The National Security Desk

@thenationalsecuritydesk · Civil War II · Substack profile

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The National Security Desk has 4,279 followers on Substack as of Oct 31, 2026. 33 publications recommend them, 2 of them new in the last 30 days, and they recommend 9.

Followers read

Last read Oct 31, 2026 (UTC). Followers are not email subscribers. Substack lists only the newest 50 recommendations for each publication, so a recommender count of 50 or more is a floor. History starts Oct 31, 2026; Substack publishes nothing earlier.

Followers
4,279
read Oct 31
Last 7 days
first number on Nov 7
Last 30 days
first number on Nov 30
Subscribers
2.9K+
rounded by Substack
Paid subscribers
none shown
Recommended by
33
+2 in 30 days
Recommends
9
Bestsellers rank
not on a board

Followers by day

Tracking since Oct 31, 2026. This is the first reading. Substack doesn't publish past follower counts, so history starts the day I first read a writer and grows by one reading every 3 days (daily if it's on your watchlist). The 7-day change appears on Nov 7, the 30-day change on Nov 30. Recommendation dates below go further back: they're Substack's own.

4,1504,2004,2504,3004,3504,400 Oct 31Nov 2Nov 4Nov 6Nov 8Nov 10Nov 12 One reading a day from here 4,279
4,1504,2004,2504,3004,3504,400 Oct 31Nov 4Nov 8 One reading a day from here 4,279
One reading a day, the last of the day. Marked: leaderboard steps (into the top 25, top 10, or #1). Followers are people who follow The National Security Desk on Substack; they aren't email subscribers.
Show as a table
Daily readings
DateFollowersChangeSubscribersPaid band
Oct 31, 20264,2792.9K+

Leaderboard positions

Not on a category leaderboard right now

Substack's boards list the top 100 per category, by paid subscribers (Bestsellers) and by recent paid growth (Rising). I read all 66 of them once a day, so a new entry shows up within a day.

Recommendations

33 publications recommend The National Security Desk; 2 started in the last 30 days. The National Security Desk recommends 9, and 6 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.

Recommend The National Security… The National Security… recommends Michael Spencer314k followersNo Onenot trackedDVOLVnot trackedBecky Wernernot trackedWhen They Go Loco ... WeGoLoc…not trackedThe Intellectual Investornot trackedMeg's Substacknot trackedclaude josephnot trackedThe French Spy not tracked · mutual The French Spy not tracked · mutualSteve Andersonnot tracked · mutualCommonwealth Reportnot trackedThe Gaslight Report by Frank …not trackedNSD SITREPnot trackedNSD Podcastsnot tracked · mutualUnconventional Nuclear Warfarenot tracked · mutualThe Third Offset Strategynot tracked · mutualMilitary Innovation Labnot tracked · mutual The National Security Desk 4.3k followers
Recommend them They recommend Michael Spencer314k followersNo Onenot trackedDVOLVnot trackedBecky Wernernot trackedWhen They Go Lo…not trackedThe Intellectua…not tracked The French Spy not tracked · mutualSteve Andersonnot tracked · mutualCommonwealth Re…not trackedThe Gaslight Re…not trackedNSD SITREPnot trackedNSD Podcastsnot tracked · mutual The National … 4.3k followers
The 9 largest publications on each side, by followers. Bigger dot, more followers. Orange: started in the last 30 days. Gray dots: publications I don't track, so no follower count.

When the recommendations started

Jun 22DecJunDecJunDecJunDecJun
Live recommendations by the month each began, using Substack's own start date. Removed ones aren't listed by Substack, so they don't appear.
Show as a table
Recommendations started per month
MonthStarted
2022-061
2022-071
2022-081
2023-062
2023-081
2024-111
2025-013
2025-024
2025-033
2025-071
2025-081
2025-104
2026-031
2026-052
2026-061
2026-071
2026-081
2026-091
2026-103

Recommended by

  • Michael Spencer314k followers · started Jan 2025
  • No Onestarted Oct 24, 2026new
  • DVOLVstarted Oct 12, 2026new
  • Becky Wernerstarted Oct 3, 2026
  • When They Go Loco ... WeGoLocalstarted Sep 22, 2026
  • The Intellectual Investorstarted Aug 24, 2026
  • Meg's Substackstarted Jul 15, 2026
  • claude josephstarted Jun 15, 2026
  • The French Spy started May 29, 2026 · mutual
  • Street Smart Intelligencestarted May 5, 2026
  • NSD Podcastsstarted Mar 14, 2026 · mutual
  • Everything Is Fine*started Oct 2025
  • Stephen K. Hirststarted Oct 2025
  • Jim’s Substackstarted Oct 2025
  • John’s Substackstarted Oct 2025
  • Mary’s Substackstarted Aug 2025
  • Adrianstarted Jul 2025
  • Steve Andersonstarted Mar 2025 · mutual
  • Luxstarted Mar 2025
  • Ryanstarted Mar 2025
  • Military Innovation Labstarted Feb 2025 · mutual
  • Unconventional Nuclear Warfarestarted Feb 2025 · mutual
  • The Third Offset Strategystarted Feb 2025 · mutual
  • Polytricksstarted Feb 2025
All 33
  • How the KGB Zombified the CIA and the FBI started Jan 2025
  • Dispatches from a Dying Empirestarted Jan 2025
  • Sarah’s Substackstarted Nov 2024
  • Doctor Plague's Worldstarted Aug 2023
  • Prada’s Newsletterstarted Jun 2023
  • Synystron Synlogicastarted Jun 2023
  • Dispelling the Falsehoods started Aug 2022
  • Robert’s Newsletterstarted Jul 2022
  • Michael’s Newsletterstarted Jun 2022

Recommends

  • The French Spy started May 30, 2026 · mutual
  • Steve Andersonstarted May 5, 2026 · mutual
  • Commonwealth Reportstarted Apr 28, 2026
  • The Gaslight Report by Frank George, Ph.D.started Apr 15, 2026
  • NSD SITREPstarted Mar 17, 2026
  • NSD Podcastsstarted Mar 14, 2026 · mutual
  • Unconventional Nuclear Warfarestarted Feb 2025 · mutual
  • The Third Offset Strategystarted Feb 2025 · mutual
  • Military Innovation Labstarted Feb 2025 · mutual

Substack lists the 50 newest recommenders of each publication. I add every recommendation found in the full lists of the 6,392 publications I read, so writers with many recommenders may still be missing a few small ones. "Started" is Substack's date.

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