Category Archives: Frontier

Afgansty

Posted on December 11, 2011 by

Very few wars end the way they are originally envisioned.  Perhaps this is what informed the old maximum ‘no plan survives contact with the enemy.’  The voluminous output on Afghanistan after September 2001 is staggering.  Unless you follow Central Asian … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Frontier, International Relations, Islam, Terrorism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Explorers Of The Nile: Victorian Triumph & Tragedy

Posted on November 28, 2011 by

Africa was always dubbed ‘The Dark Continent’.  This sobriquet never referred to pigment  of skin, instead it referred to the impenetrable geography that immediately arises from the sands of both East and West Africa.  Prior to the invention of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Arnold Toynbee, Charles Mackay's Delusions & Mania's, Frontier, Measure the Earth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

The Dogs of War: Unmanned Ariel Vehicles & The Science and Law Of Licit Killing

Posted on October 18, 2011 by

Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAV’s) are remote controlled aircraft equipped with elaborate sensors and weapons that deliver lethal strikes by eyes far away in New Mexico, Nevada or Florida.  They are currently being used by the CIA in the Pakistan tribal … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Frontier, International Relations, Islam, Morality, Near East, Terrorism | Tagged , , , ,

American Colossus

Posted on September 17, 2011 by

“Gentleman, you have undertaken to cheat me.  I won’t sue you for the law takes too long.  I will ruin you.”   Cornelius Vanderbilt 1890. When Vanderbilt left America for business in South America, his business partners began exploiting his … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Ethics, Frontier, Identity Development, International Relations, Money, Morality, Politics | Tagged , ,

The Sleep of Reason Breeds Monsters

Posted on August 30, 2011 by

Fredrick W. Kagan along with Fouad Ajami and Bernard Lewis were the primary ideological agents that gave fortitude to the Bush administrations push to surge in 2006 under Dr. David Petraeus.  Kagan’s expertise in asymmetrical warfare is incomparable to any … Continue reading →

Posted in Frontier, International Relations, Near East, Pakistan, Politics, Terrorism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , ,

Obama: The AfPak Strategy, What Nixon & Kissenger Can Teach

Posted on August 12, 2011 by

If Nixon hadn’t committed political suicide in Watergate, he would have turned a very diplomatic war into a massive win given how the Tet offensive was a disaster for the North Vietnamese.   Yes, the Marxist doctrine on insurgency was … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Frontier, International Relations, Islam, Near East, Pakistan, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , ,

George Melloan: The American Imperium For An Uncertain President

Posted on August 12, 2011 by

George Melloan has written “The Great Money Binge:  Spending Our Way To Socialism,”  out from Simon & Schuster 2009.  As former Editorial page writer and editor for the Wall Street Journal makes him a protege to the most powerful man … Continue reading →

Posted in Arab Spring, Arnold Toynbee, Central Asia, Frontier, Identity Development, International Relations, Islam, Near East, Pakistan, Politics, Terrorism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Jesuit In The Forbidden City

Posted on August 12, 2011 by

Ronnie Po-chia Hsia is a professor at Pennsylvania State University, he has written a very engaging biography of the first Jesuit (Matteo Ricci)  to enter and be received into “The Forbidden City” (Beijing) in 1596. Everyone knows that the Papacy … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Frontier, International Relations, Philosophy, Politics, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Great Game Begins

Posted on June 22, 2011 by

‘The Great Game’ otherwise known as ‘Tournament of Shadows’ was a deadly proxy fight between expansionist Russia and Imperialist England during the late 19th century.  England was defensive regarding her position as guardian of India (what constituted today’s Pakistan, Iran, … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Frontier, International Relations, Islam, Pakistan, Terrorism | Tagged , , , ,

The Anarchist: Revolutionary Politics

Posted on May 20, 2011 by

Very few people outside of academia have ever read ‘The Proud Tower’ by Barbara Tuchman which is depressing given the fine account she renders of Europe twenty-five years before the cataclysm that was the Great War (WWI).  Here we find … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Asia, Charles Mackay's Delusions & Mania's, Frontier, Hitler, Identity Development, International Relations, Morality, Satan/Evil, Terrorism | Tagged , , , , , , ,