I have an entire shelf of books dedicated to the economic development that ISN’T happening around the world. They have titles like: The Elusive Quest for Growth, The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, The End of Poverty, The Mystery Read More…
The Path to Democracy
As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, the end of the Cold War left many people looking for new ways to understand international affairs. Starting in the early 1990’s, many people began to feel that democracy had won the final chapter in world affairs and it was just a matter of when and how Read More…
Dissecting the Debt Debacle
In the last few weeks, there has been plenty of debate over the debt deal and America’s economic troubles. Some have blamed everything on government spending, some have called the Tea Party and GOP blackmailers, some have been disappointed in President Obama, and some are still blaming everything on George Bush – the only Read More…
Writing History and the Question of the Decade
As it became clear that Iraq didn’t harbor any WMD and stable democracy was elusive, neoconservatives and supporters of the Bush Doctrine seemed to sink into the shadows and disappear. Now that our troops are leaving Iraq to its elected government and the Middle East and North Africa have erupted with democratic movements, the tides Read More…
Intervention in Libya
In my last article I spoke of the importance of statecraft and smart power. The situation in Libya is a perfect example of the importance of these concepts. The simple fact is this situation isn’t simple. On one hand, it seems clear that we should do all we can to support an uprising against an Read More…
Implementing Smart Power
At the suggestion of a friend, I recently started reading Mitt Romney’s book No Apology. I was excited to read the book because I thought I’d disagree with it before I even began. (I’ve said before that I think everyone should spend a lot more time listening to or reading those they disagree with.) The Read More…
Lessons Learned
I recently returned from a deployment to Afghanistan and am often asked “how is it going over there,” or, “what was it like.” To answer those questions in true military fashion, it seems appropriate to record my “Lessons Learned,” as any good officer would. My first observation is that I didn’t observe much, and am Read More…
Choosing Our Future
In the years after the Cold War ended, International Relations theorists scrambled to come up with new ways to understand the world. Two distinctly different schools of thought emerged. One, championed in Francis Fukuyama’s book The End of History and the Last Man, postulated that liberal democracy would slowly dominate world politics; that nations Read More…
Ties Don’t Make People Rich & Islam Doesn’t Make People Terrorists
I hate to sound like a broken record or beat a dead horse, but once in a while it becomes apparent the horse isn’t dead. So I’ll start by quoting myself – as though I’m important enough to quote – and then look at some recent news to highlight the continuing problem. In my Read More…
Fixing the BCS
I’ve unfortunately been working night shifts quite a bit the last few weeks. The disruption of my circadian rhythm has left me temporarily incapable of carefully articulating educated opinions on complex issues of national policy. So I decided to exercise the prerogative discussed in my about the blog section and talk about football. For Read More…