At least our Ambassador will be, soon. Jerusalem sits at an historic crossroad: the northern terminus of an old caravan route that brought frankincense from the hills around modern day Aden, up to the major trade routes; if you then turn west, you entered Ancient Egypt, north led to Asia Minor, north-east and then east […]

Editor’s Note: Arrias continues some cogent analysis of developments in the North Korean weapons program. I too am alarmed. I have participated in the effort to cool the Pakistan-India nuclear confrontation. To say that the nuclear club of nations is a constant concern is a fact of life. The older members- the US, Russia, France, […]

We all like to think that we’re living in new times, thinking new thoughts, seeing things no one ever saw before. That is, at best, a dangerous naiveté, and leads to ignoring history; and the lessons of history are ignored with great peril. One of the more important lessons is that power corrupts. Give anyone […]

I had some correspondence with some friends over the past week wondering – particularly in light of apparent Chinese involvement – whether the US should do anything about the situation in Zimbabwe. You can probably be excused for not following the activity in Zimbabwe last week. The short version is that the Zimbabwean army forced […]

Saudi Arabia’s heir to the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), sent an interesting signal last week: in a startling – but not unprecedented – action, MBS arrested 18 rich, powerful Saudis. Of course, this kind of activity isn’t unprecedented, kings and other absolute or near absolute rulers have been purging their courts for […]

Begin with two assumptions: 1) American society today is more liberal today than it was 75 years ago, and 2) that shift, which in some sense paralleled LBJ’s Great Society, stems from a deliberate effort to change society – ostensibly better. So, has society changed for the better? The thought occurred to me as I […]

(The lead ship of the Zumwalt class Guided missile destroyers, a death star that is light on the death part of the equation). Our pal Arrias stirred up some controversy in his essay “Lattes for Peace” over the weekend. The retired Naval community can actually say what they think, rather than cower at the feet […]

Last week, the acting Under Secretary of the Navy suggested the nation’s fleet wouldn’t reach its target of 355 ships until after 2050, more than 30 years from now. Since our ships (except aircraft carriers) are designed to last about 35 years, that means, with the exception of just three aircraft carriers, all those ships […]

Do you enjoy a hot cup of coffee at dawn? So, how’d that Sumatran coffee get to your grocer? How did the farmer arrange for the beans to be picked up and moved to a warehouse? Who made those big bags he used? Where did they come from? Who figured out how to recognize blight […]

Editor’s Note: Barcelona- pronounced with a lisp- “Barth-alona”- is a delightful city with a vibrant street life, marvelous cafes, tasty tapas nd bold red wines. It is also the epicenter of a popular revolt against the nation-state in which it resides. This morning, Arrias examines what the implications might be for a united Europe. -Vic […]