Military & Foreign Policy

The Big Button

“Heck, I reckon you wouldn’t even be human beings if you didn’t have some pretty strong personal feelings about nuclear combat.” —King Kong, Major, USAF (from Dr. Strangelove) In 1964, when I was a college freshman, all healthy male students without … Continue reading

North Korea: Apocalypse When?

Are Western intelligence services—primarily America’s—stupid or is North Korea a convenient toreador’s cape for problems so enormous the Trump administration and the Congress cannot begin to handle them? Look at history. Why did the most powerful nation on earth in … Continue reading

Talking with the Russians

There is nothing new or untoward in American and Russian leaders talking. President Franklin Roosevelt met Joseph Stalin at Yalta and referred to him as “Uncle Joe.” President Dwight Eisenhower entertained Premier Nikita Khrushchev during his whirlwind tour of America … Continue reading

North Korea Requires Resolve and Caution

“Force is only justifiable in extremes. When we have the upper hand, justice is preferable.” –Napoleon Bonaparte In the cold reality of international relations, the boldness exhibited by President Donald Trump in his first 100 days is far preferable to … Continue reading

The Key to the Russian Riddle

“Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The key is Russian national interest.” Winston Churchill’s quote came a quarter century and two months after the start of World War I. In late August 1914, one month … Continue reading

Hiroshima: Obama vs. Truman

President Obama’s address at Hiroshima, Japan on May 27 provides us with a good opportunity to examine his foreign policy attitude and contrast it with the views of one of America’s most courageous war-time presidents—Harry S. Truman. This exercise has … Continue reading

Vietnam in the Rear View Mirror

There were 2,709,918 Americans who served in the Vietnam War. Of that number approximately 850,000 are alive. The youngest is 54. Because there were senior officers and non-commissioned officers in Vietnam who fought in World War II, the oldest are … Continue reading

Putin Sends a Message to Obama

“Si vis pacem, para bellum” (“If you want peace, prepare for war”) On April 11-12, two Russian SU-24 fighter-bombers made repeated low-level passes over the USS Donald Cook, an American destroyer sailing in the Baltic Sea. The ship’s crew recorded … Continue reading