The REAL reason the US can’t beat Iran
And some history that you should know.
Politics
Load-Bearing Walls
History is mor3 complicated and narratives matter. “By the time Pope Urban II preaches the First Crusade at Clermont in 1095, Islamic powers have held two-thirds of formerly Christian territory for more than four hundred years. The immediate trigger is… Read More »Load-Bearing Walls
The Empresa de China & the Hapsburg Bid for World Supremacy
History is connected. “We tend to learn history in discrete chunks, carved up by area studies and chronology. The Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years War, Queen Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada, the Sengoku, the conquest of the New World,… Read More »The Empresa de China & the Hapsburg Bid for World Supremacy
New Acquisitions: 1933 and the Definition of Fascism
Don’t trust people who claim to speak for God or people. “Hitler never commanded majority support. This is common for populist authoritarians – while they claim to speak for ‘the people,’ they generally only speak for their own supporters, who… Read More »New Acquisitions: 1933 and the Definition of Fascism
Collections: On the Declaration of Independence
When judging history, you need to know the context. “whereas today, national independence movements often take it as a granted principle that a people ought to be free to make its own government, ought to be free of the domination… Read More »Collections: On the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
Stating you can rebel against a government so you can rebel against the government. Declaration of Independence. “A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a… Read More »Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
Magna Carta, 1215 – The National Archives
Reading Magna Carta is quite interesting. Most people, like me, think it is about freedom as such, but in the end it is a business contract. And war was necessary to have it written. “Neither we nor our officials will… Read More »Magna Carta, 1215 – The National Archives
Collections: The American Civil-Military Relationship
Profesional military has its downsides. “an overweening executive that now most endangers the bargain, threatening to break the American civil-military bargain by dragging the military into politics. Remember, the civil-military bargain is not merely a pact of submission by the… Read More »Collections: The American Civil-Military Relationship
Collections: The Philosophy of Liberty – On Liberalism
We are not in a normal society in terms of history. “We are often so used to liberal societies – or illiberal ones that use liberalism’s language as a mask – that we miss the radicalism of that vision. As… Read More »Collections: The Philosophy of Liberty – On Liberalism
Collections: The Status Quo Coalition
There is login in the madness. “Once balancing fails, everyone’s interests suddenly recalculate in a diametrically opposed way. So long as balancing was possible, it was in most state’s interests to oppose the leading power in an effort to contain… Read More »Collections: The Status Quo Coalition