The Year of Living Dangerously
Rising commodity prices and extreme weather events threaten global stability.
The Urge to Surge: Washington’s 30-Year High
If, as 2011 begins, you want to peer into the future, enter my time machine, strap yourself in, and head for the past, that laboratory for all developments of our moment and beyond.
One November’s Dead: The American War Dead Disappear into the Darkness
America’s heroes? Not so much. Not anymore. Not when they’re dead, anyway.
The New War Congress: An Obama-Republican War Alliance
To understand just how bad the 112th Congress, elected on November 2nd and taking office on January 3rd, is likely to be for peace on Earth, one has to understand how incredibly awful the 110th and 111th Congresses have been during the past four years and then measure the ways in which things are likely to become even worse.
Ballot Box Blues: The Most Dispiriting Election of a Lifetime (Mine)
By the time you read this, I’ll already have voted
The Lies of Islamophobia
The persistence of Crusader myths and their transposition into a Cold War framework help explain why the West is saddled with so many misconceptions about Islam.
A World Made by War
When you look at me, you can’t mistake the fact that I’m of a certain age. But just for a moment, think of me as nine years old.
The War Addicts
Sometimes it’s the little things in the big stories that catch your eye.
The American Way of War Quiz: This Was The War Month That Was (Believe It or Not)
Yes, it would be funny if it weren’t so grim. After all, when it comes to squandering money and resources in strange and distant places (or even here at home), you can count on the practitioners of American-style war to be wildly over the top.
The Unmaking of a Company Man: An Education Began in the Shadow of the Brandenburg Gate
For as long as I could remember, the Brandenburg Gate had been the preeminent symbol of the age and Berlin the epicenter of contemporary history. Yet by the time I made it to the once and future German capital, history was already moving on.
Whose Hands? Whose Blood? Killing Civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq
Consider the following statement offered by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a news conference last week. He was discussing Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks as well as the person who has taken responsibility for the vast, still ongoing Afghan War document dump at that site.
The Opposite Game: All the Strangeness of Our American World in One Article
Have you ever thought about just how strange this country’s version of normal truly is? Let me make my point with a single, hardly noticed Washington Post news story that’s been on my mind for a while. It represents the sort of reporting that, in our world, zips by with next to no reaction, despite the true weirdness buried in it.
The Land Where Theories of Warfare Go to Die: Obama, Petraeus, and the Cult of COIN in Afghanistan
Less than a year ago, General David Petraeus saluted smartly and pledged his loyal support for President Obama’s decision to start withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan in July 2011.
Call the Politburo, We’re in Trouble: Entering the Soviet Era in America
Mark it on your calendar. It seems we’ve finally entered the Soviet era in America.
Stealth Superpower
How Turkey is chasing China to become the next big thing.