“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
Military & Foreign Policy
The Center for Vision & Values Presents: Top 10 of 2017
2017 has been a fantastic year for The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. We celebrated an all-time high in website traffic, an exponential growth in social media, and a record number of email subscribers. These accomplishments … 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
V&V Q&A: “Our Vietnam Veterans Were Cheated”—Teaching the Truth About Vietnam … A Conversation with Charlie Wiley
Editor’s Note: The “V&V Q&A” is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. This latest edition of “V&V Q&A” is an intriguing look at media coverage during the Vietnam War with longtime journalist Charles … Continue reading
Trump’s Excellent Speech in Poland, on Poland, and about Poland
Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator. Before I write this defense of Donald Trump in Poland, let me remind readers—from the right and the left—that I come to this subject with some credibility. … 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
A Vision for Middle East Peace and Security
President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia and then to Israel as part of his first foreign trip is as historically significant as President Richard Nixon’s February 1972 visit to China and subsequent mission to Moscow two months later to … Continue reading
Remembering the Rohna: A World War II Secret and Tragedy
Any veteran of World War II can tell you stories. But for Frank E. Bryer, his story—one he could never forget—was a terrible one. It began the moment his ship, called the Rohna, was sunk. When that ship went down … 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
H.R. McMaster: The Best Choice for National Security Advisor
President Donald Trump has selected the best possible person to serve as his national security advisor. Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster epitomizes the warrior-scholar in the tradition of Carl von Clausewitz. The U.S. Army was out of Vietnam for 11 … 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
The Center for Vision & Values Presents: Top 10 of 2016
2016 has been a fantastic year for The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. We celebrated an all-time high in website traffic, an exponential growth in social media (approaching 35,000 Facebook fans), and a record number of … Continue reading
Trump’s Picks: In Defense of Military and Business Leaders
Some seem to believe the election of Donald Trump reflects a general disintegration of American society evidenced by Time magazine’s selection of Trump as “Person of the Year” presiding over a “Divided States of America.” Traditionalist pundits like Christiane Amanpour, … Continue reading
The White House at what cost? … and what difference does it make?
“The way to deter aggression … is to be willing and able to respond vigorously at places and with means of our own choosing.” On October 12, 1954, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles based Washington’s relationship with Moscow on … Continue reading
Presidents make policy, generals make plans
“If, as Clausewitz so justly said, war is a continuation of national policy, so are war plans.” –Barbara W. Tuchman, The Guns of August, 1962 Over the next two presidential debates, we can expect questions for Hillary Clinton and Donald … 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
Registering Women for the Draft: A Charade, Not a Necessity
The Armed Services Committee (ASC) recently approved a measure requiring American women aged 18 to 26 to register for the draft and sent it to the full House for consideration. If this measure becomes law it will do nothing to … 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
The Perils of Cooking Intelligence: From Vietnam to ISIS
Recent revelations by the Pentagon’s inspector general indicates that U.S. Central Command, which bears responsibility for military operations in the Middle East, altered intelligence analyses to support the Obama administration’s contention that limited air strikes have “contained ISIS.” If so, … Continue reading