Last weekend I inhaled Brian Castner’s new memoir of conflict and social reintegration, The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life that Follows (Doubleday, 2012.) It is a riveting examination of war from the individual perspective, so often overlooked in social discussions of war, patriotism and sacrifice. I highly recommend it. Castner confides [...]
All posts tagged war
The Cost of Conflict
Posted by admin on July 22, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/07/the-cost-of-conflict/
The Future of Imperialism
I have been thinking quite a bit about imperialism lately, and decided to put a few thoughts “on paper.” Mostly, I am concerned about the future of the enterprise, for it appears to be morphing into something even less attractive than before. To begin, let us agree that America is an imperial power. If our [...]
Posted by admin on April 15, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/04/the-future-of-imperialism/
Iran and a Nation’s Covenant
Yesterday I finished reading Pat Barker’s Regeneration, a fictionalized account of Siegfried Sassoon’s pacifist declaration against the Great War and his negotiated treatment for neurasthenia in Craiglockhart hospital. The Great War earned its name partly because of the tremendous failure of diplomacy that led to its inception, the stunning failure of strategy that accompanied an [...]
Posted by admin on March 9, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/03/iran-and-a-nations-covenant/
What's Wrong With This Picture?
I came across this quote today while reading Andrew Bacevich’s new book, Washington Rules. …committing U.S. units to counterinsurgencies appears to be a very problematic proposition, difficult to conclude before domestic support erodes and costly enough to threaten the well-being of all America’s military forces (and hence the country’s national security), not just those involved [...]
Posted by admin on August 24, 2010
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2010/08/whats-wrong-with-this-picture/