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Robert Gates

We Bow to the God Bipartisanship

Bipartisanship: the Holy Grail of American politics. Long the go-to buzzword for presidents, elusive cross-aisle support at home has all too often been purchased at the price of good policy abroad.

Unintelligent Design

In the wake of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, Americans cried out for catharsis. The 9/11 Commission delivered. What we are left with is an ill-conceived bureacracy in the guise of reform.

Spoils of Babylon

Kirkuk is about to bring Iraq back into civil war. The Obama administration is moving toward a settlement of this disputed region that will anger everyone.

Republican Reckoning

Mismanaged for eight years by the Bush administration, the Republican Party is in peril. Neoconservative table scraps are neither appropriate nor wise. But the GOP has another foreign-policy tradition to which it can turn. Presidents from Eisenhow

For God, King and Country

Over the centuries, the causes and justifications for war have evolved. But we remain caught in a Westphalian mindset, even though the nature of today’s substate threats demands an altogether-different mentality and a new breed of soldier—or at le

Kurdistandoff

When it comes to Iraq's Kurds, the United States needs to make a deal with Turkey or face the consequences later.

Commentary

Inflaming Iran

U.S. policy makers and pundits are begging the mullahs to go nuclear.

The Myth of Robert Gates

Hypocrisy, lies and out-of-control spending: the truth about Secretary Gates.

Bombs over Tripoli

A no-fly zone over Libya is not a good idea. Look what happened in Iraq.

Blogs

The Meaning of Accountability

For Robert Gates, "accountability" translated into "heads will roll." Much will be lost if Panetta follows his predecessor's lead.

The Sophists' War

Libya. Not a war. Really?

Standing Clausewitz on His Head Again

Afghanistan has proved Clemenceau correct. War is indeed too important to be left to the generals.

Books & Reviews

Passions of Pope Victor

As Europe secularized and the global South becomes the new market for potential converts, Christianity is undergoing a painful evolution.

Heirs of Sargon

Iraq has a long and tortured history. Home to the tyrant, the origins of despotism lie in the primordial ooze of the Mesopotamian swamp. Yet for a brief moment fifty years ago, the land of two rivers experienced democracy.

How to Fight Terrorism

Radical Islam is its own worst enemy. It will marginalize itself unless the United States overreacts.

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February 12, 2012