Month: October 2016
Links – October 28, 2016
One of the best articles on understanding Vladimir Putin that I have read. By Fiona Hill.
Putin’s Chaos Strategy Is Coming Back to Bite Him in the Ass. Also very good.
Russia is trying to hack the election. What should the US do? If you’ve been reading my comments, you already know this. And it looks like Putin realizes that Donald Trump is not going to win, so he seems to have been on good behavior in his speech at the Valdai Club. This is consistent with his “chaos strategy” and the tactical approach described by Fiona Hill. Read More
No, Russia Isn’t Going To Nuke Texas
Sunday Comics
Thucydides Roundtable, Book I: It Would Be A Great War
Mark Safranski is hosting a roundtable on Thucydides at Zenpundit. Here is my first contribution. Many others are showing up.
My approach to Thucydides, or any other old book, is almost diametrically opposite to Tanner Greer’s. It is indeed fascinating to contemplate how people thought in another time, the differences from today’s thinking, to put oneself in the mind of another. I try to do all those things from time to time, but my emphasis is often different. Read More
Links – October 20, 2016
Benjamin Wittes: “But this election is a different kettle of fish, one that pits a normal candidate—that is, a woman with flaws, virtues and policy ideas—against a man who menaces American democracy.” This is the sense I’ve had every time someone wants to talk about policy in the election. I love a good policy discussion as much as anyone, but that’s not the point in this election. Read More
Links – October 17, 2016
Pakistan and India are glaring and occasionally shooting at each other again. Since both have nuclear weapons and no warning time at all to decide what it is the other has in that missile, this is a particularly dangerous situation. Here’s a good idea: Russia and China, which have good relations with the two, should press for a peaceful accommodation and better ways for India and Pakistan to relate to each other. Vladimir Putin seems to want to be seen as a peacemaker. He’s blown that in Syria. India and Pakistan present a real opportunity. Read More
Sunday Comics
Links – October 14, 2016
This election campaign is utterly exhausting. It’s the drama that always accompanies a toxic personality. We try to keep Nuclear Diner relatively nonpolitical, but Donald Trump would do untold damage to the country – has done some damage already. Former ICBM launch officers say that Trump is not a person who can be trusted with the nuclear codes.
And here’s Michelle Obama’s response on how women should be treated. Short version: like respected people. But the video is very worth watching to see the emotion that many of us have been feeling. Read More
Thucydides Round Table
Next week, I will join a distinguished group of commentators in working through Thucydides’s The Peloponnesian War. The discussion will take place at Zenpundit, but I may post some of my thoughts here. Check it out and join in the comments!
Nuclear Diner 