tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post8657758101759630283..comments2023-12-23T02:10:09.875-05:00Comments on howl at pluto: A puzzle (maybe)LFChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13551197682770555147noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-25762794749014907002012-04-03T21:20:54.069-04:002012-04-03T21:20:54.069-04:00Thanks, I like "disconnect" too. [Plain ...Thanks, I like "disconnect" too. [Plain speaking and all that :)]<br /><br />Rosen, the author of the linked article in 'The American Interest', is a prof at Harvard and protege of the late Samuel Huntington. I don't usually agree with Rosen on a lot but yes, I probably should read the linked article at some point.LFChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551197682770555147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-53740804987028384852012-04-03T20:22:36.747-04:002012-04-03T20:22:36.747-04:00LFC
Disconect is a much better word choice.
--...LFC<br /><br />Disconect is a much better word choice.<br /><br /> --------------<br /><br />I am not unsympathetic to your point though I do not think that either of would indorse the opinions of Rep R Paul (R Alpha Centarui)<br /><br />Underneath all the comings and goings of the "war on terror" There has been a substantial retrenchment since January 2001, mostly Donald Runsfeld initiatives.<br /><br /> ----------------------------<br /><br />That is a very good link of the "Ameircans are anti-military and warlike" meme. A bit over generalized and over argued, but more than worth your time.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://eclecticmeanderings.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Hank’s Eclectic Meanderings</a>hank_F_Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09851295792702162861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-87094038862292700422012-04-02T20:37:26.144-04:002012-04-02T20:37:26.144-04:00Hank,
A simpler way to put my question is this: si...Hank,<br />A simpler way to put my question is this: since the world is becoming more peaceful, why does the US still act as if the world needs active 'policing' by a mil. power with global reach and dominance? Why haven't we seen more of a retrenchment in US for./mil. policy: not a retreat to 'isolation' but a sensible pulling back? There has been a bit of retrenchment, yes, but not a whole lot.<br /><br />So it seems to me your #7 implicitly argues that US mil. hegemony is actually a <i>cause</i> of the (relative) peace. That's a respectable argument but I don't tend to strongly agree with it.<br /><br />My assumption that there is a "disjunction" betw. US policy and global trends is, yes, indeed an assumption, or an implicit argument of its own.<br /><br />The decline in armed conflict is, I think, a fact, but the view that US policy has not responded sensibly to that decline, creating the "disjunction," is an opinion.<br /><br />IOW, to put it very bluntly:<br /><br />(1)Decline in armed conflict = fact<br /><br />(2) U.S. failure to respond sensibly to<br />that decline by retrenching = LFC's opinion<br /><br /><br />It's the clash betw. (1) and (2) that creates the posited "disjunction," which is thus also my opinion, not a 'fact'. Perhaps "disjuction" was a bad word -- "disconnect" might have been better.LFChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551197682770555147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-132520298120231193.post-41217810723834150452012-04-02T19:02:42.026-04:002012-04-02T19:02:42.026-04:00LFC
Here's the question: What explains the a...LFC<br /><br /><br /><i>Here's the question: What explains the apparent disjunction between global downward trends in armed conflict, on the one hand, and U.S. military and foreign policy, on the other?</i><br /><br />A good question<br /><br />7. Rational or least semi rational foreign decision makers aren't likely to go to war until they are sure the US won't come in on the other side. Allies who may be so inclined to settle issues by force have already had the riot act read to them.<br /><br />8. Ignoring the US, a stable balance of power exists between the major powers.<br /><br /><br /> -----------------------<br /><br />Thinking out loud<br /><br />Is "disjunction" an assumption or a fact?<br />Is the reason factors that have little or nothing to do with US policy.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://eclecticmeanderings.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Hank’s Eclectic Meanderings</a>hank_F_Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09851295792702162861noreply@blogger.com