Defense & Security

AI is the future, and the leviathan is the past. AI and modeling can be of enormous benefit to the state in issues that involve the complex interplay between states, interests, and human dynamics. Although the state works because of human dynamics and the negotiations that occur between those who feed it, the problem lies in that one beast can often misunderstand the other. AI offers a radical promise for situations involving state interests because it would allow for speed and efficiency in matters that can be lengthy, drudging, contentious, and lead to abhorrent waste and loss of life.

Been consumed by family related errands in Alabama this week so in addition to having to deal with 100 plus degree heat, have not had time to blog.  The heat gave me flash backs to my times in the Mideast desert during my military active duty days which in turn reminded me I have one […]

Glenn Greenwald lays out the “Libya’s About Oil” angle: Is there anything more obvious — as the world’s oil supplies rapidly diminish — than the fact that our prime objective is to remove Gaddafi and install a regime that is a far more reliable servant to Western oil interests, and that protecting civilians was the […]

I know I don’t need to point out how hectic our lives can be. Teaching our kids how to be ruthless; beating the presidential cook after s/he prepared a lackluster chocolate soufflé for our dinner party with the President of FIFA; or getting our son into an overrated, elitist Western university and (cross our fingers) getting him to graduate – these are all things that can take up an inordinate amount of time in our schedules, which of course lead us to take shortcuts that often backfire on us.

Last weekend, the Arab Spring came to India.  Swami Ramdev, yoga guru and television celebrity, staged a massive hunger strike designed to protest government corruption.  The event, which involved thousands of his followers, was ended by a police raid. This isn’t something new for India though.  Thousands of people in multiple cities in India protested […]

Beware CTBT Cheaters!  We have a Garmin and we know how to use it! In addition to finding your way home and locating enemy targets, researchers at The Ohio State University have found another use for our little Garmin: detecting clandestine nuclear tests. The Global Security Newswire reports today on the work of Ralph Von […]

Two of my FPA blogger colleagues offer differing assessments of the war in Afghanistan.  In the optimistic camp is Gail Harris of the FPA U.S. Defense blog. She participated in several Bloggers Roundtables sponsored by the U.S. Defense Department and blogged about it in three parts (here, here, and here).  She notes that NATO is […]

In the context of all the Iranian nuke news, Reuters has run a couple of basic, layperson-accessible FAQs, or “Factboxes”, on uranium enrichment and how uranium ore becomes civilian nuke fuel.  They are reasonably accurate.

Longtime nuke journalist and now Senior Associate at Carnegie Mark Hibbs has written an update on the ongoing saga regarding the Dair Alzour site in Syria.  Readers will recall that the site was bombed four years ago by the Israeli military because it believed, along with the U.S., that the Syrians were hiding a DPRK-supplied […]

Here’s the conclusion to my series on Afghanistan based on several Department of Defense sponsored Bloggers Roundtables I participated in over the last several weeks.  On May 3rd, Major General Richard Mills, United States Marine Corp, spoke on the topic The Evolving Security Situation in Afghanistan.  General Mills is the former commander, Regional Command Southwest.  […]

The idea that American leadership is civilian and accountable is a fallacy. Why is this important? The US war effort in Afghanistan is lacking true civilian leadership, and the existing leadership (military) is avoiding accountability through obfuscation, self-aggrandizement, and attempts to overly intellectualize the conflict. We need to examine why this has been allowed to happen, as well as what we can do about it.

Since September 11, every now and then someone will bring up the Barbary Wars as a precedent to the United States’ post-9/11 military actions.  (See this Washington Post piece from October 2001 and this National Review piece from 2005.)  This time the phenomenon emerges with Marion Smith who, writing for the National Review, argues that […]

As promised, here’s some more information on Afghanistan I received while participating in recent Department of Defense sponsored Blogger’s roundtables.  At the end of April, Major General Stuart Beare spoke on the topic Growth and Professionalization of the Afghan National Police Force.  According to General Beare, the Afghan police don’t yet have the capacity to […]

As Peter Mellgard of the FPA Current Conflicts blog noted last week, Thomas Friedman recently offered a perhaps seemingly novel proposal to the Palestinians.  His proposal?  A massive nonviolent protest movement advocating a two-state solution.  Friedman writes: If Palestinians peacefully march to Jerusalem by the thousands every Friday with a clear peace message, it would […]

I wanted to share this with you all. What do you see as a solution to this, if any? I will post my own thoughts to that question this coming Friday.