Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks’ daily take on national security.
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Long_Room_Interior,_Trinity_College_Dublin,_Ireland_-_Diliff Organizing your bookshelves: A memoir
War on the Rocks asked Adm. James Stavridis about how he organizes his books.
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Mar-a-Lago_estate_gate_in_Palm_Beach,_Forida_(14606506904) The diaries of Trump’s Russian handler (III): To the Mar-a-Lago station
Had some enforced downtime after eating at Mar-a-Lago, so while recuperating decided to review the bidding.
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War_Dog_Training_in_Britain,_C_1940_D448 A Canadian war dog
We have bayonets and we have a big dog, say these Canadian soldiers.
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jihad Book excerpt: Looking at how Putin intervened successfully in Syria
The risk of an escalation increased in late September of 2015 when the unpredictable Russian leader Vladimir Putin suddenly involved his nation in the Syrian conflict,
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F_Troop_opening You aren’t wrong: Our military officers actually seem to be getting stoopider
That the military needs intelligent officers is not a particularly controversial statement.
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Yorktown_1931_Issue-2c Who won the American Revolution?
I think the strategic answer is, “France.”
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2016-11_Statue_of_Liberty_02 Quote of the day: Optimists vs. pessimists
A friend passes along this aphorism, which was new to me: “In the 30s, the pessimists went to New York and the optimists went to Auschwitz.”
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Screen Shot 2017-04-25 at 9.45.36 AM How to do that ‘mission command’ thing: Some easy steps you all can follow, dammit
Everyone talks about mission command, but then they find out how hard it is to do.
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Jim_Nabors_Frank_Sutton_Gomer_Pyle_1968 But where is Gomer Pyle’s statue?
Clarksville, Tenn., which as you know is hometown to the 101st Airborne, is unveiling a statue of Gunnery Sgt. Vince Carter, whom you may recall as Gomer Pyle’s tormentor in the old TV show.
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Jump A Navy pilot’s take: The Air Force doesn’t have a pilot crisis, it has a leadership crisis
The United States Air Force is facing a crisis, seemingly a recent one, which will define the service for decades to come.
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Rembrandt-Belsazar The challenge to elites: Giving the majority of Americans a better deal in life
A large part of the masses in the Western world are saying that liberal globalism isn’t working for them.
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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 30: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Donald Trump (R) answers reporters' questions during a photo opportunity with Prime Minister Of Denmark Lars Lokke Rasmussen in the Oval Office at the White House March 30, 2017 in Washington, DC. The White House said Trump looks forward to talking with Rasmussen about 'deepening already robust economic ties, defeating ISIS, and strengthening our defense and security relationship, both bilaterally and through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.' (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Quote of the day: Trump on WikiLeaks
“TRUMP: When WikiLeaks came out … never heard of WikiLeaks, never heard of it.”
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The_General_(C._S._Forester_novel)_book_cover Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly discusses C.S. Forester’s ‘The General’
In this excerpt from The Leader’s Bookshelf, retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, now the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, discusses how one book in particular influenced him.
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41ahCRdsiaL Tom’s book tour to discuss ‘Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom’
My next book comes out in four weeks, and the publisher has been telling me about some initial bookstore appearances, so I thought I’d share them here:
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Detection training takes K-9 skills to new heights The dog nose
Don’t think you can stash your cocaine under a clipboard.
