China and Russia are no more impressed with empty bluster today than Japan was in 1941. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online The Roosevelt administration once talked loudly of pivoting to Asia to thwart a rising Japan. As a token of its seriousness, in May 1940 it moved the home port of the Seventh […]
Why do weak nations like Russia provoke stronger ones like the United States? by Victor Davis Hanson // Defining Ideas An ascendant Vladimir Putin is dismantling the Ukraine and absorbing its eastern territory in the Crimea. President Obama is fighting back against critics that his administration serially projected weakness, and thereby lost the ability to deter
by Victor Davis Hanson // NRO’s The Corner The new administration party line is that Putin is now weak and acting out of just that weakness by sending troops into Ukrainian territory — a sort of chihuahua who took on a pit bull because he knew he was weak. But even weak states do not typically
The Chihuahua Theory of Foreign Policy Read More »
by Victor Davis Hanson // Tribune Media In the 1920s, Japan began to translate its growing economic might — after a prior 50-year crash course in Western capitalism and industrialization — into formidable military power. Share This
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Dictatorships abandon treaties when they become inconvenient. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online According to our recently proposed treaty with the Iranian government, Iran keeps much of its nuclear program while agreeing to slow its path to weapons-grade enrichment. The Iranians also get crippling economic sanctions lifted. Share This
Ignoring History: The Folly of Our Iran Pact Read More »
by Bruce S. Thornton // FrontPage Magazine The interim agreement negotiated by the Security Council and Germany with Iran is a serious advance toward what Winston Churchill called the Munich agreement: “a total and unmitigated defeat” and a “disaster of the first magnitude.” Nothing in the agreement guarantees that Iran will fulfill its promises, or that inspectors will be allowed
Military history tells the story of human nature at its great heights and terrible lows. by Bruce S. Thornton // Defining Ideas In the latter years of World War I, Winston Churchill met with the novelist and poet Siegfried Sassoon. Sassoon was a winner of the Military Cross––he single-handedly routed 60 Germans and captured a trench
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The Obama administration has little interest in world leadership. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online The United States has ridden — and tamed — the wild global tiger since the end of World War II. The frantic ride has been dangerous, to us, but a boon to humanity. At the same time, America’s leadership
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by Victor Davis Hanson // NRO’s The Corner “It was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire woke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves.” — J. R. R. Tolkien, The Two Towers. If it were regrettable that Vladimir Putin’s formidable diplomatic skills were wasted
Putin — Saruman Come Alive Read More »
Socialism and Islamism don’t foster a climate of economic growth and security. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online From the heights of Gibraltar you can see Africa about nine miles away to the south — and gaze eastward on the seemingly endless Mediterranean, which stretches 2,400 miles to Asia. Share This
The Stagnant Mediterranean Read More »