Joseph Stromberg

I conclude here my look at Martin Van Creveld’s analysis of the relationships between states and war in The Rise and Decline of the State (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). ENTER THE AMERICANS Van Creveld’s views on the rise of the American (federal) state are quite interesting. The American Revolution saw the rise of "a … Continue reading “The Future of States and Wars: On State-Strengthening Wars, Part III”

GETTING BACK TO THE SUBJECT… To recur, in a concrete way, to the relationship between war and heightened statism, let us now look at things from the standpoint of Martin Van Creveld’s The Rise and Decline of the State (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). Van Creveld, a military historian who teaches at the Hebrew University … Continue reading “On State-Strengthening Wars: Part II”

In my last two columns on Murray Rothbard, I named a couple of books as important contributions to a Rothbardian analysis of the connections between statism and war. One is Martin Van Creveld’s The Rise and Decline of the State (1999), around which the Ludwig von Mises Institute is organizing a scholarly conference to take … Continue reading “On State-Strengthening Wars: Part I”

I promised last week to go further into what the late Murray Rothbard (1926-1995) teaches us about foreign policy, peace, and war. Those who keep up with such things will have noticed that there exists a colossal and ever-growing body of writing on "what Marx really meant." I wish these folks good luck. In a … Continue reading “Murray N. Rothbard on States, War, and Peace: Part II”

The sheer amount of writing done by the late Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995) continues to astound. The quality of his work accounts for the impact it has had, and the attention it now draws, but its volume cannot have hurt, either. Rothbard spread the word about Austrian School economic theory, furthered those ideas, and helped … Continue reading “Murray N. Rothbard on States, War, and Peace: Part I”

A WORTHY TRADITION? Many foreigners have written books about American culture, life, politics, foreign policy, and the like. Many of these works have been rather awful and, therefore, rudely received this side of the water. The exceptions would include those of Alexis de Tocqueville and Lord Bryce, writing in the early and late 19th century, … Continue reading “Onward and Upward”

JEFFERSONIAN THEORIST PAR EXCELLENCE Progressive historian Charles A. Beard called John Taylor of Caroline "the most systematic thinker" of the Jeffersonian Republican party. Taylor was an American exponent of republican theory as developed by English opposition movements in the 17th and 18th centuries. A successful lawyer and planter – and, yes, of course, a slaveholder, … Continue reading “John Taylor of Caroline (1753-1824), Federalism, and Empire”

ELLIOTT STRIKES BACK A few weeks ago, I was innocently cruising the web, when I stumbled on an essay which denounced American business for failure to warmonger. That was an interesting and serious charge. As I scrolled down, great clumps of unalloyed neo-conservative doctrine came tumbling down, as I recall, to the tune of "Mamas, … Continue reading “Neo-Conservative Canes Wogs – Film At Eleven”

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN Back from rusticating in the kindly shadows of a bodacious western mountain range, I naturally grow thoughtful – first of all, about mountains and music. Americans tend to romanticize mountains, forgetting what our ancestors knew, namely that mountains are bloody great obstacles to migration, unless of course you decide to … Continue reading “The Great Yodeling Conspiracy”

SPOONER’S REAL VIEWS ABOUT EVERYTHING In truth, I have not been entirely candid in composing the above title. Spooner never said that much about foreign policy as such; but did have a lot to say about governments and wars, and that is close enough for present purposes. Another snag is that few have ever heard … Continue reading “Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) and Foreign Policy”