
Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009
On Nov. 9, 1989, large crowds of German citizens from both East and West Berlin approached the Berlin Wall. At several border crossing points, East Berliners began shouting at the armed Communist guards, demanding they open the gates and shove aside barbed wire obstacles.
Building an army under fire
Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009
Maintaining a competent military organization is a challenge for wealthy nations, even in times of relative peace. Bureaucrats and politicians hijack budgets as politically connected officers wrangle promotions at the expense of creative, forward-thinking war-fighters. War reveals the organizational corruption, stagnation and decay, and this institutional decline exacts a stiff price in soldiers' sweat and blood.
What kind of achievement merits an award?
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009
Action in the world ought to trump worlds evoked by words, especially when awarding a global prize allegedly recognizing sustained, courageous effort on behalf of peace in our world's deeply conflicted corners.
Stage is set for more carnage in East Africa
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009
Sudan's genocidal Darfur war still attracts international attention, and though large battles pitting national government troops against Darfur rebels are less frequent there, violent anarchy still afflicts that sad region.
Sphere of influence vs. sphere of security
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009
When it came to acting on behalf of peace in the 21st century, the Obama administration weighed "sphere of influence" against "sphere of security" and came down solidly on the side of the Russian czars.
Morale matters -- especially in a time of war
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009
Morale even matters in an "overseas contingency operation," the hazy bureaucratic phrase the Obama administration sought to substitute for "The Global War on Terror." The GWOT is a poor name in my opinion (terror is a tactic), but at least it sketched the wicked problem al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, attack posed -- a war fought on a global scale, where transportation, weapons and communications technologies had shrunk the planet. Sept. 11 demonstrated that the distance between "over there" (overseas) and "over here" could be easily bridged by a terrorist organization.
What they tell us
Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009
Unleashed in the early hours of Sept. 1, 1939, Germany's "lightning war" -- the blitzkrieg -- quickly pierced Poland's border forces and sliced through the Danzig Corridor. As the German Luftwaffe hammered Poland's air force, panzer divisions smashed Poland's army, leaving its units scattered and surrounded.
Accord paved way for war 70 years ago
Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009
"Communazi" became magazine shorthand for their collaboration, dark slang connecting the two totalitarian ideologies of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany after they ratified the Hitler-Stalin pact.
Keys are collaring corruption, fostering trade
Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009
Credit Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, with vision and guts. In the midst of the Cartel War's vicious bloodletting, Mr. Calderon continues to pursue his "systemic revolution" on multiple fronts, and he's doing so with an enviable cool and steadiness.
Pyongyang feels heat from Rising Sun
Saturday, April 4, 2009
When it comes to international provocations, North Korea's experienced extortionists have an outline that guides their bellicose dramas. The starving Stalinists' latest armed tantrum fits the general theatrical scheme of past confrontations - up to an uncomfortable point.