 The Economics of Religion
A new book explores how faith motivates productivity.  Promise and Waste
George Packer’s absorbing biography of diplomat Richard Holbrooke  
JONATHAN CLARKE
Living to Regret A new book reveals the moral legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.  ASPI Suggests
By Jack Norton, Aakriti Bachhawat & Malcolm Davis, The Strategist (ASPI): "Global thermonuclear war is ‘a strange game’. As the line from the 1983 movie War Games goes, ‘the only winning move is not to play’. But The Drive notes that the movie (one of tech geek’s favourites) also had a huge impact on US President Ronald Reagan’s thinking on cyber warfare and resulted in the first presidential directive on cybersecurity." War Books: Intelligence, Forecasting, and Modern War By Adam Maisel, Modern War Institute: "Alec Ross, The Industries of the Future - Ross served as a senior adviser to the State Department on innovation and his book envisions the generally positive effects of five key areas in technological advancement: robotics, genomics, the increased importance of big data and analytics, the rise of cryptocurrencies, and the importance of the cyber domain."  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
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. |
Author of "The True Believer: Thoughts on the nature of Mass Movements."
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