“Why Has America Stopped Winning Wars?”
Since 1945, the United States has experienced little except military stalemate and loss—precisely because it’s a superpower in a more peaceful world.
By Dominic Tierney, The Atlantic.
Tierney is a contributing editor at The Atlantic and an associate professor of political science at Swarthmore College. His latest book is The Right Way to Lose a War: America in an Age of Unwinnable Conflicts.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/06/america-win-loss-iraq-afghanistan/394559/
“Reasons Not to Dally in Iraq”
President Obama’s strategy toward Iraq over the last year has been more right than wrong, but his plan to add several hundred American training advisors for Anbar province is too restrained.
By Michael E. O’Hanlon, Brookings Blogs.
O’Hanlon is co-director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence.
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2015/06/11-iraq-isil-washington-obama-strategy-risk?utm_campaign=Brookings+Brief&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content= 18401534&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9nf-NSX3bOZme_43uuNY_3PfGFCW56UokZMqvlEYKqVSMJ4vHel9WnpOMl2F _ljIaRWAJvYx7ilOLLJ4lTbkQn_HakNQ&_hsmi=18401534
“Rumbling and Blundering About Papal Climate Change”
A Catholic blogger takes on the Guardian newspaper’s account of the Pope’s upcoming encyclical on climate change as well as the UN. Conclusion: “The Pope can do better.”
By Thomas Peters, CatholicVote.org
Peters, 28, has written the American Papist blog, about the intersection of Catholicism and politics, since 2006..
https://www.catholicvote.org/rumbling-and-blundering-about-papal-climate-change/
“The Evil of Our Time”
The Islamic State (ISIS) is not a terrorist organization. It is an army of conquest destroying all traces of civilization in the lands that it holds. It has taken root in Iraq and Syria, but its evil threatens the whole world. The U.S. must find an answer.
By Frederick W. Kagan, AEI.org.
Kagan, author of the 2007 American Enterprise Institute report “Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq,” is one of the intellectual architects of the “surge” strategy in Iraq. He is the director of AEI’s Critical Threats Project and a former professor of military history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
https://www.aei.org/publication/the-evil-of-our-time/
“The ISIS Beheading Narrative”
To neutralize ISIS Internet recruitment propaganda, we need to understand how the group’s symbols appeal to its target audience. ISIS legitimizes beheadings by the act’s symbolic links to the sword-driven rise of a medieval Islamic empire and that era’s blood-soaked contest between Christendom and Islam for control of Europe.
By Doyle Quiggle, Small Wars Journal.
Quiggle has been a professor for U.S. troops at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa, and at FOB Fenty, Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He researches the anthropology of war from within the battlespace, focusing on counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-isis-beheading-narrative
“‘Look… It’s My Name on This’: Obama Defends the Iran Nuclear Deal”
In an interview, the U.S. president ties his legacy to a pact with Tehran, argues ISIS is not winning, warns Saudi Arabia not to pursue a nuclear-weapons program, and anguishes about Israel.
By Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic.
Goldberg is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and the author of Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/obama-interview-iran-isis-israel/393782/
“The Economic Consequences of Austerity”
The judgments of European financial and political leaders since the 2008 financial crisis have been breathtakingly narrow. A Nobel economist considers the alternatives.
By Amartya Sen, the New Statesman.
Sen is professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard; he won the 1998 Nobel Prize for economics.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/06/amartya-sen-economic-consequences-austerity?utm_campaign
“The Devil, or Mr. Wang”
As leader of the Communist Party’s most wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign, China’s second most powerful leader is admired and feared.
From The Economist.
http://www.economist.com/news/china/21647295-chinas-second-most-powerful-leader-admired-and-feared-devil-or-mr-wang
“Made in Beijing: An Anti-China Alliance Emerges”
Concerns over increased Chinese assertiveness are leading to greater security cooperation among America’s Asian allies.
By Richard Javad Heydarian, the National Interest.
Heydarianis a lecturer in international affairs and political science at Ateneo De Manila University, and a policy advisor with the Philippine House of Representatives. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Philippines: The US, China, and the Struggle for Asia’s Pivot State.
http://www.nationalinterest.org/feature/made-beijing-anti-china-alliance-emerges-13104
“Coming to Terms”
A review of the current state of dictatorships, coups, and democratic change in Africa.
Bu Philip B Gourevitch, the New Yorker.
Gourevitch, a New Yorker staff writer since 1997, won many nonfiction awards for his 1998 book, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/22/coming-to-terms-africas-succession-problem?mbid=nl_061515_Daily&CNDID=26744763&mbid=nl_061515_Daily&CNDID= 26744763&spMailingID=7827595&spUserID=OTQ0Mjk1Nzc1NjMS1&spJobID=701966023&spReportId= NzAxOTY2MDIzS0
“Turkey Comes Undone”
Why Turkish voters’ rejection of President Erdogan’s ruling party will likely lead to a period of political paralysis and instability.
By Steven A. Cook, the American Interest.
Cook is a senior fellow in Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/06/10/turkey-comes-undone/
“History Lesson: Opposition to Export-Import Bank Has Grown over Time”
Since 1992, opposition to the Export-Import Bank—which provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies for the purchase of U.S. products—has grown substantially among Republicans in both the House and the Senate.
By Melissa Quinn, the Daily Signal.
Quinn is a news reporter for the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal.
http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/15/history-lesson-opposition-to-export-import-bank-has-grown-over-time/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morningbell&mkt_tok= 3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoguK7MZKXonjHpfsX66uouXq6%2BhIkz2EFye%2BLIHETpodcMRcJlNa %2BTFAwTG5toziV8R7jHKM1t0sEQWBHm