American neoconservatives tend to get hostile when you make the point that every country has its neocons. The response typically runs something like this:How can you possibly compare me with those Russians/Chinese/Iranians? Don't you understand that I cloak my hawkish right wing nationalism behind a...
reputation
I love this commercial:The point, apart from some self-mockery of ESPN's Brett Farve obsession, is that the message sent isn't necessarily the message received. If there's any kind of mistaken.
Indeed; and of course it's even worse if establishing a reputation for toughness is simply impossible under any circumstances...
Especially when they come from different countries?Former Ambassador Martin Indyk revealed an interesting wrinkle to the story of Eastern European missile defense system, which the Obama administration canceled last month, a move conservatives have heavily criticized as — what else? — appeasement.Recounting recent meetings with...
In the fabulous piracy-oriented South Park of two weeks ago, a French yacht surrenders to Fatbeard the Pirate without a shot being fired. When someone brings the issue up at.
Serwer:A much commented upon statement from Marty Peretz, on the battle currently raging in Gaza:Message: do not fuck with the Jews. I'm not sure if this is applicable to international.
To be clear, I think that the Israeli air campaign against Gaza will end up being destructive, and, from a political point of view, pointless at best. That said, the Israeli attacks thus far have NOT been indiscriminate; civilian casualties are inevitable in any such...
The New York Times shows the stupid:But it has another goal as well: to expunge the ghost of its flawed 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and re-establish Israeli deterrence....“There.
Torture isn't about effectiveness, it's about toughness. As we know from Usual Suspects, the winner is the one with the most WILL; if Reuel Marc Gerecht believes that brutally torturing.
Just good clean entertainment:As Kristol used column after column to boost Sarah Palin, suspicions built inside the campaign that Kristol and McCain staffers close to him had written off McCain and were now determined to salvage Palin as a vehicle for Republican politics in the...
Marine Corps barracks bombing 25 years ago today. 241 dead, almost all USMC. 58 French paratroopers died the same way, on the same day.I don't ascribe to the bombing the.
Let me second Yglesias' recommendation of this Dave Meyer post on signaling. Meyer concentrates on the public relations aspect of signaling behavior in a democracy, but here are some assumptions.