A bane of modern military studies (let’s eschew the term “science”) is the concept of counter-insurgency--the idea that indigenous revolts around the world can be analyzed with “the scientific method” and that a set of general principles, if … [Read more...] about A World Ablaze – But Different Fuels*
Contributor: Sol W. Sanders
A Test We Mustn’t Fail*
The United States is going through one of those periodic crises, testing a complex and often sclerotic constitutional system. An increasingly diminishing presidency has tried to “transform” the society, and particularly its economy, with draconian … [Read more...] about A Test We Mustn’t Fail*
Why is Everything Going Wrong?*
It isn’t. There is an old axiom in the news business--or what is left of it as traditional newspapers die to be replaced, for the moment at least, by amateurism on the internet and its social networks--that good news is not news. So we get a steady … [Read more...] about Why is Everything Going Wrong?*
America: Bursting with Energy!
The U.S. energy juggernaut, powered by new technology and common sense, keeps rolling on. Gains in energy production and productivity probably account for much of the projected 3.5% increase in the gross national product in the last quarter of 2013. … [Read more...] about America: Bursting with Energy!
East Asian Worries
Anonymous leaks from Chinese spokesmen along with mistaken translations of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s private remarks at the gathering of our lords and masters at Davos World Economic Forum are alarming. Bombastic comments from the … [Read more...] about East Asian Worries
What is Not Holding the World Together
In one of those misbegotten historical analogies, it’s fashionable these days to talk about the parallels between our current scene with the world of 1914. Most historical comparisons are faulty, but often made by people who should know … [Read more...] about What is Not Holding the World Together
Decorum and Readin’, ‘Ritin” and ‘Ritmetic!
Among the many complaints I have against most of my colleagues in the mainstream media [MSM] these days is the anachronistic and contradiction that they are largely ahistorical. An anachronism since there has never been a time when with the benefits … [Read more...] about Decorum and Readin’, ‘Ritin” and ‘Ritmetic!
The Asia Scrum
Rather suddenly there is a welter of developments turning Asia's dozen-odd countries into a cat's cradle of conflicting interests-some new-that could lead to war. Central, of course, is a "rising" China. The Chinese, themselves, have given up the … [Read more...] about The Asia Scrum
Turkey: The End of a Geopolitical Model
Whether Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan survives the current crisis, the legend of "The Turkish model" is dead. The implications of the loss of Turkey's image abroad, particularly in the Islamic world, may be far more important than the explosion … [Read more...] about Turkey: The End of a Geopolitical Model
In a World He Never Intended (To Make)
The Obama Administration’s foreign policy begins to look like that tightly wound ball of crocheting thread that the kitten has been playing with for several hours and is now finally completely unraveling. How innocent the kitty is may be a question … [Read more...] about In a World He Never Intended (To Make)