Vietnam War

When in 1967 the University of Virginia recruited Professor Norman A. Graebner from the University of Illinois to teach diplomatic history, a huge row ensued.

Just war thinking is moral analysis of military action, not a framework for foreign policy. Acknowledging these limitations helps us to become better just war casuists, and it highlights the need for values-driven strategic thinking in the foreign policy sphere.

In her 2003 book Just War Against Terror, Jean Bethke Elshtain argued for a new paradigm for a just war: the fight against global terrorism, particularly terrorism perpetrated by followers of militant Islam. Twenty years after 9/11, this claim is due for revisiting.

The Afghanistan crisis may cause problems for China and Russia, but these countries also have opportunities and could avoid the possible pitfalls.

With the debacle unfolding in Afghanistan, what is the schema that political leaders have in mind?

Maybe Afghanistan’s collapse is a divine judgment on it and us.  But there is mercy always available, accompanied by wisdom.

Presumably the consequences in Afghanistan will be tragic as in Indochina.

History may not repeat itself, as Mark Twain is credited with saying, but it does indeed rhyme sometimes. Sadly, the American people and their leaders are not interested in the rhymes or lessons of history.

“The Good American” is the story of how Robert Gersony, a high school dropout, affected governmental actions to reduce human misery and advance human rights. Because of his success in promoting humanitarian values, Kaplan calls him the US government’s “greatest humanitarian.”