DAVID ROTHKOPF

Wars are often won by diplomats and businessmen—not soldiers

If a nuclear power is willing to be bolder than another, it can take limited conventional actions without fear of major pushback.

Massive increases in productivity due to the happy marriage if information technology and advanced manufacturing techniques are having a chilling, unprecedented effect on job creations.

There is an urgent necessity that our system of international law not allow heads of state to violate the fundamental rights of their citizens or their neighbor with impunity. But a consistently amoral U. S. foreign policy has made this necessity all the more difficult to address.

The economy of tomorrow is unlikely to look much like that of yesterday.

America responded to the 9-11 attacks by invading Iraq, only to discover that Saddam Hussein had palaces of mass luxury, not weapons of mass destruction.

Some countries elevate and value community. Some serve the state to the detriment of individual people, and some, like the United States, celebrate individuality to a fault.

If Americans have to live with the danger of guns because of the 2nd Amendment, then they'll also have to live with the dangers of publications such as Inspire Magazine because of the 1st Amendment.

Obama seems steadfast in his resistance both to learning from his past errors and to managing his team so that future errors are prevented. It is hard to think of a recent president who has grown so little in office.

Obama has been deliberative to a fault and an inveterate seeker of the middle ground.

If a nuclear power is willing to be bolder than another, it can take limited conventional actions without fear of major pushback.

At the dawn of the nuclear age, national security officials could not win top jobs without knowing the language of nukes. In contrast, today the vast majority of these officials are cyber-illiterate [when the current major threat was cyber-attacks].

If Americans have to live with the danger of guns because of the 2nd Amendment, then they'll also have to live with the dangers of publications such as Inspire Magazine because of the 1st Amendment.

America responded to the 9-11 attacks by invading Iraq, only to discover that Saddam Hussein had palaces of mass luxury, not weapons of mass destruction.

Once upon a time, the U. S. economy grew in tandem with the productivity of American workers, leading to the creation of jobs and wealth across society. During the [21st] century’s first decade, however, this relationship no longer applied. GDP grew and productivity climbed, while job creation slowed to a crawl, median incomes fell—and the rich get richer.

The economy of tomorrow is unlikely to look much like that of yesterday.

Massive increases in productivity due to the happy marriage if information technology and advanced manufacturing techniques are having a chilling, unprecedented effect on job creations.

Wars are often won by diplomats and businessmen—not soldiers

Some countries elevate and value community. Some serve the state to the detriment of individual people, and some, like the United States, celebrate individuality to a fault.

Within each country’s borders, different view exist of the obligations of individual citizens to one another, of provinces and cities to their neighbors, of the large and the small entities to the polity—corporations, churches, and other institutions—to society as a whole.

There is an urgent necessity that our system of international law not allow heads of state to violate the fundamental rights of their citizens or their neighbor with impunity. But a consistently amoral U. S. foreign policy has made this necessity all the more difficult to address.

There are hugely creative military leaders who have contemplated just the kind of changes that are needed. In Washington, however, strength lies with the opponents rather than the proponents of change. And the opponents possess the ultimate political weapon of mass destruction. They can accuse leaders who want to challenge the status quo of making America weak. So we’re left with all the systems the country has accumulated to counter every post World War II defense challenge: multiple air forces, multiple expeditionary forces; multiple cyber-commands. We can’t afford what we have. We don’t need much of what we have.

The Pentagon … kills ideas that threaten its core programs more efficiently than it does any foreign enemy.

It is time to acknowledge that the reorganization that took place in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks was a mess.

Obama seems steadfast in his resistance both to learning from his past errors and to managing his team so that future errors are prevented. It is hard to think of a recent president who has grown so little in office.

Obama has been deliberative to a fault and an inveterate seeker of the middle ground.