War

Ultima Ratio Regum Latin for “[War,] the last argument of kings,” this quote summed up the classical approach to warfare, that it was the method of achieving a specific strategic goal of the realm when other methods had failed. In modern times though, it seems that war is often the result of a chain of political miscalculations by heads of state. Such is the situation with Iran and the United States, where armed conflict seems more and more likely the eventual outcome of our current diplomatic standoff.

Like baseball great Yogi Berra, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had his own struggles with the English language, one of his best malapropisms was the coining of the term “unknown unknowns.” Rumsfeld was trying to make a valid point about the uncertain security situation at the time in Iraq – that there were unexpected contingencies that simply could not be prepared for; unfortunately for him (but perhaps fortunately for us), that thought came out as “unknown unknowns.”

What is a literary festival without a panel on war writing? The final event I attended at 2011’s Brooklyn Book Festival was simply titled “Writing War,” and it featured authors Juris Jurjevics, Ron Leshem, and Maaza Mengiste (the latter of whom also completed my 2010 BKBF experience). I find myself attracted to these war-themed panels, like adrenaline junkies are hooked on war reporting.

After his panel on the Arab Spring, I asked Libyan writer Hisham Matar about the Libyan revolution, Libya's complex relationship with NATO countries, and the role of the writer in times of conflict.

If you have been following international news recently, you are no doubt aware that the world has been an eventful place to say the least. These past few weeks alone saw the emergence of the world’s 193^rd country, Human Rights Watch’s call for the prosecution of George W.

Since 1947, Kashmir has been subjected to three full scale wars between India and Pakistan. The last one occurred as the two nations were poised to become nuclear powers. Until the late 80s, the nature of tension in the valley between these full scale battles can be viewed as latent violence. This period was dogged by rigged elections, corruption, dissent, and awry political coalitions, which led to shaky governments. It was in 1989 that the armed militancy broke out. Since then a burgeoning Indian military presence has been engaged in counterinsurgency policies.

There’s been quite a bit of chatter lately concerning cyberspace and security: China and Google are at it again after some White House staffer’s Gmail accounts were hacked; the U.S. Pentagon officially declared that a cyberattack on U.S. infrastructure would be grounds for real war; and last month, Michael Posner, the U.S.

by Henry "Chip" Carey. Originally published by our partner site, World Policy Blog.

by Henry "Chip" Carey. Originally published by our partner site, World Policy Blog.