Ralph Peters writes a good column on NRO today, headlined “The Joy of Killing for Allah: Why our ‘messaging’ won’t stop terror.” It’s worth your time. Loyal readers of the Gormogons will not be surprised by much in it, however, … Continue reading →
Long-time readers of the Gormogons’ will be familiar with the Volgi’s Fallacy of Foreign-Policy Egocentrism. This states, more or less, “it’s not all about us.” Which is a short way of saying that, because states determine their own interests and … Continue reading →
The East Europeans know they inhabit the battleground between the West and a Russia that wants to return them to its sphere of influence. Ukrainians see tens of thousands of Russian troops across their border and know they are looking … Continue reading →
In Moscow and Beijing, they still believe foreign policy is about military and economic power, “spheres of influence,” formal alliances, and political control. In Western Europe (and much of this administration), it’s about moral authority, international norms, and other kinds … Continue reading →
Or more broadly construed, oikophobia, the opposite of xenophobia, the distaste and hatred of the familiar, the home, the hearth, one’s own land. It’s a topic I’ve touched on before (here, for example; or dig around in this tag). But … Continue reading →
Putin and others are hacking at the Pax Americana which sustains our historically peaceful, prosperous world. They need to be deterred, and we and our allies need to be serious about rebuilding the institutions, especially militaries, which have sustained it. As the Gormogons’ usual … Continue reading →
Gentle Readers, Dr. J. falls into the camp of those against President Obama using force in Syria. Dr. J. has an open-mind, and would not mind if the president persuaded him otherwise. The president however has yet to do so, … Continue reading →
The pageant of incompetence continues at the Obama White House. Remember when we said this? Let us see if we have this mapped out. The United States backed protesters in Egypt, demanded Ḥusnī Mubārak resign immediately, got chummy with the … Continue reading →
The great and powerful Eric Reasons send us a fantastic link by tying it to a dead ptarmigan and tossing it our way through the Castle window (which was closed): Thought I’d toss this your way after your excellent rant … Continue reading →
If you drove by Castle Gormogon today, you didn’t see a Stars & Stripes flag hanging from the Volgi’s balcony. You saw a Gadsden flag (at right). In case you did (though the Volgi realizes it may have been difficult … Continue reading →
Well, bully for the United Nations. Upon learning that the Qaḏḏāfī (the Czar is beyond trying to transliterate his name) government was mowing down its civilians, they sat right down and wrote an angry letter to the editor. They will … Continue reading →
GUY SORMANCommunism’s NurembergThe crimes of the Khmer Rouge are inextricable from Marxist/Leninist ideology. What the Khmer Rouge brought to Cambodia was in fact real Communism. There was no radical distinction, either conceptually or concretely, between the rule of the Khmer … Continue reading →
David Frum on the Left’s view of Israel. You will perhaps recall this as pretty much the definition of the Fallacy of Foreign-Policy Egocentrism and your Volgi’s railing against it. For those who came in late, the Fallacy of Foreign-Policy … Continue reading →
Gormogon followers who take careful notes—and those are the kind who don’t get tossed into Ghettoputer’s Saturday night “Party Pit”—may remember your Volgi’s offhand remark (while discussing the effect of serial, mostly unintentional distortions of media on the world’s familiar-but-wrong … Continue reading →
In other words, fighting back provokes the enemy but so does not fighting back. Who doesn’t know that? The answer is: a pacifist. And that, the pacifist implication of the Durbin argument, is the real absurdity. Like so many of … Continue reading →
He’s writing another letter, it seems, this time to Kim Jong-Il, the dictator of North Korea who’s likely an alcoholic, malignant narcissist. The Gormogons have obtained a draft copy. Don’t ask how, but I can say it has something to … Continue reading →
…the Gormogons pester their Œcumenical Volgi thusly: The Czar: Write more about foreign policy, узкоглазный, or I will have you shipped to Semipalatinsk with the rest of the shirkers! GorT: Yesterday you will write less about foreign policy; tomorrow you … Continue reading →
The Czar is correct in pointing to Bob Wright’s fatuity. Wright errs profoundly in pointing to U.S. foreign policy as the malign demiurge that made Nidal Hasan a murderer. His argument is a textbook example of the fallacy of foreign-policy … Continue reading →
Tom Jocelyn at the Standard writes a good post today on the fact that “Obama’s Popularity Abroad Does Not Equal Gains for America.” In short: his personal popularity has not changed any of the complexes of problems with which President … Continue reading →
We’re selling out the Poles and Czechs to suck up to Bad Vlad. We are now on the clock for the next contemptuous gesture by Russia. And a Georgetown professor talks down to Burmese democrats. Thanks to Mike Goldfarb for … Continue reading →
Everything Hillary knows about North Korea, she learned from Chelsea (pictured, right). The Czar has made numerous accusations, as recently as yesterday, that Democratic foreign policy against tyrants and dictators consists of treating the evil ones as naughtly little children … Continue reading →
From The Guardian’s coverage of POTUS Obama’s trip to Russia, comes this: Without mentioning Russia by name, Obama spelled out the US’s commitment to “universal values.” These included the rule of law, the equal administration of justice, and competitive elections—all … Continue reading →
Toilet-bowl-dictatorship edition! So, we reach out…and are slapped down—by Zimfreakingbabwe. Mr Mugabe told The Herald newspaper in Zimbabwe that nothing came out of his talks with Mr Carson – his first meeting with a US government official for many years. … Continue reading →
Ladies & Gentlemen, your Department of State: WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Monday its invitations were still standing for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at US embassies despite the crackdown on opposition supporters.President Barack Obama’s administration … Continue reading →
We got your “not meddling” right here, buddy. (Savor that Reuters headline, too.) Man, if only there had been some precedent that would have allowed them to foresee this eventuality.* Let your Œc. Vol. be the first to state, incidentally, … Continue reading →
How long does it usually take a Gormogon to find evidence that the Obama administration is run by (and like) a high school student organization? The Czar speaks for himself, here, but usually it is a matter of scanning the … Continue reading →
Your Œc. Vol. knows a little about “the Muslim world” which President Obama addressed yesterday. So you might expect him to have a lengthy opinion on the speech. Well, there was a fair amount of stuff in there that’s kind … Continue reading →
The Czar is well aware that POTUS Obama reads this blog, and very few others. So this is a private message to him. If you are not him, please scroll down and check out the uber-cool ragtime player video the … Continue reading →
Is, seriously, the rationale for our publicizing to the IAEA where all our nuclear facilities are and what they’ve got in them. Mike Goldfarb has the scoop.` Gee, what could possibly go wrong? Oh, and “removed from the Web?” Maybe … Continue reading →
The Czar is glad someone addressed North Korea today! All the Czar can add is this. Successful underground test of a functional, remotely detonated nuclear weapon? Check! Successful test of an extended range rocket capable of carrying a functional, remotely … Continue reading →
So POTUS Obama arrived in Ankara, and strongly supports Turkey’s admission into the EU, and all the good things that could mean to the world. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a bit annoyed with Obama’s decision to admit Turkey into … Continue reading →
According to Mike Goldfarb, the Missile Defense Agency is on the chopping block. Just in time for the Taepodong launch. Your Volgi doesn’t get this at all. If we need this crazy, giant “stimulus” spend-a-palooza, why can’t we spend on … Continue reading →
In continuation of the post below with regards to Obama’s failed foreign policies, here is a link to a great article summarizing them to date from the New York Post (h/t GorT, Sr.) Mr. Peters is really channeling the threads … Continue reading →
Read the whole thing. Money quote: Sooner or later, however, Barack Obama will also have to make hard decisions about regimes that oppose U.S. policy for reasons deeper than dislike of George W. Bush. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions … Continue reading →
So, President Obama went on YouTube and delivered a message to the leadership of Iran of how he wanted to get together and rap about all the false consciousness that’s harshing our bilateral mellow. Which, of course, led to Iran’s … Continue reading →
POTUS Obama took time off from his busy schedule of appearing on television to appear on television. This Sunday, on 60 Minutes (the Lawrence Welk Show of mainstream news), the President refutes Dick Cheney’s assertation that the current administration has … Continue reading →
It’s just about that painful to watch. No, not our Celebrity-in-Chief’s talk-show yukfest on Leno, but this dreadful piece of PR/public diplomacy performed by the president. Friend of the Gormogons Steve Hayes has the story here. Among other things, Obama … Continue reading →
Your Volgi is having trouble rousing himself to write about the Obama Administration‘s apparent, asinine gambit of writing to the Russian government and offering to remove the missile-defense systems we’ve worked so hard to get installed in Poland and the … Continue reading →
Read Matthew Kaminski on Russia. And re-read five times this succinct summary of the Fallacy of Foreign-Policy Egocentrism: The conceit is we can win the Kremlin over by modifying our behavior. Great conclusion: Ultimately it’s up to the Russians to … Continue reading →
Now Obama has made an unauspicious beginning. Or so argues Fouad Ajami. “To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect,” President Barack Obama said in his inaugural. But in truth, the … Continue reading →
Beautiful examples right here. *For those who came in late: Click here. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. 3.14.242.153
Continue reading →It has chosen us as an enemy because we impede its potential dominance of East Asia, compete for resources, and are the world’s leading economy. And our government and academics have been extremely hesitant to recognize this. Mostly because there’s … Continue reading →
Gordon Chang reports the Russian foreign-policy establishment is saying with one voice, “Look, we’re not playing ball. Punish us for Georgia, and we’ll upset your precious little multilateral applecart.” This is about as blunt as diplomats get. So, what now, … Continue reading →
Nice gesture by Medvedev; let’s hope he does more. Too bad Stalin’s the “strong Russia” model Putin is going for. The Russia Lobby continues to press Washington. Matlock’s arguments about the effects of admitting Georgia and Ukraine aren’t trivial, but … Continue reading →
…but not by much, and possibly less for actually getting things done. Or such is the upshot of Joshua Muravchik’s piece in the new Commentary. A brisk jog through the history of twentieth-century summitry and other high-level diplomatic stunts, he … Continue reading →
…by Ralph Peters here. I don’t know much about Putin the man, but Peters seems pretty on-target. Jumping off from that piece, Abe Greenwald here discusses just how alien the cultural and psychological premises of our principal adversaries are, and … Continue reading →
Here. As I think I’ve argued somewhere (oh yeah, here, though sketchily), the West has a fair number of cards to play against a revanchist, expansion-minded Russia. NATO membership is one. If it’s as transparently a bluff as Fukuyama says, … Continue reading →
Interesting points from Fred Kagan via John McCormack at the Weekly Standard. Sounds like a fairly clear victory for Russia at this point. Victor Davis Hanson on the West’s instinct to turn on itself first. A Cato Institute writer blaming … Continue reading →
