Archive for August, 2008

Why do nations go to war? Why do their people agree to fight and risk their lives? There are several possible motivations, but we in the West have been conditioned to believe …

How: Write and submit a short essay on the book that most changed or helped your career path.

Rules: Essay should be no longer than 1,000 words and must be the author’s …

Since the early 1990s, the defense industry has been talking about the revolutionary technological changes taking place across society. It has worked hard to ensure we know what those changes are and …

War is the norm of human history, not the exception. Contrary to the Clausewitzian dictum that war is an instrument of policy, much of the world does not regard war as a …

TO THOSE who rushed to condemn Wes Clark’s remark about Sen. John McCain’s qualifications to be president. What Clark told “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer was something few would dispute: “In …

Officers should exercise their citizen’s right to vote

In an interview with National Public Radio this spring, Gen. David Petraeus was asked about the prospect of a new president taking office next …

Anbar, properly adapted, offers lessons for quelling Pakistan’s tribal regions

Following years of promising gains since 2001, Afghanistan is in a tailspin. Not long ago, a sophisticated Taliban assault on a Kandahar …

Al-Qaida is shifting its tactics and finding new followers

The good news is that nearly seven years after Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida appears to be battered. The bad news is that like …

The fundamental dictum guiding our diplomats and analysts has been that states and human collectives act in their own rational self-interest. This is utterly wrong, leading us to convoluted analyses that seek …

Recruiting and retention costs are soaring, but do they work?

The Defense Department faces daunting responsibilities to meet military personnel requirements, just as it did in past periods of extended military operations, …