Rethinking Security

The Ultimate War Game Might Be….War

This is an interesting yarn from Michael Ledeen over Bridge and its role as a cerebral activity for commanders. But the problem is that it reminds me a bit too much of the Weiqi/Go model of Chinese strategy. I think there’s an inherent limitation to “X is the real…

Proxies and Operational Control

Good stuff at SWJ. In my opinion, this also depends a great deal on how much the patron’s aims are served by varying degrees of control and autonomy.

The US strategy of selecting reliable proxies against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS…

Some Things Never Change

Again, physicists wanted to be paid by the military but not be in the military; physicists wanted to do social research for the military, but not be social scientists; physicists wanted to tell others what to do, but not be responsible for the commands given. To be granted these…

Strategy and Perspective

Once one accepts that strategy always takes place in the context of relative interactions between two or more thinking entities, it is potentially disastrous to ignore the possibility that truth or reality is equally valid from the other’s point of view. This does not mean that all…

Walt, ISIS, And The Wages of “Socialization”

To be accepted into the community of nations, however, radical or revolutionary movements eventually have to abandon some (if not all) of their most ferocious practices. As Kenneth Waltz pointed out more than 30 years ago, eventually all radical states…

The Work That Bob Work Is Up To Part II: The Work That Needs To Be Done

So, in my last entry, I expressed my opinion about why I thought quantitative social science god (despite a lot of the harsh things I said, intellectual honesty obliges to me to note that Schrodt is the G.O…

Further Reflections on Terrorism and Risk

I will add a small addendum to the post on terrorism and risk communication.

First, Cheryl Rofer, a contact with an advanced understanding of the risk communication literature and a large amount of practical experience with public…

The One Great Taboo of Our Wars: Asking “Why?”

In the years since I first got to know him, Kelsey D. Atherton has become not only an excellent defense and technology reporter but also an astute observer of some of the contradictions and paradoxes of our wars. Today, he said something quite…

The Purpose of the Military

EDIT: see this apology to the Major. I do not think that this was my best hour, and I’m sorry for that.

Critics will counter with Clausewitz, dismissing my argument as the naïve, “kind-hearted” words of someone that misguidedly believes there is “some…