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Military Affairs National Security US Foreign Policy

America’s Scandalous Drone War Goes Unmentioned in the Campaign

The New Republic, September 26, 2012 *Republished by The Australian  as “Drones Backfire as Civilian Toll Mounts,” October 3, 2012) A new study released this week by researchers at Stanford and NYU has found that American drone strikes in Pakistan are killing far more civilians than advertised, taking out few high value targets, and have become the […]

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Military Affairs National Security

The Day We Lost Afghanistan

The National Interest September 19, 2012 Afghanistan has been unwinnable has been obvious to most outside analysts since well before the so-called surge of 2009. Now, the United States government has finally admitted the obvious in deeds if not words. Following the  murder of six NATO troops in yet another “green on blue” attack in which Afghan […]

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Civil-Military Relations Military Affairs National Security US Foreign Policy US Politics

Oversight or Not, Drones Are Here to Stay

World Politics Review July 27, 2012 In “The Imperial Presidency: Drone Power and Congressional Oversight,” Michael Cohen argues persuasively that the U.S. Congress has abdicated its constitutional and statutory responsibility to reign in the executive branch in matters of national security policy. Then again, few who have been paying attention this past decade — some […]

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Military Affairs US Foreign Policy

How Perpetual War Became U.S. Ideology

The Atlantic May 11, 2011 The United States has found itself in a seemingly endless series of wars over the past two decades. Despite frequent opposition by the party not controlling the presidency and often that of the American public, the foreign policy elite operates on a consensus that routinely leads to the use of […]

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Military Affairs NATO

Back in the Saddle: How Libya Helped NATO Get its Groove Back

Foreign Policy April 15, 2011 (Republished by NPR as “NATO Is Back In The Saddle” April 18, 2011) NATO’s operations in Libya got off to a rocky start. Although the venerable treaty organization’s member countries — principally Britain, France, and the United States — were dropping bombs on Muammar al-Qaddafi’s military as soon as the ink […]

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Military Affairs Terrorism

New War and the Threat to Globalization

TCS Daily June 26, 2007 Editor’s note: TCS contributor James Joyner recently interviewed John Robb of the Global Guerrillas blog on his new book Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization. Robb paints a picture of a resilient enemy that morphs into something new just as we develop ways to protect […]

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Military Affairs National Security Terrorism

Interview with Author John Robb

Washington Examiner May 23, 2007 James Joyner: Throughout the book, you point out how easy it would be for relatively small groups with minimal funding to create power blackouts, disrupt our oil distribution networks, or even stage 9/11-style attacks on a routine basis. Why do you suppose that hasn’t already happened? For that matter, we […]

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Book Reviews Military Affairs Terrorism

Review: Brave New War

Washington Examiner May 22, 2007 REVIEW: John Robb, Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization (New York: Wiley, 2007). John Robb has spent his career studying terrorism, computer systems, and risk management. He has brought these experiences to bear in this vital study of global terrorism. The view is […]

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Iraq Military Affairs

Preparing for the Next War

The New Individualist April 2007 “Perhaps there is no great point in recalling all the tragic and idiotic blunders, all the false optimism, all the unrealism of the first phases of the war, but it is not possible to appreciate fully the heroism of the Security Forces unless the stupidities of some of those in […]

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Military Affairs US Foreign Policy

Time For the Commission to Ban Commissions

Washington Examiner December 6, 2006 Washington is eagerly awaiting the report from the Iraq Study Group to point the way out of the war in Iraq. Sure, there are tens of thousands of years of professional military experience at the Pentagon with every incentive in the world to get things right. But what do they know […]