Summary: What have we learned from our experiences in Afghanistan? My guess: not much. Certainly not the vital lessons we need to learn in order to prosper in the 21st century. This is thousand words raising questions. In the comments post your thoughts, and pointers to works by others grappling with these issues. Every society …
Remembering is the first step to learning. Living in the now is ignorance. Read More »
Summary: What is our military strategy in the 21st century? More foreign counter-insurgencies? More going abroad in search of monsters to destroy? Followup to COIN – Now we see that it failed. But that was obvious before we started (when will we learn?). {There is an} arc of instability. … The recipe there is for …
COIN, another example of our difficulty learning from history or experience Read More »
Summary:  Guest author Bernard Finel discusses yet another think-tank report giving prescriptions for the Af-Pak War. But this one is a surprise, a serious walk-back by one of the powerful institutional advocates of our foreign wars. Perhaps they’re cutting their losses and gearing up for the next war. Iran or Mexico? FM Introduction Here Bernard Finel reviews “A …
Second thoughts by 2 major boosters of the Af-Pak War (better late than never) Read More »
Summary: Andrew Exum points to a new paper deserves attention, about the history of counterinsurgencies.  This insight has been repeatedly discovered in the past 5 years, but ignored. It could radically change the course of US foreign policy — if we paid attention. Contents Foreshadowing a revolution The Two Forms of 4GW Kilcullen unknowingly explains why …
Summary: Andew Exum’s new report reveals more about America’s defective OODA loop than about the Af-Pak War, esp our myopia (Observation) and insularity (Orientation). As other posts on the FM website have shown, this is characteristic of our geopolitical experts.  The causes remain obscure. Perhaps institutional factors, esp the Pentagon dominating the discussion and funding. Perhaps …
