Stevenson’s army, April 21
– Putin claims victory in Mariupol.
– Taiwan TV apologizes for false attack report.
– NYT analyzes Solomon Islands pact with China.
– Analysts warn of long Ukraine war.
– Foreign Affairs article describes new warfare in Africa.
– House will vote next week on Senate-passed bill labeled “Lend-Lease.” In fact, it merely waives some sections of existing arms sales laws.
Dan Drezner joins crowd drawing on Thucydides, but adds this less-often-quoted section on what happens during war: Words had to change their ordinary meaning and to take that which was now given them. Reckless audacity came to be considered the courage of a loyal ally; prudent hesitation, specious cowardice; moderation was held to be a cloak for unmanliness; ability to see all sides of a question, inaptness to act on any. Frantic violence became the attribute of manliness; cautious plotting, a justifiable means of self-defense….. The fair proposals of an adversary were met with jealous precautions by the stronger of the two, and not with a generous confidence. Revenge also was held of more account than self-preservation.
Charlie added this later in the day:
Prof. Cohen has a new article in Foreign Affairs urging less concern about grand strategy and more about statecraft, how we do what we want. I couldn’t help thinking about our course when he writes:
More than one might think, sound foreign-policy making rests on the basics of bureaucratic behavior: clear and concise memorandums, crisply run meetings, well-disseminated conclusions, succinct and unambiguous guidance from above. Good process does not guarantee good policy, but it increases the odds of it. With that in mind, the U.S. government should pay renewed attention to the training and career management of security professionals.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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