The Atlantic August 30, 2013 Having backed himself into a corner by declaring a “red line” that has now been crossed, President Obama is by all appearances ramping up for military action in Syria. As best we can tell from the not inconsiderable leaks coming from Washington and elsewhere, the planned strikes would use aerial […]
Author: James Joyner
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Clapper’s Bodyguard of Lies
The National Interest August 20, 2013 Winston Churchill declared, “In war-time, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” In the current environment, it’s difficult to know where the truth ends and the lies begin. Last week the Washington Post reported, “The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or […]
The National Interest July 24, 2013 Revelations that the government’s ability to access American citizens’ phone records without probable cause is much broader than previously contemplated got Congress’ attention last week, drawing rebukes and warnings from both sides of the aisle. The startling new insight came from NSA Deputy Director John Inglis, who testified before […]
RealClearDefense July 24, 2013 Senators John McCain and Carl Levin have demanded answers from General Martin Dempsey on Syria. Can they handle the truth? In open hearings before the Armed Services Committee last Thursday, McCain asked the Joint Chiefs chairman, “Do you believe the continued costs and risks of our inaction in Syria are now […]
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Enough with the QDR Hype
RealClearDefense July 18, 2013 Writing at the newly-launched Defense One, CNAS vice president Shawn Brimley proclaims, “The next nine months will be the most important period for United States defense strategy since the end of the Cold War.” That’s highly unlikely. First, the bar is rather high. The nine months following the collapse of the Soviet […]
Defense One July 19, 2013 Sen. John McCain is blocking a second term for Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after a testy exchange in a hearing Thursday. His grounds? The refusal of Dempsey to “respond to legitimate questions” from the senior senator from Arizona. McCain’s question: ”Do you believe the continued […]
The Atlantic June 13, 2013 The New York Times editorial board complains, “Except for a few leaders and members of the intelligence committees, most lawmakers did not know the government was collecting records on almost every phone call made in the United States or was able to collect anyone’s e-mail messages and Internet chats.” Further, it adds, “since […]
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Leaders and Leakers
The National Interest June 11, 2013 Glenn Greenwald, the civil-liberties columnist who broke the story about the National Security Agency’s massive collection of metadata on U.S. phone and Internet usage patterns, contends that, despite its being classified Top Secret, “There’s not a single revelation that we’ve provided to the world that even remotely jeopardizes national security.” Director […]
The National Interest May 16, 2013 Kenneth Waltz, the most important Realist theorist of the last half-century, died Monday, a few weeks before his 89th birthday. His Columbia University doctoral dissertation was published in 1959 as Man, the State, and War. He followed up with Theory of International Politics in 1979. Georgetown professor of government Daniel Nexon doesn’t exaggerate when […]
The National Interest May 8, 2013 This Holocaust Remembrance Day, it’s worth noting an inconsistency present in public statements about atrocity prevention. As scholars Gerald Caplan, Samuel Totten and Amanda Grzyb pointed out recently, while U.S. presidents solemnly declare that “never again” will the world stand by and allow genocide to happen, they continue to stand by […]