Joseph Bosco writes: This past week at the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute, Henry Kissinger’s former associates met to discuss “Kissinger on Kissinger,” an oral history by the former secretary of State. […]But the reprise of Kissinger’s diplomatic feats suffers from historical myopia. Roy asserted, for example, that “The breakthrough to China … really was a turning point in the Cold War,” inducing Moscow to enter Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.[…] In fact, however, the détente period brought heightened Cold War tensions, Soviet global advances, and a near-nuclear confrontation during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. – The Hill
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In Search of the Lost Nation Michael Brendan Dougherty explores the meaning of fatherhood in Ireland and America. Michael Brendan Dougherty takes a unique route to the exploration of identity, and seeks to resolve a conflict within himself. Read More »
Understanding Trump Country by Rachel Lu Tim Carney shows that the decline of the Rust Belt has cultural and moral elements that economics alone cannot adequately explain. Read More » A New Birth of Intellectual Freedom on the Right by Mark C. Henrie Before Trump, conservative orthodoxy ruled right-of-center philanthropy. It now needs an agenda based on what gave rise to his presidency. Read More »
Hanson recently shared insights from the book in a Hoover.org interview, and video from his recent Hoover Institution book event can be viewed here. Timothy Carney’s “Alienated America” & the Future of the American Dream By Kevin Roberts on May 16, 2019 10:00 pm Timothy Carney’s book "Alienated America" tackles a crucial question that too few policymakers and news commentators even bother asking anymore: What is at the root of America’s contemporary cultural and social malaise? The short answer, according to Mr. Carney, is the deterioration of civil society. Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Other Places Collapse, ... Read in browser » Papal Household Theologian on sparking faith, returning to basics of Catholic life
By Paul Senz on May 14, 2019 12:29 am In the tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas, members of the Dominican Order tend to be particularly well-versed in philosophy, theology, scholasticism, and the great intellectual tradition of the Church. This is part of the reason [...] Read in browser » De Gaulle, Re-Founder of French Republicanism by Will Morrisey The man the French consider the most important figure in their long history, with Napoleon a distant runner-up. Read More » The remarkable story of the search for Saint Peter’s tomb
By Paul Senz on Apr 30, 2019 06:00 pm On November 24, 2013, the world was treated to a remarkable sight. Pope Francis, the 265th successor of Saint Peter, held an ossuary containing the bones of the first pope. The current occupant of a [...] Read in browser » War Books: The Theory and Practice of War By Craig Whiteside, Modern War Institute: "When I left the Army and struck out on a path to become an academic, my professor at Washington State taught me how to balance personal experience and deep (but narrow) topical knowledge with the instincts of a balanced and objective political scientist." In Statecraft, What is Tragedy Good For? by Neville Morley
Structural Realism Has No Clothes by Paul D. Miller
What is remarkable is that, despite decades of scholarship and change, today’s structural realists have revised or changed almost none of their views. Read More » New Book Examines US, Global Monetary Policy
via Hoover Daily ReportIn their new Hoover Institution Press book, Currencies, Capital, and Central Bank Balances, economists John H. Cochrane and John B. Taylor and Kyle Palermo address big-picture debates affecting US and global monetary policy. TNSR: Book Review Roundtable: Building Militaries in FragileStates by by Walter C. Ladwig III, Loren DeJonge Schulman, Tommy Ross, and Jason Fritz Working in Non-Permissive Environments: Arming Civilians Isn’t the Answer By Leon S. Waskin, RealClearDefense: “USAID has long sought to develop an approach for the rapid deployment of its staff into high threat regions. One idea is to develop “Rapid Expeditionary Development – RED” teams." Blood and Power: The Militia-Corruption Nexus in Latin America
By Paul Rexton Kan, Small Wars Journal: “Although much of the focus has been on how the military, national guard and police are reacting to the opposition’s new found assertiveness, paramilitary groups, loyal to the ruling party and numbering in the hundreds of thousands, have acted as official henchmen of the governing elite. Known as colectivos, these militias have long acted to repress dissent and opposition as a means to ensure the survival of the regime."
“Chernobyl” offers a grim, dramatic indictment of socialism
By Derya M. Little on Jun 13, 2019 02:47 am Back in 1986, the Turkish government had to stop giving me and other elementary school children tiny packages of hazelnuts because somewhere in the USSR something had exploded, and somehow that explosion had poisoned the [...] Read in browser » 'The Costs of Conversation: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Wartime' Oriana Skylar Mastro | Cornell University Press Through four primary case studies, “The Costs of Conversation” demonstrates that the strategic costs of conversation best explain the timing and nature of countries’ approach to wartime talks, and therefore when peace talks begin. How do we avoid war on the Korean Peninsula? And how will the ongoing US-China rivalry play out? Oriana Skylar Mastro joined AEI’s “Banter” podcast ahead of the Trump-Kim summit to discuss the process of diplomatic negotiations and her new book, “The Costs of Conversation: Obstacles to Peace Talks in Wartime” (Cornell University Press, 2019). Mastro explains how belligerents decide whether to talk to their enemies and why they go from only fighting to also talking. Listen here.
In this unique history of 1776, Claudio Saunt looks beyond the familiar story of the thirteen colonies to explore the many other revolutions roiling the turbulent American continent. In that fateful year, the Spanish landed in San Francisco, the Russians pushed into Alaska to hunt valuable sea otters, and the Sioux discovered the Black Hills. Hailed by critics for challenging our conventional view of the birth of America, West of the Revolution “[coaxes] our vision away from the Atlantic seaboard” and “exposes a continent seething with peoples and purposes beyond Minutemen and Redcoats” (Wall Street Journal).
22 illustrations; 15 maps Misplaced guilt
by Andrew Roberts A review of In Praise of Empires: Globalization and Order by D. Lal The Italians are rightly proud of Ancient Rome, the French revere the Napoleonic First Empire, the Portuguese esteem Prince Henry the Navigator as highly as the Austrians do Emperor Charles V, or the Spanish King... more The Meiji Restoration
by Michael R. Auslin via Stanford University Press For Japan, the Meiji Restoration of 1868 has something of the significance that the French Revolution has for France: it is the point from which modern history begins. In this now classic work of Japanese history, the late W. G. Beasley offers a comprehensive account of the origins, development, and immediate aftermath of the events that restored Imperial rule to Japan.
Arab military effectiveness
Kenneth Pollack | AEI video In the years since World War II, Arab militaries have routinely lost every major conflict, even when they have had advantages. Is it because of their strategy? Their equipment? Or something else entirely?
Since the end of World War II, Arab armed forces have consistently punched below their weight. Why? In a set of AEI graphics, Kenneth Pollack demonstrates that despite being the preeminent supplier of military arms and equipment to Arab countries, America’s efforts have not produced meaningfully strong Arab allies, let alone long-term stability and security. Explore the graphics here.
The US has wasted billions of dollars on failed Arab armies
Kenneth Pollack | Foreign Policy If the US is going to stay involved in the Middle East, it has to rethink the way it engages with Arab militaries. Ambitious dreams of engaged, modernized militaries must be replaced with more realistic plans that build on the real strengths of allies, instead of forcing soldiers into a mold that their societies and culture have left them unsuited for.
U.S. Commanders Everyone Should Study
By Joe Byerly, Wavell Room: “In America, we have had a number of military leaders worthy of study. By studying their leadership we gain an understanding of the problems they faced, the decisions they made, their successes and mistakes, and how they approached the art of command. More importantly we gain points of traction by which to grow our leadership abilities and become the best version ourselves.
'Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness'
Kenneth Pollack | Oxford University Press
'Armies of Sand: The Past, Present, and Future of Arab Military Effectiveness'
Kenneth Pollack | Oxford University Press Since World War II, Arab armed forces have consistently punched below their weight. Over time, soldiers, scholars, and military experts have offered various explanations for this pattern. “Armies of Sand” assesses these differing explanations and isolates the most important causes.
Arab Armies Under the Microscope by Seth Frantzman
The Jerusalem Post February 13, 2019 https://www.meforum.org/57802/arab-armies-under-microscope
Samuel Tadros: The Sorrows Of Egypt, Revisited
with Samuel Tadros via Hudson InstituteHoover Institution fellow Samuel Tadros discusses whether Egypt still has a place in the US grand strategy.
Kenneth M. Pollack writes: Da’ish and Hizballah are the two most important Arab non-state militaries that demonstrated a clear superiority in their battlefield competence over the vast majority of Arab militaries since the Second World War. Understanding why they were exceptionally more successful is therefore a critical element in understanding how Arab society has shaped its armed forces during the modern era, and how the Middle Eastern military balance may change in the future. – Real Clear Books
Book Review Roundtable: What to Make of the Suez Canal Crisis by Jordan Chandler Hirsch, Madison Schramm, Danny Steed, and Galen Jackson
War Books: MG Mick Ryan’s 2019 Reading List By Mick Ryan, Modern War Institute: “Each year I assemble a single-page list of professional readings and other PME resources. It is not designed as a comprehensive reading program, but as short variety of resources for those who wish to begin (or re-energize) the amazing voyage of exploration in the many aspects of the profession of arms." AEI’s best books of 2018
James Pethokoukis | AEIdeas With 2018 coming to a close, we asked some of our scholars and staff about their favorite books of the past year. History, economics, literature, science fiction — AEI is an eclectic bunch, and there is something for everyone. Just in time for last-second Christmas gift ideas, too.
"What a novel my life has been!" Napoleon once said of himself. Born into a poor family, the callow young man was, by twenty-six, an army general. Seduced by an older woman, his marriage transformed him into a galvanizing military commander. The Pope crowned him as Emperor of the French when he was only thirty-five. Within a few years, he became the effective master of Europe, his power unparalleled in modern history. His downfall was no less dramatic.
The story of Napoleon has been written many times. In some versions, he is a military genius, in others a war-obsessed tyrant. Here, historian Adam Zamoyski cuts through the mythology and explains Napoleon against the background of the European Enlightenment, and what he was himself seeking to achieve. This most famous of men is also the most hidden of men, and Zamoyski dives deeper than any previous biographer to find him. Beautifully written, Napoleonbrilliantly sets the man in his European context. Blood-Soaked Monster featuring Stephen Kotkin via The Claremont Review of Books Writing a biography of Joseph Stalin is a monumental task, which he made as difficult as possible. The Ambiguity of Stalin
By Jeremy Friedman on Apr 25, 2019 10:00 pm Somehow Joseph Stalin cannot be reduced merely to just another Russian autocrat or just another communist dictator. Not for him the “banality of evil.”… Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878–1928 By Stephen Kotkin (Penguin Press, 2014) Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator By Oleg Khlevniuk, translated by Nora Seligman Favorov (Yale University Press, 2015) The ... Read in browser » |
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