Alan Bock

I can’t claim to have much insight beyond that of a reasonably well-informed outside observer about what’s going on in Ukraine. For all I know, by the time this sees cyberspace it could have blown up into a prelude to full-scale civil war, although it does seem most parties in Ukraine really want to avoid … Continue reading “Rethinking Secession”

President Bush probably wanted to burnish his self-styled reputation as a fierce opponent of terrorism who has conflated other conflicts with the all-encompassing and likely generations-long War on Terror and can celebrate success wherever his writ runs. But in declaring, for the umpteenth time in recent years, imminent victory in the war on cocaine in … Continue reading “Colombian Illusions”

I spent a couple of hours with Condoleezza Rice back in 1999, when I was a media fellow at the Hoover Institution and she was still provost at Stanford but already an adviser to Dubya, who was obviously going to be influential. Then I wrote about it for WorldNetDaily. (I think the piece holds up … Continue reading “Hubris Goeth Before…”

Karl von Clausewitz, the stern old Prussian philosopher of war, had it right. War is politics carried on by other means. He didn’t see fit to expand upon the apparent corollary, that politics – which most modern thinkers want to sell us as the alternative to war – is simply war carried on by other … Continue reading “Fallujah: Force First, Yet Again”

Plenty of people who opposed the war in Iraq and question the advisability of an imperial role for the United States are in something resembling despair following Tuesday’s election results – probably more so than would have been the case had not those pesky early exit polls offered a few hours of belief that John … Continue reading “Opportunities Ahead”

As befits the week before one of the most bitterly-contested and emotional elections in recent memory – one in which the committed partisans on each side, many of whom seem more motivated by dislike of the other guy than by affection for their chosen champion, seem to think victory by the other side will mean … Continue reading “Lost Weapons – and Minds?”

For any number of reasons, John Kerry is, to put it mildly, no prize, even, or perhaps especially on foreign policy issues. The recent endorsements by the New York Times and The New Republic can’t even conjure up much in the way of credible enthusiasm. He really has been all over the map on Iraq, … Continue reading “Making Book on the Bushes”

It would have been a surprise if it happened, of course. But it is still somewhat disappointing that the presidential debate included no discussion of the possibility of a relatively extensive rethinking of American foreign policy. The policy we have in place – insofar as it is something other than a long-term commitment to world … Continue reading “A Missed Opportunity”

Some will argue that the events of this week are encouraging cynicism about their leaders among the American public. What is much more striking is the cynicism displayed by the leaders when they were in the midst of selling a policy of invading an internationally-recognized sovereign country that had neither invaded nor threatened its neighbors … Continue reading “Season of Cynicism”

Fortunately for my own peace of mind, I didn’t expect much in the way of positive developments from last night’s debate, although I have cheered and continue to cheer John Kerry’s decision to make George Bush’s incredible mismanagement of the war on Iraq and fumbling of the misnamed and misbegotten "war on terrorism" a central … Continue reading “Good News Where You Can Find It”