To win we must first understand why we lose. Start here.
Anatomy of Failure is a powerful book about the most important and ignored aspect of US foreign policy.
geopolitical strategy
William Lind explains our mad wars – and how we can win
This is William Lind’s most important posts, and the most important on the FM website. Our apathy & passivity are our foe’s greatest asset.
The Cult of the offense returns: why we’re losing the long war, & how to win
Summary: We cannot escape history. It offers lessons to guide us. It’s deployed as propaganda to mislead us. Successful strategy requires distinguishing between the two. Our long war, so far a series of defeats, provides examples of both. We can do better in the future if only we’d pay attention. “As we shall show, defense …
The Cult of the offense returns: why we’re losing the long war, & how to win Read More »
A great sociologist explains the logic of our wars: “crackpot realism”
Summary: Every day brings forth a new tide of analysis about events. Yet world dynamics change only slowly, and instead of new clickbait we should look at old insights that we have not learned. Such as this explanation of US grand strategy by the late great sociologist C. Wright Mills: the “crackpot realism” of our …
A great sociologist explains the logic of our wars: “crackpot realism” Read More »
The battle that mattered most to America: the Pentagon vs. Military Reformers. It’s over.
Summary: Our defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan (failures to achieve any major national goals despite large expenditures of blood and money) accompanied an overwhelming victory invisible to the public. In fact, these defeats resulted from that victory — the Pentagon’s defeat of the military reform movement. The post-9/11 campaigns by defense intellectuals demonstrated their shallow …