Ahead Tag

Editor’s Note: That is the second a part of a two-part series. The primary was published yesterday. This scenario may sound immediately familiar to War on the Rocks readers: within the midst of an animated discussion at a piece function, your interlocutor’s gaze suddenly begins to wander, slowly sweeping across the room, logging faces and names, scanning for somebody potentially more useful to seek advice from. Subtle changes begin to slowly unfold. Your colleague’s expression regularly grows more vacant, their conversational fillers increasingly robotic. After which, within the blink of a watch, they've swept with unsuspected grace and celerity across the windowless conference room to greet the tardy assistant secretary. Hovering across the visiting potentiary with a nervous grin, they nod...