Jacques Baud has been on a sort of virtual book tour, promoting his new book by appearances on popular Youtube platforms—The Duran, Daniel Davis’ Deep Dive, Judge Napolitano’s Judging Freedom, and probably more. Baud is a prolific author on the topic of warfare and he has the background to write compellingly on the current war of the West on Russia—as those who have listened to some of his interviews will know:
Excellent piece Mark. “Our calling is to move beyond. To understand. To reclaim the past of the West,”. The first goal will always come down to reclaiming the ethics contained in the Christian scriptures. Justice is paramount & can be reclaimed through review of the moral commandments & case laws of the OT & NT. Understanding what are actual crimes & just penalties is key if we don’t want to continue inflicting tyrannical damage. Just War Theory, free markets, proper taxation, the proper role of government, the sacredness of covenants have already been revealed to us. We adhered to them once & our country became blessed. That’s what we have to reclaim.
I really don't disagree with Mark's analysis although some of the philosophical and religious references are slightly above my pay grade.
I have been reading Avi Shlaim's 1999 book, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. It seems to me (perhaps from a more simplistic perspective) that the wars in Ukraine and Gaza result from a confluence of two very dangerous and risky policies: 1. Israel is entitled to use whatever tactics it chooses to ensure its survival. The ends absolutely justify the means. 2. The awesome advantages of US and Jewish wealth and power tend to promote policies based on perceptions of relative wealth and power which, to use Mark's word (channelling W Bush) misunderestimate other factors relevant to the ultimate success of a particular policy.
Shlaim's book, basically a history of the Zionist project from inception to the end of the 20th Century, is relevant to my thinking because it demonstrates that historians, political scientists and political leaders in the US, UK, Israel, and the Muslim Middle East have considered every...single...one...of the concerns raised today by critics of US and Israeli policy. Every single one. Including the ramifications of Israel's Gaza policy and today's developments regarding withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza...however this plays out. There is nothing new. The current conflicts have been fought out in numerous permutations in the last 75 years. So, too, I believe there is nothing new in basic Neocon policies regarding US hegemony, Russia policy, and the tools used by the US government to advance its goals, including provocations, color revolutions, coups d'état, and the whole rest of the CIA playbook. Perhaps one recent game changing development is the rise of the internet and alternative media. But I'm sure the "leadership" has plans to snuff that out as well.
So, while I certainly believe there are elements of the current situations in Ukraine and Palestine (and elsewhere) that the current "leadership" (whoever that is) don't fully understand, I don't think misunderstanding is the heart of the problem. I believe our "leadership" actually has read the history books and does know what the relevant issues and risks are.
However, because it believes that "the ends justify the means" and that enormous wealth and power persistently employed will overcome all obstacles, it persists. Added to this are elements of a "bully" mentality (often associated with élites) wherein the bully simply believes that domination can be achieved through intimidation, threats and insults. As in, for example, "shock and awe". And lastly, I would add my growing awareness that our beloved constitutional framework seems woefully deficient in translating the will of the people into control of our elected and unelected élites. This seems especially true in the realm of foreign policy which seems to be conducted as a virtually independent and unregulated arm of our government.
So, as for me, I don't expect any meaningful changes in US government policy (notwithstanding today's developments in Gaza). Nor do I see any real end to the implications of our Russia policy...even if Russia forces an Appomattox-type defeat on Ukraine. We have been fighting these wars since the end of WWII (Korea, Vietnam...) and I see no evidence that powerful elements in our "leadership" see any thing wrong with it.
I would say that the strong probability is that no change will come until there's a painful financial crisis. However, there is some evidence that some people in DC are coming to the realization that our days of empire are over precisely because of our financial crisis. Witness the reports on the F-35, the recent report that every single naval project is years behind, the problems with our land based nukes, the inability to stop the Houthi blockade, the downward spiral in Ukraine. I can't give a breakdown on probable outcomes--wait for total financial crisis v. take a few responsible steps: 50/50, 60/40, 70/30?
Perhaps the bigger problem is the growing dysfunctionality of our constitutional order and the lack of tools to reform it.
Excellent work, thank you Mark. As I think back on the military "adventures" undertaken by the U.S. in various places during my lifetime, I cannot recall a single time where strategic goals were defined. So of course that meant that tactical and operational goals were always "on the fly" and as you say, in response to events. What is it about our culture that so limits the scope of thought and the attention span?
I'm not sure it's even a matter of classical liberal ideology anymore in the West. Nihilism seems to be the only remnant of ideology left. The larger point to be made (expanding on my earlier point about strategic thinking) is simply that if you do not know where you are how will you know where you want to go? As a society we seem to have no idea of what is real and where we are going, anymore.
Absent religious excuses for war, it’s likely to be about groping for resources. Tough to translate those gropings into reasons for sending men to die. So they make it metaphysical. All bs.
Great write up Mark and great sources. The Melian dialogue with its ‘The strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must’ (quote varies by source) comes to mind. With the ruling class assuming that our civilization is the strong. Someone looked at the military industrial complex via satellite photos in Russia since the end of the Cold War and chose to ignore what they were seeing. Or someone up the chain of command ignored it. The ability to gaslight oneself seems unlimited if the ideology and groupthink are strong enough. How much suffering and destruction will it take to make ordinary citizens realize that we need new leadership?
Excellent piece Mark. “Our calling is to move beyond. To understand. To reclaim the past of the West,”. The first goal will always come down to reclaiming the ethics contained in the Christian scriptures. Justice is paramount & can be reclaimed through review of the moral commandments & case laws of the OT & NT. Understanding what are actual crimes & just penalties is key if we don’t want to continue inflicting tyrannical damage. Just War Theory, free markets, proper taxation, the proper role of government, the sacredness of covenants have already been revealed to us. We adhered to them once & our country became blessed. That’s what we have to reclaim.
I really don't disagree with Mark's analysis although some of the philosophical and religious references are slightly above my pay grade.
I have been reading Avi Shlaim's 1999 book, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World. It seems to me (perhaps from a more simplistic perspective) that the wars in Ukraine and Gaza result from a confluence of two very dangerous and risky policies: 1. Israel is entitled to use whatever tactics it chooses to ensure its survival. The ends absolutely justify the means. 2. The awesome advantages of US and Jewish wealth and power tend to promote policies based on perceptions of relative wealth and power which, to use Mark's word (channelling W Bush) misunderestimate other factors relevant to the ultimate success of a particular policy.
Shlaim's book, basically a history of the Zionist project from inception to the end of the 20th Century, is relevant to my thinking because it demonstrates that historians, political scientists and political leaders in the US, UK, Israel, and the Muslim Middle East have considered every...single...one...of the concerns raised today by critics of US and Israeli policy. Every single one. Including the ramifications of Israel's Gaza policy and today's developments regarding withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza...however this plays out. There is nothing new. The current conflicts have been fought out in numerous permutations in the last 75 years. So, too, I believe there is nothing new in basic Neocon policies regarding US hegemony, Russia policy, and the tools used by the US government to advance its goals, including provocations, color revolutions, coups d'état, and the whole rest of the CIA playbook. Perhaps one recent game changing development is the rise of the internet and alternative media. But I'm sure the "leadership" has plans to snuff that out as well.
So, while I certainly believe there are elements of the current situations in Ukraine and Palestine (and elsewhere) that the current "leadership" (whoever that is) don't fully understand, I don't think misunderstanding is the heart of the problem. I believe our "leadership" actually has read the history books and does know what the relevant issues and risks are.
However, because it believes that "the ends justify the means" and that enormous wealth and power persistently employed will overcome all obstacles, it persists. Added to this are elements of a "bully" mentality (often associated with élites) wherein the bully simply believes that domination can be achieved through intimidation, threats and insults. As in, for example, "shock and awe". And lastly, I would add my growing awareness that our beloved constitutional framework seems woefully deficient in translating the will of the people into control of our elected and unelected élites. This seems especially true in the realm of foreign policy which seems to be conducted as a virtually independent and unregulated arm of our government.
So, as for me, I don't expect any meaningful changes in US government policy (notwithstanding today's developments in Gaza). Nor do I see any real end to the implications of our Russia policy...even if Russia forces an Appomattox-type defeat on Ukraine. We have been fighting these wars since the end of WWII (Korea, Vietnam...) and I see no evidence that powerful elements in our "leadership" see any thing wrong with it.
I would say that the strong probability is that no change will come until there's a painful financial crisis. However, there is some evidence that some people in DC are coming to the realization that our days of empire are over precisely because of our financial crisis. Witness the reports on the F-35, the recent report that every single naval project is years behind, the problems with our land based nukes, the inability to stop the Houthi blockade, the downward spiral in Ukraine. I can't give a breakdown on probable outcomes--wait for total financial crisis v. take a few responsible steps: 50/50, 60/40, 70/30?
Perhaps the bigger problem is the growing dysfunctionality of our constitutional order and the lack of tools to reform it.
Excellent work, thank you Mark. As I think back on the military "adventures" undertaken by the U.S. in various places during my lifetime, I cannot recall a single time where strategic goals were defined. So of course that meant that tactical and operational goals were always "on the fly" and as you say, in response to events. What is it about our culture that so limits the scope of thought and the attention span?
I'm not sure it's even a matter of classical liberal ideology anymore in the West. Nihilism seems to be the only remnant of ideology left. The larger point to be made (expanding on my earlier point about strategic thinking) is simply that if you do not know where you are how will you know where you want to go? As a society we seem to have no idea of what is real and where we are going, anymore.
‘…where strategic goals were defined…’
Absent religious excuses for war, it’s likely to be about groping for resources. Tough to translate those gropings into reasons for sending men to die. So they make it metaphysical. All bs.
Brilliant post.
Great write up Mark and great sources. The Melian dialogue with its ‘The strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must’ (quote varies by source) comes to mind. With the ruling class assuming that our civilization is the strong. Someone looked at the military industrial complex via satellite photos in Russia since the end of the Cold War and chose to ignore what they were seeing. Or someone up the chain of command ignored it. The ability to gaslight oneself seems unlimited if the ideology and groupthink are strong enough. How much suffering and destruction will it take to make ordinary citizens realize that we need new leadership?
This explains so much of how clueless the U.S. is in the Middle East.
Religion?
Tribalism?
Nihilism at it's finest. Gotta figure out how to get Sullivan and Blinken a copy of this book and the Crooke review.
Rreally well said. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
Thanks! Gotta reclaim my other life!