Harlan Ullman.

John Kerry’s determination
John Kerry’s determination

America, Blogs, Global Governance, Harlan Ullman., Issues, Regions

John Kerry’s determination

The current buzz in Washington’s bazaars is questioning whether the peripatetic Secretary of State John Kerry is determined or delusional in his multi-faceted quest to solve among the most intractable of global conflicts. Some see Kerry as a 21st century Don Quixote tilting at windmills. Except, these windmills can bite back. Others applaud his doggedness and courage to persist. So far, a dozen trips to the Middle East to broker a deal between Palestinians and Israel have not achieved that outcome. Russian help in removing Bashar al Assad’s chemical weapons from Syria was indeed a welcome and positive step. But the Syrian civil war grows no closer to ending [...]

By Harlan Ullman|2017-11-14T21:28:15+02:00April 9th, 2014|America, Blogs, Global Governance, Harlan Ullman., Issues, Regions|0 Comments

My fellow citizens
My fellow citizens

Blogs, Global Governance, Harlan Ullman., International Peace, & Security, Issues

My fellow citizens

President Barack Obama gained great notoriety with brilliant speeches in Berlin during his first run for office and in Cairo after his 2008 election. Since then, like the absence of real strategic thinking by his administration regarding foreign policy, this great rhetoric has been missing in action. With Russia’s takeover of Crimea and the prospects for a new cold or at least cool war non-trivial, the time for a great speech is at hand. What might the president say? In summary terms, he might lay out a vision for the future. The central theme for this vision is what to do post-Crimea. In that regard, the president must focus [...]

By Harlan Ullman|2017-11-14T21:28:16+02:00April 6th, 2014|Blogs, Global Governance, Harlan Ullman., International Peace, & Security, Issues|0 Comments

Geopolitics 101: History Matters
Geopolitics 101: History Matters

Blogs, Europa/Rusia, Harlan Ullman., International Peace, & Security, Issues, Regions, Studies and Analysis

Geopolitics 101: History Matters

As President Vladimir Putin moves to consolidate Russian autonomy over Crimea with a referendum, the West continues to struggle to find acceptable policies to reverse or punish this encroachment. Short of a military response that would be profoundly reckless and exceedingly dangerous, in these policy deliberations by the West led by Washington, history seems to be missing in action. Sometimes history matters. In the late 1960’s, NATO faced several crises with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had embarked on a major rearmament program for both its nuclear and conventional forces that challenged the strategy of nuclear retaliation anchoring NATO’s defense. In 1968, after the Prague Spring broke out, [...]

By Alexandru Grumaz|2017-11-14T21:28:20+02:00March 18th, 2014|Blogs, Europa/Rusia, Harlan Ullman., International Peace, & Security, Issues, Regions, Studies and Analysis|0 Comments

NATO’s strategic ace: Vladimir Putin
NATO’s strategic ace: Vladimir Putin

Blogs, Defense / Homeland Security, Global Governance, Harlan Ullman., International Peace, & Security, Issues, Studies and Analysis

NATO’s strategic ace: Vladimir Putin

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was on the road to irrelevance. The most successful military alliance in history has lacked a real enemy since the Soviet Union disintegrated a quarter of a century ago. After a dozen years of war in Afghanistan, NATO’s role is coming to an ignominious end. Because of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s refusal to sign a Basic Security Agreement (BSA), NATO is now forced to plan for the withdraw of all of its military forces by the end of 2014. Without substantial coalition forces and, as important, the money and aid Afghanistan receives because of that presence, the Karzai government will be unable to prevent [...]

By Harlan Ullman|2017-11-14T21:28:20+02:00March 4th, 2014|Blogs, Defense / Homeland Security, Global Governance, Harlan Ullman., International Peace, & Security, Issues, Studies and Analysis|0 Comments

Geopolitics 101—Don’t lose wars!
Geopolitics 101—Don’t lose wars!

America, Blogs, Defense / Homeland Security, Harlan Ullman., International Peace, & Security, Issues, Regions

Geopolitics 101—Don’t lose wars!

Prior to entering national office, politicians of all stripes and especially American presidents-elect and members of Congress should take a short course in Geopolitics 101. That course would have but two warnings: don’t start wars you can’t win and above all don’t lose wars. One would think that is common sense. But it is not. America’s wartime scorecard is not impressive with a singe exception. Along with allies, we won the big one---World War II. Korea was at best a draw. Vietnam, and let’s not forget that was a war of our choice, went to the other side. Grenada did not count. Afghanistan and Iraq have turned out badly so [...]