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| 1 |
ID:
132120
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
SENATOR JOHN McCain can easily recall the stumble that he believes prompted allies and adversaries alike to question the firmness of American resolve. President Barack Obama planned to launch an offensive military strike against the Syrian regime for crossing his publicly declared "red line" against the use of chemical weapons. Lacking a UN Security Council resolution or even the support of close allies such as Great Britain, however, Obama wanted the backing of Congress. So the president invited his one-time political rival and frequent critic McCain to the Oval Office, along with Senator Lindsey Graham. Together they stand in for a once-reliable constituency of defense and foreign-policy hawks on Capitol Hill, and their active support would be critical in rallying a balky Congress to back military action.
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| 2 |
ID:
132122
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2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
IT'S EASY to forget the virtues of submarines, which lurk beneath not only the waters but also the consciousness of most Americans. They aren't as iconic as fighter jets or as visceral as tanks. But they can deny a stronger enemy navy control of important waters. Afterward they can exercise command of the sea, blockading or projecting power onto enemy shores with impunity. These elusive warships, in other words, pack an outsized punch.
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| 3 |
ID:
132119
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| Publication |
2014.
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CONVENTIONAL WISDOM has it that the China juggernaut is unstoppable and that the world must adjust to the reality of the Asian giant as a-perhaps the-major global power. A mini-industry of "China rise" prognosticators has emerged over the past decade, all painting a picture of a twenty-first-century world in which China is a dominant actor. This belief is understandable and widespread-but wrong.
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| 4 |
ID:
132115
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
LATER THIS year, the United Kingdom could disunite. In September, Scotland is due to vote on whether to become an independent nation. There is a strong chance that the Scots will vote to go it alone, breaking a political union with England that was established over three hundred years ago, through the Act of Union of 1707. The Scots number only 5.3 million of the United Kingdom's population of 63.7 million. But Scotland accounts for a large amount of Britain's territory and coastline-and contains several of the nation's finest universities, castles and golf courses. Moreover, Scotland is also where Britain's nuclear weapons are based, and the country's (dwindling) oil supplies are almost all located in Scotland's coastal waters.
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| 5 |
ID:
132121
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
IN 1983, Ronald Reagan awarded James Burnham the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian award. Reagan declared, "As a scholar, writer, historian and philosopher, James Burnham has profoundly affected the way America views itself and the world. . . . Freedom, reason and decency have had few greater champions in this century." With his characteristic smile and tilt of the head, Reagan added, "And I owe him a personal debt, because throughout the years traveling the mash-potato circuit I have quoted you widely." The award's recipient, then seventy-seven, was surely flattered. He was in declining health-his eyesight deteriorating, his short-term memory devastated by a stroke. His professional standing, too, was a far cry from the days when he had stirred up intellectual debate with books that assaulted conventional thinking.
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| 6 |
ID:
132112
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
PRESIDENT BARACK Obama likes to say that America and the world have progressed beyond the unpleasantness of the nineteenth century and, for that matter, much of the rest of human history. He could not be more wrong. And as a result, he is well on the way to repeating some of history's most dangerous mistakes.
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| 7 |
ID:
132117
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
ACROSS THE European Union, many established parties are floundering. Reelection to office is a rare outcome, but the Scottish National Party (SNP) is one of the few ruling parties to be thriving. Since taking charge of Scotland's autonomous government in 2007, it has enjoyed high poll ratings and has strong expectations of being reelected for a third term in 2016. Except for a four-year break, it has been led by the same individual for nearly a quarter century: a self-confident, popular and utterly disingenuous rogue named Alex Salmond.
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| 8 |
ID:
132113
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
IN 1708, Charles XII of Sweden invaded Ukraine. His aim was to use it as a base for a final advance on Peter the Great's Moscow. The Cossack hetman, Ivan Mazeppa, decided to throw his lot in with the Swedes in a bid to secure Ukraine's complete independence. His decision split the Cossacks; while some followed Mazeppa, others elected a new leader, Ivan Skoropadsky, who reaffirmed his loyalty to the Cossack alliance with Russia. The following year, Charles was defeated by Peter at the climactic Battle of Poltava, Russia emerged as a player in European affairs, Ukraine was brought under closer control by the imperial government and Mazeppa fled into exile.
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