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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The Reality of American Power: Why Robert Kagan Is Wrong by Leon T. Hadar
As a life-long hypochondriac, I was laughing out loud when reading the tragic-comic inscription on the tombstone located in the cemetery in Key West, Florida: 'I Told You I Was Sick!' I could imagine the poor guy confronting family and friends and insisting to no avail that what he had was more than just the …
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Sense Of Inevitable War Grips Israel
Washington Post February 23, 2012 Pg. 1 Sense Of Inevitable War Grips Israel Many see the prospect of striking Iran over its nuclear program as the lesser of two evils By Joel Greenberg, Tel Aviv A recent installment of the popular Israeli satirical television show "A Wonderful Country" captured the public mood here regarding a …
What To Do About Syria
(complicated to say the least, no easy answers...) Washington Post February 18, 2012 Pg. 18 The options the Obama administration is considering are inadequate IT’S BEEN MORE than six months since President Obama called for the end of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Yet as Mr. Assad’s forces escalated their assaults on Syrian cities …
Rumsfeld Redux
National Journal February 18, 2012 The Pentagon's new strategy sounds awfully familiar. That's because we've seen it before. By James Kitfield Pentagon’s budget, as advertised, touts a new strategic vision -- and a major reorientation of U.S. military forces. It anticipates a reduction in ground forces, a withdrawal of heavy Army units from Europe, and …
Panetta: Israel Still Undecided On Iran Attack
Jerusalem Post February 15, 2012 Pg. 10 Panetta: Israel Still Undecided On Iran Attack By Hilary Leila Krieger, Jerusalem Post correspondent WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reiterated Tuesday that the Obama administration believed Israel had not yet determined whether to attack Iran. “We do not think that Israel has made this decision,” he told …
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1984: Morning in America
Luke and I were discussing the upcoming Presidential race… as we spoke I was most impressed with how politically aware Luke is. Of course I had to ponder… Luke will be 17 by the time the election rolls around--at 16/17 I do recall how I was becoming more politically aware as well. The first time …
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