 FPI Board Member Eric Edelman and Hal Brands write: The core characteristics of the emerging era are the gradual but unmistakable erosion of U.S. and Western primacy, the return of sharp great-power competition across all three key regions of Eurasia, the revival of global ideological struggle, and the empowerment of the agents of international strife and disorder. Moreover, the impact of these forces is magnified by growing uncertainty about whether the traditional defenders of the post-Cold War system will be able and willing to play that role in the future. Dealing with the dangers and dilemmas posed by the new global politics will be a generational task. – Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys Into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East by Gerard Russell. PART 1 of 2
A description of the tunnel as being built and used by Queen Semiramis is given by Diodorus (fl. 50 BCE) in the Bibliotheca Historica:[4] "After all these in a low ground in Babylon, she sunk a place for a pond, four-square, erery square being three hundred furlongs in length, lined with brick, and cemented with brimstone, and the whole five-and-thirty feet in depth: into this having first turned the river, she then made a passage in form of a vault, from one palace to another, whose arches were built of firm and strong brick, and plaistered all over on both sides with bitumen, four cubits thick. The walls of this vault were twenty bricks in thickness, and twelve feet high, beside and above the arches; and the breadth was fifteen feet. This piece of work being finished in two hundred and sixty days, the river was turned into its antient channel again, so that the river flowing over the whole work, Semiramis could go from one palace to the other, without passing over the river. She made likewise two brazen gates at either end of the vault, which continued to the time of the Persian empire." — Diodorus, Bibliotheca Historica, Book II,1 (Translation by G. Booth, 1814)[5]. https://www.amazon.com/Heirs-Forgotten-Kingdoms-Disappearing-Religions/dp/0465030564/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1495145349&sr=1-1&keywords=gerard+russell+heirs+of
Allah's Angels: Chechen Women in War by Paul J. Murphy.
Few Western studies more accurately portray the suffering of women during wartime than Paul Murphy s Allah s Angels. His moving account shows the political and military aspects of this violent conflict while also underscoring its especially devastating impact on women. By the end of this valuable book, the picture that emerges is not a pretty one. --STEPHEN R. BOWERS, Professor, Helms School of Government at Liberty University. Dr. Murphy provides a strikingly poignant view of the Chechen woman in Allah's Angels. It is a thoroughly documented portrait of the traditional, cultural, historical, religious, political, and geographical influencers that have challenged and changed the face of Russia, the Caucasus, Chechnya, the Chechen family, and the Chechen woman. Personal interviews, documented reports from human rights organizations, and police, military, and news sources focus on extremism from all sides, proving the changing gender roles and responsibilities for the Chechen woman. Dr. Murphy has profiled not only a culture but the individual women, the names, the faces, the families, the stories that have marked a tragedy in geopolitical reconstruction at the turn of the 21st century. --L. MITCHELL, former Communications Director, Russia-Eurasia Terror Watch Paul Murphy's work exposes the nuances of how fragments of Islam, tribalism, and the responses to heavy-handed Russian tactics weave together a new regional militant Islamist narrative. The book discusses the complexity of recruiting female suicide bombers by Chechen militant Islamist groups. It highlights an amalgam of family honor, sexual exploitation, and revenge that is given the veneer of Militant Islamist narrative to compel direct action. Murphy's book is critical of Russia's handling of Chechnya and offers lessons on what not to do in countering an insurgency. This book can only enhance the debate on countering Militant Islamist groups in this troubled region and offers clarity of thought. --CDR. YOUSSEF ABOUL-ENEIN, MSC, USN, author of Militant Islamist Ideology About the Author Paul J. Murphy, a former senior intelligence and U.S. counterterrorism official, has worked on counterterrorism cooperation projects with the Russian Parliament. The author of four other books, he currently teaches and is the director of the Russia-Eurasia Terror Watch. https://www.amazon.com/Allahs-Angels-Chechen-Women-War/dp/1591145422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494960326&sr=8-1&keywords=allah%27s+angels  The President, the Pentagon, and the People
By Sean R. Liedman & Daniel Dolan, U.S. Naval Institue's Proceedings Magazine: “Carl von Clausewitz wrote, “Its dominant tendencies always make war a paradoxical trinity, composed of primordial violence, hatred, and enmity. . . .The first of these three aspects mainly concerns the people; the second the commander and his army; the third the government.” Clausewitz further wrote that to be effective, a nation must "maintain a balance between these three tendencies like an object suspended between three magnets." Examining the preparedness of the United States government, military, and people in ascending order of strength and importance is instructive.”  Constanze Stelzenmüller writes: With her party polling at 37 percent — 10 points ahead of the Social Democrats — Merkel’s chances for the September elections look good. But if the past holds any lesson, it is that German politics remain fragmented and volatile. So caution is advised. But then that is one of the chancellor’s most notable qualities. – Washington Post Nearly six months after Austria averted a swing to the right by rejecting an extremist candidate for president, the country appeared poised to clear a path for the far-right Freedom Party to enter into power as the current government teetered on the verge of collapse. – New York Times
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Introduction to Eric Hoffer's Classic "The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements".
FEMINISM: HOW WOMEN BETRAYED WOMEN
RESOLVING WORLD DISORDER
POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR MIDDLE EAST
HOW ISRAEL WINS
THE TREASON OF INTELLECTUALS: JULIEN BENDA
HAYEK & THE INTELLECTUALS
US STRATEGY FOR WINNING WORLD WAR IV
POLICY PAPERS FOR US GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
COMPOSITION FOR THE LONG WAR
PROSPECT MAGAZINE
CategoriesArchives
February 2023
EXAMPLE OF SUCCESS IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY ACE VENTURA
PAUL RAHE: REALISM IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SPARTA
CONSCIENCE & TEMPORAL AUTHORITY
SHAKESPEARE
POSITIVE LAW vs. CONSCIENCE
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