December 7, 2020 – Iranian nuclear scientist is murdered. September 17, 2021 – Iran becomes a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. June 13 to June 24,2025. 12-Day War began with Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, followed by Iranian retaliatory and drone strikes with over 550 … Continue reading
Category Archives: Cold War
U.S. Timeline
Sept. 6, 2020 – U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper calls for a 355 ship navy. August 30, 2021 – U.S. pulls out of Afghanistan.
The Opium Trade
The opium trade of the 18th and 19th centuries was Britain’s solution to its chronic trade deficit with China. The reason for the deficit was an extraordinarily high demand for Chinese commodities in Europe and little or no demand for European goods in China. The problem was compounded because the only commodity that China accepted in payment … Continue reading
Reflections
“Misunderstanding of the present grows fatally from ignorance of the past” -Marc Leopold Bloch 1962 – Cold War I The end of Cold War I, widely viewed in the west as proof of the innate superiority of capitalism over communism, led some to believe that the disappearance of ideological … Continue reading
Afghanistan
August 21, 2021 Pundits have been comparing the “fall” of Kabul to Saigon. The pandemonium is certainly similar. But today the Vietnamese work very hard for their living, just as they did during the war. About three-quarters of them live in country areas and villages growing rice and fruit trees … Continue reading
A Questionable Strategy
June 12, 2021 Historical Background When they “opened” China in 1972 President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger did not anticipate the consequences that would follow. Nixon’s primary motive was to take advantage of the then adversarial Sino-Soviet relationship to open another front in the Cold War with … Continue reading
Climate Change and Nuclear War Revisited
April 29, 2021 Background On April 19, 2021, at a press conference about climate change, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres said that “we are on the verge of the abyss.” The evidence supporting his conclusion is overwhelming. Increasingly severe storms, droughts, wild fires, rising seas, and mass … Continue reading
The U.S. and China at Crossroads
When it comes to Sino-American relations, few westerners have the knowledge, understanding and experience of former Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger. Speaking at the National Committee on U.S. China Relations Gala Dinner on November 14, 2019, he explained: • The (U.S.) relationship with China started because both felt threatened … Continue reading
Thucydides & Tariffs
June 26, 2018 President Trump has decided to levy tariffs primarily on Chinese, European, Mexican, Canadian, Indian and Turkish products, and in so doing, he has alienated them all. Presumably, following the same logic –that the trade deficit is unsustainable- at some point he’ll have to do the same with … Continue reading
Iran
May 22, 2018 If President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal –otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action- on May 9, 2018 appears to be misguided, arrogant, and self-destructive, rest assured, nothing is at it seems. With a stroke of his pen he managed at once to … Continue reading