I have foregone writing about Garet Garrett in this space partly because Justin Raimondo has written so often and eloquently about him in his columns. Nonetheless, Garrett was such an interesting and articulate if, in the end, forlorn and hopeless critic...
Peace in Kashmir?
Within the last week or so hope for peace in Kashmir, a region fiercely contested among India, Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists for decades has been raised by a couple of events few observers had expected. Abdul Majid Dar, commander of the militant Hizbul Muhajideen,...
Étienne de la Boétie (1530-1563) and Voluntary Servitude
Reading James Bovards excellent Freedom in Chains (New York: St. Martins Press, 1999) forcefully reminded me of the importance of Étienne de la Boétie. Bovard quotes La Boétie here and there and it dawned on me that the latters...
‘Srebrenica’ Code Word to Silence Critics of US Policy in the Balkans
The Bosnian Serb military stands accused of committing some of the worst human rights crimes since World War II during and following the battle for Srebrenica in 1995. HOLOCAUST! GENOCIDE! ETHNIC CLEANSING! Claims of 7,000 (or 8,000, or 10,000, or whatever figure is...
Failing to Endorse
It is hardly reason for despair that the Camp David "summit" called mainly so Boy Clinton could burnish his legacy seems to have ended in ostensible failure. It is doubtful that the failure will erase the modern superstition that wise and enlightened...
Gustave de Molinari on States and Defense
Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912) was born in Belgium but spent much of his life in France as a member of the French laissez faire liberal school of economists. This school, which dominated economics in France during the 19th century, built upon the work of...
The Last Camp David
The almost manic fascination by most of the mainstream media about the current negotiations at Camp David I weakened and watched a lot of network and cable news Monday night might well turn out to be the stuff of nostalgia. I will be amazed if anything...
The Future of States and Wars: On State-Strengthening Wars, Part III
I conclude here my look at Martin Van Crevelds 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 Crevelds views on the rise of the American...
The Twilight of Sovereignty in Azerbaijan
Its January 2001, and George "Dubya" Bush has just been sworn in as president. The neocons are in charge of foreign policy, and one of the top items on their agenda is in the war-torn, ex-Soviet region of the Caucasus, where the Russians are resurgent....
Debunking the Greatest Generation
What got me started was a book review in the conservative magazine National Review of yet another of those books by sons of World War II-era fathers glorifying their participation in the "good war." This one was by the son of one of those who raised the...


