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Blank Section (Placeholder)Analysis and Commentary

Treat North Korea Like Other Nuclear-Armed Adversaries

by Bing Westvia Military History in the News
Tuesday, September 5, 2017

The backward tyranny of North Korea has again conducted a nuclear test and fired a ballistic missile. This has garnered global attention, including much discussion of what should be done in response.

In the News

Make China Responsible For North Korea

quoting Michael R. Auslinvia San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, August 31, 2017

Such a “grand bargain would effectively transfer America's dominance to China,” Hoover Institution scholar Michael Auslin writes...

Blank Section (Placeholder)Featured

Civilians Win Wars, Too

by Kori Schakevia Military History in the News
Thursday, August 31, 2017

Shielding civilians from warfare has not always been routine practice. Homer tells of Troy in flames, soldiers of the Greek alliance raping, pillaging, and burning the city to the ground. Thucydides recounts how in 427 B.C. the Athenians nearly killed all the rebellious Mytilenean men and enslaved their women and children, but ultimately executed only the leaders of the revolt. Over a decade later in 416/5 B.C, the Athenians failed to exercise restraint and did bring about that very punishment against the neutrality-seeking Melians.

Analysis and Commentary

The US And South Korea Should Conditionally End Large Joint Military Exercises

by Herbert Linvia Lawfare
Wednesday, August 30, 2017

The United States and South Korea (the “U.S.-ROK alliance”) generally conduct two major military exercises throughout the year: the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercise in the fall (now underway until August 31, 2017) and the Foal Eagle-Key Resolve exercise in the spring. North Korea regularly...

Blank Section (Placeholder)FeaturedRelated Commentary

America’s Foreign Policy Crisis

by Bruce Thorntonvia Defining Ideas
Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Leaders and voters can’t decide between isolationism, realism, and idealism. 

Analysis and Commentary

Is Trump Adopting The Diplomacy Delusion?

by Bruce Thorntonvia Front Page Magazine Online
Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Recently, two announcements regarding Afghanistan and the Arab-Israeli conflict suggested that the Trump administration is following the old failed strategies for dealing with the challenge of modern jihadism. If so, he is setting us up for the same old failures caused by the same old failure of imagination.

Featured

Strategika Issue 44: Preemptive Strikes And Preventive Wars

via Hoover Daily Report
Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Strategika Issue 44 is now available online.

Featured CommentaryAnalysis and Commentary

Preemptive Strikes and Preventive Wars: A Historian’s Perspective

by Barry Straussvia Strategika
Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Preventive wars and preemptive strikes are both risky business. A preventive war is a military, diplomatic, and strategic endeavor, aimed at an enemy whom one expects to grow so strong that delay would cause defeat. A preemptive strike is a military operation or series of operations to preempt an enemy’s ability to attack you. In both cases, a government judges a diplomatic solution impossible.

Featured CommentaryFeatured

Calculating The Risk Of Preventive War

by Max Bootvia Strategika
Tuesday, August 29, 2017

The issue of “preemptive” war is more in the news now than at any time since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The impetus, of course, is the rapid development of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, which will soon give Pyongyang the capability to hit any American city with a nuclear-tipped ICBM. President Trump has been threatening “fire and fury” in response, and warning that the United States is “locked and loaded” for war. 

Background EssayAnalysis and Commentary

Preemptive Strike Or Preventive War?

by Williamson Murrayvia Strategika
Tuesday, August 29, 2017

With the troubles bubbling over on the Korean Peninsula, as the North Korean regime approaches possession of nuclear weapons and missiles capable of striking the United States, two words, preemptive and preventive, have gained increasing currency. While similar in meaning, their context is crucial in understanding their applicability to the current crisis. And here, as is so often the case, history is a useful tool in thinking through the possibilities. 

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Military History Working Group


The Working Group on the Role of Military History in Contemporary Conflict examines how knowledge of past military operations can influence contemporary public policy decisions concerning current conflicts.