Reinventing Landpower
Let's face it: American landpower is in crisis. As blogfather Andrew Exum pointed out in a January column, without a dominant adversary or geographical template (the Soviet Union, Central Europe)...
View ArticleBeyond Borders?
There's been a flurry of commentary and scholarship examining the idea that the 2001 Authorization of Military Force (Aread more
View ArticleThe Great War and the Complexity of Military Failure
Military failure is always hard to discuss rationally. Whether we are considering a black mark on an otherwise victorious strategy or yet another disgrace in a lost war, military failures always are...
View ArticleTool Academy: Of Political and Military Solutions
In tomorrow's New York Times Sunday Review, Lucian Truscott IV blasts General David Petraeus for failing to "conquer" Iraq and Afghanistan.read more
View ArticleGaza: Winners and Losers?
The Internet is abuzz with theorizing about who won and lost the short Israel-Hamas duel in Gaza. Unfortunately, the standards by which victory and defeat is tallied are fairly impressionistic. How...
View ArticleGeneralship and its Discontents
Having plowed through Tom Ricks' book on generals, I expected to write a review here. Unfortunately, I realized that I lack the background in the history of American military management and leadership...
View ArticleThe Once and Future CIA
Intelligence reform is once again in the air, and this time the bogeyman is the "militarization" of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).read more
View ArticleGreat Raids and Great Disasters
One of the most useful aspects of Zero Dark Thirty is its dogged focus on the mundane and numerous things that underpin great raids. There are the countless hours of intelligence collection and...
View ArticleCracking Defense's Crystal Balls
It's the Sequestration Game of Thrones, and a careful observer of DC defense politics will glimpse much tumult as the Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force all battle for supremacy through both official...
View ArticleIsraeli Bombs and American Qualms: Assessing Syria
The recent Israeli airstrikes in Syria, through which the Israeli Air Force appears to target weapons shipments bound for Hezbollah, provoked an important debate among those concerned about a U.S....
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