Sunday, April 23, 2006
COMMENTARIES
A new feature.
I have decided to leave " Recommended Reading" in the future strictly for blog posts that catch my attention but do not require extended deconstruction from me. You are all however free to chime in if you wish and I'll respond, time permitting.
" Commentaries " will feature non-blog content from journals or media sources to which I append a few observations or remarks. Short and sweet. Why ? To give the blog a little bit more coherence for the reader as well as for myself when I'm planning things out. Now, without further ado..."Commentaries":
Private Military Companies and the Future of War by Deborah Avant at FPRI
An attempt at an evenhanded overview of the current state of the PMC market and their attendent risks and benefits. Van Creveld is cited, demonstrating the penetration that 4GW theory is making in the ranks of think tank punditry.
Rehabilitating a Rogue: Libya’s WMD Reversal and Lessons for US Policy by Dana Hochman in PARAMETERS
Examines the actual dynamics of the " Libya Model" of WMD disarmament and the role of international norms, self-interest, threat of force, interest groups and diplomacy in yielding a positive result. To be pushed as a policy option in its own right however requires a greater distilliation of the " reproducible" aspects that can be sold to policy makers and allies.
The World's Marked Men by Daniel Byman at Foreign Policy
Hey ! It's the geopolitical version of playing " The Dead Pool" !
Workers' Paradise Is Rebranded as Kremlin Inc. by Andrew E Kramer and Steven Lee Myers in The New York Times
State Capitalism in Russia under Putin. A puzzle piece to a very large and too often unreported story involving Putin's attempt to bring the oligarchs and local mafiya-political networks under state control - and to the political benefit of Vladimir Putin's siloviki "clan".
Soft-kill option best choice for Iran by Thomas P.M. Barnett in Knoxville News Sentinel
Ok, ok - Tom is a blogger too but this is his new incarnation as a newspaper columnist [ Hey Sean - is Tom syndicated ?]. Dr. Barnett is looking for a Nixon to go to Teheran. Or at least a Kissinger. Long-term, Tom is correct on the economic connectivity strategy and his characerization of Iran as a " failed revolution". Short term, I think Iran's internal elite politics are very, very dicey. Who is the Iranian Zhou Enlai ? ¶ 8:05 PM
A new feature.
I have decided to leave " Recommended Reading" in the future strictly for blog posts that catch my attention but do not require extended deconstruction from me. You are all however free to chime in if you wish and I'll respond, time permitting.
" Commentaries " will feature non-blog content from journals or media sources to which I append a few observations or remarks. Short and sweet. Why ? To give the blog a little bit more coherence for the reader as well as for myself when I'm planning things out. Now, without further ado..."Commentaries":
Private Military Companies and the Future of War by Deborah Avant at FPRI
An attempt at an evenhanded overview of the current state of the PMC market and their attendent risks and benefits. Van Creveld is cited, demonstrating the penetration that 4GW theory is making in the ranks of think tank punditry.
Rehabilitating a Rogue: Libya’s WMD Reversal and Lessons for US Policy by Dana Hochman in PARAMETERS
Examines the actual dynamics of the " Libya Model" of WMD disarmament and the role of international norms, self-interest, threat of force, interest groups and diplomacy in yielding a positive result. To be pushed as a policy option in its own right however requires a greater distilliation of the " reproducible" aspects that can be sold to policy makers and allies.
The World's Marked Men by Daniel Byman at Foreign Policy
Hey ! It's the geopolitical version of playing " The Dead Pool" !
Workers' Paradise Is Rebranded as Kremlin Inc. by Andrew E Kramer and Steven Lee Myers in The New York Times
State Capitalism in Russia under Putin. A puzzle piece to a very large and too often unreported story involving Putin's attempt to bring the oligarchs and local mafiya-political networks under state control - and to the political benefit of Vladimir Putin's siloviki "clan".
Soft-kill option best choice for Iran by Thomas P.M. Barnett in Knoxville News Sentinel
Ok, ok - Tom is a blogger too but this is his new incarnation as a newspaper columnist [ Hey Sean - is Tom syndicated ?]. Dr. Barnett is looking for a Nixon to go to Teheran. Or at least a Kissinger. Long-term, Tom is correct on the economic connectivity strategy and his characerization of Iran as a " failed revolution". Short term, I think Iran's internal elite politics are very, very dicey. Who is the Iranian Zhou Enlai ? ¶ 8:05 PM
Comments:
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" Commentaries " will feature non-blog content from journals or media sources to which I append a few observations or remarks
A double-standard that disadvantages blogs?
Has ZenPundit betrayed the New Media?
;-)
A double-standard that disadvantages blogs?
Has ZenPundit betrayed the New Media?
;-)
I favor options other than military to deal with Iran's nuclear weapons development. However, don't be too quick to discount the value of delay. Remember the story of the Caliph, the Grand Vizier, and the Donkey.
"A double-standard that disadvantages blogs?
Has ZenPundit betrayed the New Media?"
Not at all. "Recommended Reading" will now have more blog posts instead of, say, sandwiching tdaxp between a PDF monograph and a Jamestown Foundation report. :o)
Delay is often good. I am uncertain of the timetable in Iran and sense a power struggle sharpening. No sooner does the Foreign Ministry try to calm the waters by reviving the Russian option that Iran's president pops off ominously about Israel -itself a nuclear power with reputed 200 nukes.
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Has ZenPundit betrayed the New Media?"
Not at all. "Recommended Reading" will now have more blog posts instead of, say, sandwiching tdaxp between a PDF monograph and a Jamestown Foundation report. :o)
Delay is often good. I am uncertain of the timetable in Iran and sense a power struggle sharpening. No sooner does the Foreign Ministry try to calm the waters by reviving the Russian option that Iran's president pops off ominously about Israel -itself a nuclear power with reputed 200 nukes.
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