31 December 2016 One of my favorite literary expressions is the term ‘Parthian shaft.’ It refers to the favored tactic of the Parthians, a Persian people, of turning while on horseback and firing arrows while retreating. The Roman consul Crassus, who defeated Spartacus, may have died from such a Parthian […]
January 31, 2015 The United States has just made an exceptionally dangerous, even reckless decision over Ukraine. Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who ended the Cold War, warns it may lead to a nuclear confrontation with Russia. Rule number one of geopolitics: nuclear-armed powers must never, ever fight. Yet Washington […]
December 20, 2014 President Barack Obama announced this week that the United States will reopen diplomatic relations with Cuba, thawing half a century of cold – and sometimes hot – war. The first time I visited Cuba was in the almost unbelievably remote years before “el Maximo Leader,” Fidel Castro. […]
