-
Recent Posts
Archives
- August 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- October 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- November 2019
- September 2019
- April 2019
- July 2016
- May 2016
- January 2016
- November 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- April 2015
- November 2014
- July 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- November 2011
Categories
Meta
Donate to VetDogs!
http://www.vetdogs.org/Disclaimer
The opinions expressed here represent interests personal to the author and do not represent those of any employer, past or present.
Tag Archives: international relations
Russia and the Information Purification Directives
What we are witnessing in Russia and parts of Ukraine has been unprecedented since the consolidation of control after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 , (I hesitate with this historical analogy) the collapse of the Weimar Republic, and the occupation … Continue reading
The ontology of the ‘Unknown’
Errol Morris’ documentary on Donald Rumsfeld, “The Known Unknown,” was accompanied by an extraordinary series of interview-essays in The New York Times where the filmmaker acknowledged that he felt he now knows less about the former twice-serving Defense Secretary and White … Continue reading
Thinking Through Ukraine
I was at NATO when Russia invaded its neighbor, Georgia, in August 2008. The action caught anyone not paying attention by surprise. The experts knew it was long in coming. I’m sure the same is for the unfurling crisis in Ukraine, … Continue reading
Some Dreamers of the Impossible Dream
With nods to George Kennan, Joan Didion, and Cervantes, enjoy this excerpt from my book, The United States and the Challenge of Public Diplomacy about an extraordinary visit I made to Macedonia in 2006 published in The Foreign Service Journal. Although I wrote … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Books, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Politics and Political Theory, Public Diplomacy, The Former Yugoslavia
Tagged Albania, Books, Bosnia, Bulgaria, current-events, EU, European Union, Foreign Service Journal, George Kennan, international relations, Joan Didion, Macedonia, NATO, nature of politics, Ohrid, politics, Public Diplomacy, Rebecca West, Serbia
Leave a comment
Punk Is Not Dead
Today my review essay of Masha Gessen’s latest book, Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot, appears in the Los Angeles Review of Books. The book is a testament to the courage of the members of the group who … Continue reading
A Centenary’s Legacy Beneath Our Feet
The new year brings the centenary commemoration of World War I in Europe, whose legacy reverberates through our history, policy and literature. From the peace experiments of the European Union, NATO and the United Nations to the tendentious borders of … Continue reading
Posted in North Atlantic Treaty Organization, The Former Yugoslavia
Tagged Afghanistan, artillery, Belgium, centenary commemoration, current-events, EU, Europe, European Union, First World War, Fleury-devant-Douamont, force, Germany, international relations, Japan, NATO, Unexploded Ordnance, United Nations, UXO, Verdun, warfare, World War I, World War One
Leave a comment
The Corrections
I found an error in Table 7.2 on page 124 relating to languages spoken in the United States. All of the numbers are from the U.S. Census Bureau and are accurate. But French (including dialects) at 1,358,816 inexplicably appears as … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Books, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Public Diplomacy
Tagged Books, Carl Bildt, current-events, EU, force, Georgia, international relations, NATO, Public Diplomacy, Russia, South Ossetia, State Department, The United States and the Challenge of Public Diplomacy, U.S. State Department
Leave a comment
“We have met the enemy and he is us”
Attending a conference of public diplomacy professionals and academics last week at the U.S. State Department, a particular comment made by a participant during one of the main sessions struck me. He described the positive outcome of a recent YES … Continue reading
Posted in Public Diplomacy
Tagged aesthetics and politics, American culture, Communism, current-events, Hollywood, international relations, propaganda, Public Diplomacy, soft power, State Department, strategic communications, totalitarian regimes, U.S. State Department, United States
Leave a comment
Twitter in a Teapot?
An article last month in Foreign Policy brought to light a “full-blown Twitter war” between the State Department’s Digital Outreach Team (DOT) and a “prominent” jihadi named Mu’awiya al-Qahtani using the feed service under the handle @Al_Bttaar. Written by Will McCants, who … Continue reading
