By Anthony H. Cordesman Feb 27, 2012 It is always tempting to ride the headlines and focus on events like the marines urinating on a Taliban corpse, the burning of the Qur’ans, and the attacks on U.S. and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel that have followed in even the most secure and best-vetted facilities. …
The 10 Best Places for Military Retirees to Launch Second Careers (repost)
by Ho Lin @ Military.com (Blogger's note: Boy, I don't know about you, but this is a tough list to get real excited about) A career in the military hones certain skill sets and talents, but where are the best places to take those talents once you're out of the military? To coin a phrase …
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Innovation Strategy Lessons from Moneyball by Mike Brown
We don’t see many movies, but recently watched Moneyball, nominated for six Academy Awards, on DVD. To be accurate, I watched Moneyball multiple times. The first viewing was because I was intrigued by the movie’s story, especially since I missed seeing Oakland A’s general manager, and subject of the movie, Billy Beane speak at The Market Research Event several …
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Can The Navy And The Air Force Get Along? By Robert Haddick
SmallWarsJournal.com February 25, 2012 This Week at War Can The Navy And The Air Force Get Along? By Robert Haddick In my Foreign Policy column, I discuss how the Navy and Air Force are cooperating on the Air-Sea Battle concept. But it may not be enough to save America's forward presence strategy. In a recent …
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It’s Smart Defense, Stupid…The European Common Security and Defense Policy and Hegemony in the 21st Century by Matteo B. Scianna
Editor's Note: Matteo Scianna suggests that Europe can use smart power and its combined economic power to contribute to defense in its near abroad. Specifically, the U.S. can lead from behind to help to foster this in European states. Europe is facing significant economic troubles that add some centrifugal forces to the EU. Is a concept for smart defense …
World War III in the Making: Can Russia and China Stop a Strike on Iran? by Gilbert Mercier
Regime Change in Syria as a Preliminary Stage for an Attack on Iran As the civil war in Syria intensifies, an intense diplomatic battle is on the way world wide between two blocks. On one hand are Israel, the United States and its European vassals, the UK, France and Germany and on the other hand …
What Would John Adams Do About Iran?
BY JAMES TRAUB | FEBRUARY 24, 2012 In the summer of 1798, U.S. President John Adams faced the gravest crisis of his time in office. Hostilities with the revolutionary, expansionist regime in France had been rising since his election, with French privateers seizing American merchant ships off the Atlantic coast. Adams's effort at diplomacy had …
Sun Tzu or Bismarck: Who will Prevail in the 21st Century?
NATIONAL SECURITY By CHUCK SPINNEY | February 20, 2012 The first three chapters in Sun Tzu’s timeless classic “The Art of War” describe how to make net assessments by comparing your strengths and weaknesses and those of your adversary and how to formulate strategy. Near the end of Chapter 3, he sums up his advice, saying, “Know your enemy …
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Obama’s Nutty Nuclear Notion By Peter Brookes
New York Post February 23, 2012 Pg. 25 Reports last week have Team Obama considering cuts in our strategic nuclear forces -- by as much as 80 percent. Not good. These accounts say the Pentagon has been ordered to study the possibility of reducing the number of deployed nuclear warheads to several levels -- 1,000 …
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Clinton: Syrian Opposition Will ‘Somehow’ Fight Back (aka Hope IS a strategy)
Washington Post February 24, 2012 Pg. 9 By Karen DeYoung LONDON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that Syrian opposition forces will become “increasingly capable” of carrying out offensive operations against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. “They will, from somewhere, somehow, find the means to defend themselves, as well as begin …
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