Harlan Ullman

Relations between America and Pakistan have reached peaks of such heights and descended to valleys of such depths as exist in the Hindu Kush. From the Indo-Pak War of 1971, when President Richard Nixon “tilted” towards Pakistan to prevent further dismemberment after the disastrous loss of East Pakistan and indeed to preserve the links with […]

President-elect Donald Trump has surely signalled intent in altering American policy towards Russia and Vladimir Putin, perhaps dramatically. Whether the next president is imitating Richard Nixon’s strategic gambit towards China in the early 1970’s to counter the Soviet Union or setting the table for a transactional negotiation is, at best, guesswork. However, the nomination of […]

Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island: Last week marked the 75th anniversary of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that destroyed much of the Pacific Fleet’s battleship firepower forcing America into World War II. Pearl Harbor has since become synonymous with attacks launched without warning. Interestingly, Nazi Germany’s unprovoked invasion of Russia on June 22, […]

President-elect Donald Trump, certainly, is relying heavily on retired senior generals. Four four-star Marine Generals, including James N. Mattis, who will be announced today as Secretary of Defense, and John Kelly, Army Generals David Petraeus and Jack Keane as well as Lieutenant General Mike Flynn, the next National Security Advisor, have been at stage centre. […]

Winston Churchill believed that Russia was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. This meant that from the October Revolution in 1917, which had brought Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks to power, to the final days of Mikhail Gorbachev, understanding the Soviet Union was virtually impossible. Of course, that was not true. George […]

Last week’s column concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “licking his chops” over the election of Donald Trump as the next US president. This column goes further in explaining why Mr Putin will be one winner of this extraordinary election. For the time being, until Mr Trump fills out his cabinet and selects secretaries […]

President-elect Donald Trump! In the most stunning and most disruptive election in many decades, Donald Trump won a majority of electoral votes and will be inaugurated president of the United States on January 20, 2017. At the time of writing this, all the votes have not been counted yet. The popular vote is tightening. It […]

Monday was Halloween in America. Children, and some adults, dress up in costumes ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Frankenstein and Zombies, to trick-or-treat in search of candy and other goodies from generous neighbours. Some of the costumes are meant to ‘shock and awe’ expecting more generous handouts in exchange for restraint in playing nasty […]

From Nigeria on the west coast of Africa to the Pacific Ocean, dire is a fair description of events. Boko Haram, the Islamic State and radical Islam have infected several continents. Iraqi forces are attempting to retake Mosul from IS insurgents. If or when they do, installing some measure of governance, stability and the rule […]

Five decades ago, a popular song in America was Doris Day’s My Secret Love. The American ambassador to Laos, William Sullivan, was increasingly upset that the Nixon administration’s cherished secret war in Laos in 1970 was being leaked to the press. Playing off the song’s last line, Sullivan fired a cable to the White House […]