Skins On?” Last week, Cloudflare announced that, due to “an unprecedented emergency and immediate threat to human life,” it would cease providing security services to Kiwi Farms, an internet forum infamous for coordinating harassment and doxxing campaigns. Should essential service providers like Cloudflare be put in the position of policing online content in this way? What’s the alternative?
• “Spoilers for Season 5 of ‘The Crown.’” For almost a century, Queen Elizabeth II was a stable presence in global politics, even as her country—and the global order it helped shape—transitioned from an era of empire and colonialism through an international Cold War and into the modern era. What might her death mean for the monarchy and the world moving forward?

For object lessons, Alan (and his dentist) thanked Quinta for supporting his saltwater taffy habit. Quinta shared a Civil War-era meme. Scott endorsed the once-and-forever named Tappan Zee Bridge and surrounding Palisades as a lovely way to transit through NYC. And Dana shared a book very appropriate for this moment of reflection on British history, David Ziblatt's classic "Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy." 

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