…Neal McCluskley of the CATO Institute. If China Jumped Off a Bridge, Would We Do It To?Neal McCluskley. CATO@Liberty. 2 November 2009. Of late CATO@Liberty has produced some content sure to be of interest to readers of the Stage. While ideologues to the core, the CATO folks have a special talent for brevity, humor, and […]
Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Acidification National Resource Defense Council. 17 September 2009. I have long held that the greatest challenge posed by industrial carbon emissions is not anthropogenic global warming but ocean acidification.* Geoengineering and adaptation schemes offer policy makers answers to the problem posed by climate change; these options do diddly squat […]
Earlier this month I wrote an in depth summary and analysis of the U.S.-Eastern European missile shield kerfuffle. Recent events require me to write a short update to that post. These recent events are adequately summarized in an excerpt from last week’s news: Poland to Accept New US Missile Defense ShieldAFP. 17 October 2009. WARSAW […]
A common theme here on the Stage is the need for pundits and analysts alike to have a better understanding of the internal structures, dynamics, and divisions of the Chinese Communist Party. As stated before, there are few human beings whose actions have so large an influence over the course of world affairs but receive […]
Over the last few weeks I have noticed a transformation in the actions and rhetoric of Brazilian statesmen. None of Brasilia’s undertakings seem to be remarkable or abnormal when examined individually. Yet when viewed in the aggregate, it is hard to miss the new trend found within Brazil’s dealings with the outside world. A selection […]
TOP BILLING: Beijing’s Secret Succession Battle Willy Lam. Wall Street Journal. 24 September 2009. The Hakka People, China’s Leadership Caste “Curzon” ComingAnarchy.com 3 October 2009. Few people possess as much power as the ruling elites of the Chinese Communist Party. For American statesmen and diplomats, few topics have as much importance as the internal divisions […]
OBAMA’s WARMartin Smith. Frontline. 1 October 2009. This video was first brought to my attention by a post over at War News Updates. The editor of that site linked favorably to the summary of the video over at Danger Room, where Noah Shactman states, “It’s best televised look I’ve seen yet at how these marines […]
The security blogosphere is buzzing with talk of the Obama administration’s decision to scrap planned missile defense architecture in Eastern Europe. The majority of commentators have been content to play the role of cheerleader, offering no substantial analysis of the reasoning behind this decision or the diplomatic consequences of its implementation. As I read the […]
Today the White House briefing room released a press report on American missile architecture in Europe. The portion of the report pertaining to this post reads as follows: Fact Sheet on U.S. Missile Defense Policy: A “Phased, Adaptive Approach” for Missile Defense in Europe White House Office of the Press Secretary. 17 September 2009. Throughout […]
Tomorrow I shall be moving from my current home in Minnesota to the state of Hawaii. It could be a while before I have proper access to the internet and the time to write up a new post. I ask my readers not to expect anything new over the next week or so. I will […]