For the Islamic State to preside over a caliphate takes money — lots of it. In an invaluable article at the Barcelona Centre for World Affairs site titled How Long Will ISIS […]
So, Islamic State, you want to rule a caliphate
Russ Wellen
Russ Wellen is not exactly a rogue, as in cop or elephant. And, since he didn’t graduate from college, he’s more of an autodidact than a scholar. Come to think of it, though, that would make him a Rogue Scholar. (Usually, punning isn’t among his vices.)
Russ writes about:
1. Nuclear deproliferation.
2. Foreign relations with the Middle East.
3. Understanding what makes Americans tick.
He spends much of the rest of the time trying to figure out what makes his 12-year-old son tick.
"It's hard to tell people not to smoke when you have a cigarette dangling from your mouth."
-- Mohamed El Baradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency
Five ways the U.S. enabled the Islamic State
Contradictory U.S. policies, as with Al Qaeda a generation ago, have aided and abetted the development of the Islamic State. In fulfilling the terrorists’ dream — transforming into a state with an […]
The contrails have it: Iron Dome is a dud
The effectiveness of missile defense can scarcely be inferred from the “sound and light show” that is Iron Dome. Contrails, the wake of an aircraft, are usually created by water vapor in its […]
Red carpet into harm’s way rolled out for Flight MH17
Between Ukraine airline officials keeping planes flying too low and the pilot diverting his plane into the vicinity of the military transport, MH17’s fate was sealed. Yesterday I posted that Russian Premier […]
Suddenly Putin blaming Ukraine for Flight 17 makes a shred of sense
The Russian prime minister may still bear much of the blame, though. Russian Federation Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had said about the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17: I want to […]
Maliki big loser in the blame game
However vindictive and mule-headed, Prime Minister Maliki doesn’t deserve all the blame for the success of ISIS in Iraq. Everyone wants to blame Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for the military success […]
ISIS’ Caliphate and Christ’s Kingdom of God
Were Christ and his followers early jihadists? The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham recently announced the formation of a new caliphate — or empire, if you will — comprising the existing […]
The two faces of ISIS: summary executions and planting flowers
The march of the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham is marked by both savagery and the provision of social services. At the Washington Post Monkey Cage, Andrew Shaver and Gabriel Tenorio […]
Warriors suffered from PTSD in the Middle Ages, too
After the Norman Conquest, bishops devised an ingenious way to deal with the component of PTSD known as moral injury. Often a component of Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome, moral injury is defined thusly […]
Why ISIS shouldn’t be branded terrorists
Terrorism leads to panicked over-reaction. Yesterday I posted about Kenneth Pollack’s valuable Iraq Military Situation Report that appeared June 14 on the website of the Brookings Institution where he’s a senior fellow in the Saban Center for […]
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 