All wars, even those lasting decades, eventually end. Although few wars end as decisively as World War II, the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers to the Allies was. The Korean War has not technically ended with a peace agreement or treaty. By mid-1943, the U.S. began planning for the occupation of the enemy powers […]
If Kim Jong Un can have nukes, why can’t Iran?
The Trump administration, along with its Israeli ally, has been at war with Iran for 11 weeks. The ostensible reason was that Iran was so close to obtaining a nuclear weapon that only an operation as massive as Epic Fury could prevent that from occurring. Yet last June, Operation Midnight Hammer “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capacity. […]
King Charles for President
His Majesty King Charles III was more than masterful addressing both chambers of Congress. His relatively brief remarks reflected deep understanding of the history of our two countries, elegance in phrase and presentation, humor to make certain points and reasons why the “special relationship” was indispensable. Add to this his deft, but civil, critiques of […]
Whatever Happened to the Indo-Pacific Region?
As the war in Iran, not excursion, enters its second month and President Donald Trump has delayed his much publicized trip to Beijing, has the Indo-Pacific region sunk with little trace in terms of American policy priorities? The region is massive in terms of geography and population stretching some 8,000 miles from India’s west coast […]
Strategic Ignorance Loses War Every Time
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur believed that the reason why wars were lost was explained by “too little, too late,” meaning failure to anticipate the enemy and act in a timely fashion. Perhaps more appropriately and accurately, wars are lost due to strategic ignorance. Strategic ignorance arises from two factors. The first is failure […]
How might Trump and Netanyahu end the Iran war?
Donald Trump has called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” in the war. He has demanded the right to choose the next leader. And Trump has told Iran’s military and security forces to “lay down their arms,” or be killed. The decisive force is the missile and bombing campaign conducted jointly with Israel, meant to compel the […]
Is an Iranian Bomb Now Inevitable?
A week into this latest war between Israel and its American partner, and Iran has raised the most profound and exquisitely unanswerable questions on which success, failure and the nature of much of the future global order will rest. Assuming the comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and reaffirmed by House Speaker […]
Trump Ties the US into a Gordian Knot in Iran
The US-Iranian standoff has reached the end of the road. Last week’s negotiations failed to impress the Trump administration. In concert with Israel, the US began what may be an extended military campaign against a wide range of Iranian targets. Ironically, President Trump faced a modern-day equivalent of the famous Gordian knot that Alexander the […]
It’s Beginning to Feel a Little Like Sarajevo in June 1914
With two U.S. carrier strike groups assembling in the Arabian Sea, the chances of an armed conflict with Iran are uncomfortably high, even if it may be a week before the USS Gerald Ford Strike Group arrives on station. Unfortunately, other contingencies loom that raise uncomfortable historical parallels. I refer specifically to June 28, 1914, […]
US Diplomatic Overload is at Crisis Levels
The US is facing a diplomatic overload crisis on steroids. Worse, the Trump administration is relying on a single, highly inexperienced team to oversee three major negotiations. It remains unclear whether this team – or a more seasoned one – can manage what may be the most treacherous of all. Son-in-law Jared Kushner and crypto-bitcoin […]