zenpundit.com

NOTE TO REGULAR COMMENTERS

I have had to add word verification today as spammers are now going to town on my archived posts. I apologize for the inconvenience but spamming was starting to reach critical mass and it was either that or shut off comments altogether which I really don’t want to do as I get a great deal out of your feedback.

PONDERING

Dan of tdaxp‘s post yesterday on John Robb’s theory of Global Guerilla warfare and the comments that ensued, plus Myke Cole’s article and an email exchange we had on 5GW have left me pondering the possible interrrelationship of the various theories – PNM, 4GW, Network-centric warfare, Boyd’s OODA and GG. Both with one another and the battlespace itself. I’m pretty sure that scale and time are the relevant factors here but there’s substantially more that I’m not discerning yet. I need to attempt look at things from a consilient perspective. Reading Robb’s book when it comes out I think will help, I’ve been following Global Guerillas for much of the past year but there’s nothing like digesting an author’s systemic case.

The discussion yesterday has also given me an insight on state defense – or at least trying to understand how to begin constructing one – against 4GW/GG attackers. My thanks to Dan and John for getting the wheels turning in my head. I’ll try to post on this small topic tonight.

Oh, yes and the big project at Zenpundit should be unveiled next week :o)

BIBLIOMANIA

I’m currently reading the very impressive Shield of Achilles by Philip Bobbitt and yesterday felt compelled to purchase Simon Sebag Montefiore’s monumental Stalin: In The Court Of The Red Tsar and On The Origins Of War by Donald Kagan.

The less time I have to read, the more books I buy.

AMERICAN DIPLOMACY AND CHINA’S PEACEFUL RISE THEORY

This article in American Diplomacy by Avery Goldman is not going to raise any eyebrows among regular China watchers ( I also suggest you skip over the tedious introduction) but it does summarize the current strategic situation fairly well. It is also noteworthy in that AD reflects general thinking at State, they seem to be buying in to Dr. Barnett’s call in Blueprint for Action for America to ” lock in tomorrow’s China at today’s prices”. An excerpt from the Avery piece:

” The key to sensible policy in dealing with China is to recognize that we are in the midst of what the Chinese sometimes refer to as a “period of strategic opportunity.” For at least the next couple of decades, the areas of conflict between the U.S. and China (especially difficult economic problems and even the potentially dangerous disagreement about Taiwan) are in fact manageable, not intractable, problems. And both China and the U.S. have important common interests (fighting terrorism, dealing with proliferation, coping with environmental degradation, and addressing public health crises in a globalized setting) that provide strong incen-tives for both Beijing and Washington to work hard to manage and contain bilateral conflicts. Because conflicting interests do not yet swamp common interests in U.S.-China relations, there is time, most likely a couple of decades, to learn whether a longer-term modus vivendi is possible. Each side will be drawing con-clusions along the way. Time will provide the Chinese with the opportunity to learn whether the U.S. is willing to accept a larger international role for a more powerful China. Time will also provide the U.S. with the opportunity to learn whether China is in fact emerging as a responsible great power with which the U.S. can coexist without sacrificing American vital interests. A sensible policy is not only one under which the U.S. seizes this “period of strategic opportunity” to monitor what China does, but also one which encourages China’s responsible behavior whenever possible.”

RECOMMENDED READING

A war and espionage mix today !

Eddie at Live From the FDNF has a pre-deployment post with more details on the Navy’s plans for close-quarter combat capabilities and littoral/riparine assault units.

Chris Albritton on the Jaysh al-Mohammed ( hat tip John Robb)

Bill Petti at Duck of Minerva on the newly issued National Intelligence Strategy.

Callimachus on war as an engine of social change

The Counterterrorism Blog reports that Hezbollah remains a terrorist organization of acute concern to the United States

That’s it !