The indirect approach: much vaunted but maybe not as much fun as it looks
The Ink Spots (the COIN blog not the great band) have a good comment on a new NDU study about the pitfalls of American security assistance to Georgia. I confess I skimmed the NDU piece and didn’t see much, but the Inksters make the good point that, although they think the article has some flaws, ...
The Ink Spots (the COIN blog not the great band) have a good comment on a new NDU study about the pitfalls of American security assistance to Georgia. I confess I skimmed the NDU piece and didn't see much, but the Inksters make the good point that, although they think the article has some flaws, you should check it out "if you want some perspective on the way that a foreign and security policy based on support for client states rather than direct intervention can come back and bite you."
The Ink Spots (the COIN blog not the great band) have a good comment on a new NDU study about the pitfalls of American security assistance to Georgia. I confess I skimmed the NDU piece and didn’t see much, but the Inksters make the good point that, although they think the article has some flaws, you should check it out “if you want some perspective on the way that a foreign and security policy based on support for client states rather than direct intervention can come back and bite you.”
That’s a good warning, with all the experts now concluding that direct intervention is just too damn expensive and time consuming and maybe not a good idea.
What else should I read about the issues of indirect approach? It seems to be the wave of the future so I might as well brace myself.
And speaking of the Ink Spots and 1943, farewell to Lena Horne.
Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1
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