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Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)
Christopher Hitchens has died. The world has lost one of its most luminous minds. He will be acclaimed for his literary criticism, his political stances, and his raw physical courage as a...
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The Iraq surge: vindicated then exposed?
We haven’t got all the details, but promptly after the departure of US combat troops the Iraqi Prime Minister is feuding badly with Sunni political figures, and a bomb blast suggests that Iraq may be...
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Obama’s Offshore Dominance
Before I launch in, I just wanted to say quickly to Dan Nexon and all the folk at the Duck, thanks for letting me stay on board! I normally lose respect for institutions that decide to keep me as a...
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On Security Dilemmas and The Absurdity of Newt Gingrich
When he isn’t comparing himself to Ronald Reagan (whose withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, arms control negotiations with Gorbachev, nuclear abolitionist visions and moderation on immigration, and...
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Begging to differ on Libya and R2P
In a reflective post not long ago, Robert E. Kelly noted: “…we are elated that the Libya operation worked, (against all odds given the Iraq experience and what we know about foreign intervention in...
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How to Be a Good Realist
I’m going to delve clumsily into IR Theory here, so I’d be grateful to get some feedback on the question of the ‘Realist’ minimum. In a fascinating post recently on US-China relations, Stephen Walt...
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The unconquerable village
I’m very much looking forward to attending this year’s International Studies Association conference in lovely San Diego. This is partly because I can fight a losing struggle against its declared theme...
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The Neocons Made Me Do It: Iraq and the Alibi of Liberal Hawks
Looking back on the disaster (or extremely Pyhrric Victory) that was the Iraq War, Stephen Walt reflects: ‘The remarkable thing about the Iraq war is how few people it took to engineer. It wasn’t...
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Why worry about an Iranian bomb?
With sanctions and talks – and a big stick in the background – the United States and its allies are trying to curtail Tehran’s nuclear programme. Australia is playing its part. Canberra recently...
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Is Victory Bad for Business?
All wars end. Or do they? Rather too often, we are being reminded that the ‘war on terror’ against the Al Qaeda terrorist network is far from over, in fact that it will never end and even, that it can...
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Planning to be Shocked
One of the most repeated, and most dubious, axioms about strategy is the notion that being proactive is wiser than being reactive, and that reactivity is something we should be allergic to. In the...
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On the Word ‘Global’
The word ‘global’ has become so frequently used in Western strategic debate that is has almost become background music. On one level, overuse robs it of resonance. But on another, it might be...
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A (very reluctant) case for Airport Security
For students of international affairs and security, especially from either side of the Atlantic, its that time of year again when we congregate at the ISA Conference to muse on the globalisation of...
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Iraq: It takes a President
Some further thoughts on why the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. We’ve had a few posts already now that the tenth anniversary has come. But given the magnitude of the decision and since even its...
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Sharing Power: America’s Strategic Choices
The Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College has just published my latest effort, a study of America’s strategic choices and the prospects for a grand strategy based on the two principles...
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Sorry General, War is a Choice
General David Petraeus advises Americans and their allies to be coldly realistic about what force can achieve. Oddly, he also advises them to prepare for a future where small wars are pretty much...
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Ham Omelettes and Taiwan’s Defence
In the old old question of why the weak occasionally beat the strong, my favourite metaphor is the Ham Omelette. In a Ham Omelette, the chicken is involved but the pig is committed. In a clash over the...
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Questions about Syria
The US and UK are apparently preparing for air strikes against the Syrian Assad regime, claiming there is little doubt that it is responsible for horrific chemical weapons attacks. Syria has allegedly...
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The Great War of…1990
The year 2014 is nearly on us, and reflections on World War One are already weighing down bookshop shelves. In my own research, I’ve stumbled across an odd tendency: that whereas in Britain the cause...
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A Small Farewell
It is cold in the scriptorium, my thumb aches. Actually, it isn’t. I’ve just always wanted to use that line from the end of Name of the Rose. In fact its about room temperature in the American...
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