Dive into the archives.
- Cuban Missile Crisis Redux?
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. It seems history may rhyme after all if current news reports are to be believed. According to the AFP, there was discussion in the Russian news of Moscow flying long range bombers to Cuba again.
Russia would cross “a red line [...]
- Berlin Steps in on Abkhazia
While Georgia-Russia tensions have mostly brought involved the US, EU and aforementioned two parties, Germany has stepped in with its own plan for peace in Abkhazia. A Spiegel article notes the plan consists of three phases,
Phase one of the German plan envisages a year of trust-building measures. These would include declarations renouncing violence and the [...]
- Tunisia Travelogue
Although my recent trip to Tunisia was short and not the usual journey through a war torn country, it was a fantastic experience and absolutely gorgeous country. Hence, I’ve completed a short travelogue for it and added it to the right hand sidebar along with the others. Readers can view it by clicking here.
- Back from Tunisia
For the past 9 days, Mrs. Chirol and I have been on vacation in Tunisia. While it wasn’t one of my traditional trips full of conflict and instability, it was enjoyable and most importantly relaxing. Although I didn’t blog it as I was more than happy to disconnect for a week, I did take a [...]
- 7 Things about Chirol
Was tagged by Eddie for the meme of 7, or Better Know A Victorian. Younghusband went first, so here I go. According to the ‘rules’ here are 7 random facts about yours truly.
1. I collect handmade brass coffee pots, known as djezvas (or cezves)
2. Despite being a conservative and staunchly anti-hippie, one of my favorite [...]
- Why States are Important in the WoT
One major and poorly explained reason for the invasion of Iraq was not the the physical presence of WMD but the willingness of a state with WMD capability and/or weapons to train and equip terrorists and possibly provide them with said weapons. While little serious diplomacy had been attempted with Iran and North Korea, Iraq [...]
- Kaplan on Rumsfeld
Thanks to Lexington Green for alerting us to Kaplan’s latest article in The Atlantic.
How Donald Rumsfeld remade the U.S. military for a more uncertain world
by Robert D. Kaplan
What Rumsfeld Got RightIn 1962, a Harvard economics professor named Thomas C. Schelling wrote an introduction to Roberta Wohlstetter’s Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision. In a few hundred [...]
- Kaplan on the Medal of Honor
Thanks to Eddie for sending us Robert Kaplan’s latest article in the Atlantic Monthly on what it takes to win the Medal of Honor.
No Greater Honor
Over the decades, the Medal of Honor—the highest award for valor—has evolved into the U.S. military equivalent of sainthood. Only eight Medals of Honor have been awarded since the Vietnam [...]
- Bye Bye Sovereignty
The UN resolution allowing other countries to violate Somalia’s territorial waters in pursuit of pirates (as discussed before here) has passed.
The UN Security Council has unanimously voted to allow countries to send warships into Somalia’s territorial waters to tackle pirates. The resolution permits countries that have the agreement of Somalia’s interim government to use any [...]
- Germany ‘NSA” Update
A few days ago, I alerted readers to another proposed security reform in Germany which would centralize Germany’s signals intelligence gathering. While I still have found little in the press in English or German, this longer Spiegel article outlines the concerns it has raised and the mood in Germany a bit more.
Germany Plans to Centralize [...]
