What’s War For
The journalist David Rieff has a marvelous essay at FP today, deconstructing the accelerating the accelerating trend toward humanitarian war. Rieff raises, indirectly, a question of which we, as a strategic actor, have lost sight–rather unbelievably, given the significance of the issue. Just what do we go to war for, anyway? Read more 
Kagan and the Character of Rising Powers
So Robert Kagan was on Diane Rehm today, talking up his new book. It was a sober, mature conversation about world affairs and America’s role in them. No histrionics, no name calling, a balanced view of the current administration, a nuanced appreciation for a bunch of questions. Just the sort of public debate we need—admittedly of a particular view—on many issues of the day. So two-and-a-half-cheers for Kagan.
Which still doesn’t mean a guy’s gotta agree with him. Read more
Seeing Events, or Making Them
On the day that John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, a man stood, quiet and still, by the side of the road used by the presidential motorcade. He was holding an opened umbrella on a cloudless and bright day. And reports suggest that the first bullets to strike the president rushed directly past the Umbrella Man. Read more
