Western Civilization: Love It Or Leave It

AGAIN THE MILLENNIUM Today we stand just a few days this side of the real thousand-year mark, that is, midnight 31 December 2000. You knew I wasn’t going to let that go, didn’t you? I still wonder why all the calendar-challenged classes insisted on having a big song and dance last year, but can’t be … Continue reading “Western Civilization: Love It Or Leave It”

THE CANONIZATION OF COLIN POWELL

THE CANONIZATION OF COLIN POWELL Colin Powell had been officially named secretary of state for barely five minutes and already he was beating the war drums, demanding the beefing up of Iraqi sanctions and not-so-subtly hinting at a military confrontation in the Middle East: "We are in the strong position. He [Saddam Hussein] is in … Continue reading “THE CANONIZATION OF COLIN POWELL”

Israeli Wild Cards in the Peace Process

Fresh from his triumphs in bringing peace to Northern Ireland or at least the pretense of peace for a few weeks or months former Maine Sen. George Mitchell, as head of the new U.S.-led commission formed after the abortive Sharm al Sheik meeting a couple of months ago, is trotting around the Middle East pretending … Continue reading “Israeli Wild Cards in the Peace Process”

Competing Producers of Security: Round One

STATES, NON-STATES, AND HISTORICAL METHOD Hendrik Spruyt’s The Sovereign State and Its Competitors (Princeton, 1994) is a very stimulating account of how modern states came to be and, perhaps more importantly, why competing forms of governance fell by the wayside. It is a sweeping book which attempts to theorize the political main drift from the … Continue reading “Competing Producers of Security: Round One”

If It’s Good Enough for Serbia’s Goose, Why Not for Croatia’s Gander?

In an AP article dated 21 November, Croatia’s president, Stipe Mesic, insisted that "ousting Slobodan Milosevic was not enough," and "urged Yugoslavia’s new leaders on Tuesday to hand him over to the U.N. war crimes tribunal and face up to their country’s role in the Balkan wars. Croatian President Stipe Mesic praised Yugoslavia’s democratization, which … Continue reading “If It’s Good Enough for Serbia’s Goose, Why Not for Croatia’s Gander?”

A Peace Platform?

The closeness of the U.S. presidential vote suggests strongly that the next president will have very little even resembling a mandate to conduct foreign affairs. That lack of a mandate might prove a blessing if it is used to reassess current commitments and announce prudent steps to reduce US vulnerability to violence and conflict in … Continue reading “A Peace Platform?”

Chalmers Johnson on an ‘Ersatz Roman Empire’

CHALMERS JOHNSON AS SEEN IN THE ‘MIRROR’ One of the few benefits of wasting most of a day in airports is that one can at least catch up on the foreign press, while drinking bad coffee and eating overpriced food. Thus it was that I found an interesting interview with Chalmers Johnson in the German … Continue reading “Chalmers Johnson on an ‘Ersatz Roman Empire’”