Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with a Haitian acquaintance of mine. The topic of our conversation had turned towards the corruption endemic to many underdeveloped countries, upon which point he said: “When I came to America, I did not know what the word ‘bribe’ meant. We don’t have these things in Haiti. In Haiti, […]
The majority of Chinese seem to think so. Or perhaps more accurately, a statistically questionable majority of the Chinese who happened to be polled by the Sunday Times think so. Not that this is anything new. The world has been worrying about a new Cold War between China and the United States for quite a […]
I often find myself frustrated with the lack of historical perspective present in contemporary political discourse. History is something pundits have little use for– why bother when one can blame society’s problems on the politicians one wishes driven out of office? This proclivity to see evil only in the machinations of one’s political opponents is […]
The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review has been released to the public. I have yet to decide if I shall actually read it. I did have plans for the weekend.
Over the past few days I have been engaged in an interesting exchange over at The Committee of Public Safety, an excellent site on strategic thinking and history. As the topic of this exchange is both timely and thought provoking, I would like to extend this discussion to the general readership of the Stage. The […]
Those of you new to the Stage may be unaware of this author’s deep seated sense of enmity towards parliamentary institutions. While I find them in most respects intolerable, there is one aspect found in most parliamentary democracies that I have always wished to be included in America’s presidential system: question time. Thus I found […]
The Business of Climate Change Conference 2009. Jeff Rubin. World Wildlife Fund: Canada. Posted 4 January 2010. “Stop thinking about what the Middle East is producing. Start thinking about what the Middle East is consuming.” The video is worth watching – for the first 20 minutes. Rubin is at his best when discussing short term […]
I authored a post earlier this month lamenting the lack of serious discussion concerning Yemen’s deteriorating security situation. Deeming it improper to not point out articles to the contrary on the rare occasions, I draw your attention to an excellent example of how we should be discussing the conflict: Yemen: Geography Matters! “Curzon”. Coming Anarchy. […]
It seems that the blogosphere has gone and blown itself up again. The catalyst this time around was a stellar (some have called it ‘epochal‘) essay-post by the ever erudite and timely Zenpundit, Mark Sanfranski. Zen has received much praise here in the past, and his latest tour de force does not disappoint. Titled, “The […]
“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.” A post on this theme of Hayek’s is in the works. Keep posted.