Syria, China and the Trump Administration If you haven’t paid attention to the civil war in Syria (entering its 6th year in March), the Assad – Russia coalition has moved deep into the city of Aleppo, and now controls all but part of eastern Aleppo. This means that Assad and the Russians are winning the […]

Okay, not really. But, there’s been lots of talk about “military” vs. civilian control, with 3 retired officers (3 civilians) selected for senior positions in the Trump administration. Hmmm… First: they’re retired. They were in the military. We’ve had retired military serve in government before; it’s never been a problem. In fact, 60 years ago […]

Jenga should be a required discipline of political scientists; the game teaches, among other things, the consequences of haste. A game of wooden blocks and balance, it teaches the “simple” reality of balance and center of gravity; it also teaches the danger of haste; if a player acts too quickly, either in removing a block […]

Since early 1953 (in Korea), the United States hasn’t lost a battalion sized force (or larger) in combat operations. In Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., the US has outfought every enemy. Since Desert Storm, including Somalia, the US hasn’t lost any engagement larger than a platoon. In Operation Iraqi Freedom the US […]

I came out ahead on a gentlemen’s wager this week. I made it more than a year ago, right after the first Republican debate. Mr. Trump won and so did I. I was nervous near the end, but… Not that I take a great deal of credit for the insight; rather, my insight came from […]

Napoleon Bonaparte, Bette Davis and the New President By the time most read this the election will be over, a new president will have been elected, and everyone, particularly the media pundits, will be in full throat, telling us what happens next. In that light, a little history to provide some context… (Charles Joseph Minard, […]

Shia radicals launch missiles at a US Navy destroyer, missiles provided by Iran, probably made in China. North Korea continues development of a nuclear weapon and an ICBM. Russia bombs insurgents in Syria; Russian naval forces return to the Mediterranean; Russian intelligence personnel return to Cuba. China pressures Japan on islands in the East China […]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – Preamble to the Declaration of Independence It’s time to choose. Despite all the noise, the choice between the two […]

General Maxwell Taylor, a great combat soldier who became a horrible Washington DC general, brought the theory of proportional response to our national security. He convinced the Kennedy and Johnson administrations of its merit and they embraced it – Vietnam was partly the result. The essence of the theory is that when some other country […]

Would you vote for a candidate who said: “I personally believe the following is wrong, but I’ll do it anyway if you vote for me!” In an Oscar winning performance from 1966, a hero states that: “…when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by […]