Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Recently, I was asked to comment on the Russia-Ukraine War – its current status on the battlefield and which side had the upper hand. And my response was that I simply didn’t know. I’ve heard the narrative...
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Just when you thought the assault on the English language couldn’t be more severe, I came across a new abomination in a recent memo (11/3/25) signed by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CSAF). The CSAF...
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Tomorrow is Veterans Day, though of course November 11th was originally Armistice Day to mark the end of World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day in 1918. Back then, it was hoped that the World War would...
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Lately, there’s a “Talking Heads” lyric that’s been popping up in my brain: Our president’s crazy/Did you hear what he said? A few days ago, President Trump threatened war against Nigeria. He vowed that U.S....
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. War and rumors of war dominate the headlines. Venezuela. Nigeria. Iran. Somalia. A “new Cold War” involving Russia and China. What are we to believe? The events of the 62 years of my short life (Vietnam,...
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Here’s a note I sent to a colleague who asked sincerely whether “genocide” was the appropriate word for Israeli actions in Gaza: For what it’s worth, I taught the Holocaust as a professor of history after...
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. Since the last time (July 19th) I wrote about the Russia-Ukraine War, perhaps the biggest change has been to President Trump’s rhetoric. After being frustrated in his efforts to end the war (and perhaps win a...
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. The military historian Dennis Showalter once told me that he didn’t care about the amount of fat around a general’s belly – he cared about the fat between a general’s ears. It was a telling quip, and one that...
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. If there’s one thing we’ve learned (or re-learned, again and again) from the Pentagon it’s that all governments lie and that the first casualty of war is truth. From the Pentagon Papers in the Vietnam War to...
Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission. I’ve taught military history “from Plato to NATO,” as we used to joke, but my expertise focused on technology and warfare. Along with “revolutions” and “transformations” in weaponry, I probably spent too much...
