Our New Kind of War Needs Teamwork

Christian Science Monitor—November 2001 We’ve now forgotten how radically the US attack on Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan differed from traditional military operations. This essay, written in the early days of that brief, semi-successful war, explores two...

In a New War, Innovation is Needed

Christian Science Monitor—October 2001 Written for citizens watching the precursor skirmishes of the invasion of Afghanistan, the first move in what has become known at GWOT—the Global War on Terrorism—this piece suggests a general approach to thinking about what our...

Creating Security in an Uncivil World

Christian Science Monitor—September 2001 The Monitor asked me to write this on the afternoon of the 9/11 attacks. (Carla and I could see the Pentagon burning from our kitchen window in downtown Washington.) Asking citizen’s questions about how we proceed, the...

Remodeling Defense: Think Prevention

Christian Science Monitor—July 2001 This was written just as the new George W. Bush team was settling into office. Back at Defense, Secretary Don Rumsfeld was starting to rearrange America’s military furniture. Sad to say, Rumsfeld’s overhaul has been...

Passing the Buck in Sub Drama

Christian Science Monitor – March 2001 My first op-ed for the wonderful Monitor, this explores another case of failed military accountability. (A personal note: thanks to the kind recruitment by Monitor staff writer Brad Knickerbocker. Then op-ed editor Linda...

Keep the Big Guns

US Naval Institute Proceedings—January 2000 Restoring battleships—and battleship ethics—to the Navy. Published as a “Comment and Discussion” item in US Naval Institute Proceedings. Re: “Keep the Big Guns” by John F. Lehman, Jr., and William L....