It is commonly believed that wars are won and lost on the battlefield; that wars have “winners” and “losers” irrespective of their political outcomes. For instance, it is this belief that causes Vietnam vets to claim that “we won the war but were betrayed by the politicians.” This belief is false. Wars [...]

The Republican Party is holding their national meeting this winter. This is standard fare for both parties, and these meetings are generally taken up by electing and appointing various people, tweaking the platform in small ways, and generally being an excuse for party leaders to get together and schmooze each other once in awhile.
A [...]

I normally like a lot of the things that Timothy Egan writes, but today he managed to hit one of my pet peeves:
“In Iraq, some Sunnis have always hated some Shiites, and vice-versa, for more years than the United States has been a country, and they will continue to dismember each other and their children [...]

Let’s call it the Wilsonian myth. It’s one of the most pervasive myths in American foreign policy circles today. It is the fundamental assumption upon which both liberals and conservatives base their calls for democracy and human rights. And, unfortunately, it is completely wrong. What is it? I think the [...]

I understand the hullabaloo over the recent controversial Iranian election from the Iranians point of view. After all, the President of Iran does have real power to effect domestic and social policy (within the constraints set by the Supreme Leader and the clerics, of course, but some power nonetheless). What I don’t understand [...]

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates just this past week announced the details of the Obama Administration’s Department of Defense budget. For once, it isn’t the size of the budget that has made a lot of waves, but instead the details of the budget. Gates and Obama want to radically restructure the military. [...]

Imagine that you’re a sociologist studying childhood conflict, and you want to know what kinds of parenting techniques are most likely to calm fighting children down and get them to play nice. So you set up an experiment. You put pairs of siblings in different rooms, and then when they start to fight [...]

It’s past time to forget about the past, at least where the Middle East Conflict is concerned.
Of course, just by saying that, I’ve alienated 1/3 of people, 1/3 of people think I’m hopelessly naive, and 1/3 of people are saying “right on!”. But whichever category you fall in, hear me out.
In any conflict, it’s [...]

It’s a New Year, we just swore in a new Congress yesterday (or most of one), there is a new conflict in Israel/Palestine, we are about to have a new President, and as of this evening College Football will have a new crowned champion (although not without the usual controversy). It’s like Springtime in [...]

I like Obama, don’t get me wrong. But there are two things in particular that just drive me nuts every time he utters them.