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Rethinking the Long War
In 1993, R. James Woolsey, about to become President Clintons first Director of Central Intelligence, remarked to a Senate committee on the defeat of international Communism: We have slain a large dragon. He then added: But we live now in a jungle filled with a bewildering variety of poisonous snakes. And in many ways, the dragon was easier to keep track of.Years later, we still seem bewildered. Americas military has demonstrated astonishing ingenuity and adaptability, as I have argued here. But have other instruments of national power risen to the challenges posed by international jihadism? In his new book, Winning the Long War, Ilan Berman, vice president for policy at the American Foreign Policy Council, makes a persuasive case that they have not, that the U.S. instead has lost the initiative on the dominant battlefields of todays conflict: ideology, strategic communications, economics, law, and development. Regaining the initiative, he urges, should be among the highest priorities of the new administration. Earth to Berman: the new administration is on the other side Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-07-23 |
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