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Browse: Home » Defense
The government’s authoritarian war on journalism: How a flaccid press enabled this Orwellian disgrace

The government’s authoritarian war on journalism: How a flaccid press enabled this Orwellian disgrace

August 25, 2015 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

Officials launch an all-out assault on free press — with nary an objection from the Fourth Estate’s guardians. Many readers will know, or know of, the Committee to Protect Journalists. It has been around since the early 1980s and does…

China’s Strategy Has Completely Eluded Washington

China’s Strategy Has Completely Eluded Washington

June 2, 2014 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

The Chinese dragon, awake and alert for some time, is suddenly stretching its arms and embracing what it thinks with conviction is its destiny as a Pacific power. Will the American protectorate in place for 70 years hold, they ask…

Obama Gives Syrian Rebels Sling Shots to Slay the Dragon

Obama Gives Syrian Rebels Sling Shots to Slay the Dragon

June 17, 2013 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

Even as the White House asserts that Syrian President Bashar al–Assad has used chemical weapons against rebel insurgents, there are skeptics. The Russians, who support Assad, instantly questioned Washington’s evidence. So, now, do more objective experts who wonder why there…

U.S. China Policy: Incoherent and Dangerous

U.S. China Policy: Incoherent and Dangerous

September 24, 2012 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

The cement is hardly dry on America’s new policy to forge new Asia-Pacific alliances, and already the post–Iraq endeavor is coming across as a collection of incoherent contradictions. Consider: *We say we want to build closer ties with China, but…

Reengineering Defense: Good, but Not Good Enough

Reengineering Defense: Good, but Not Good Enough

January 9, 2012 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

At last, Americans can now say, we have broken the habit of preparing for the last war. The strategic defense initiative President Obama unveiled late last week is every bit the departure from previous practice that Obama and Defense Secretary…

The Unwinnable Afghan War: Get Out Now to Save America

The Unwinnable Afghan War: Get Out Now to Save America

August 18, 2011 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

It’s supposed to be the dog days of August, but we find ourselves watching global markets on a frightening teeter-totter and waiting for Washington to cobble together a debt deal that may or may not hang together. More tragically, the…

The ‘Arab Spring’ Can Help Cut Defense Spending

The ‘Arab Spring’ Can Help Cut Defense Spending

June 16, 2011 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

If we want to bring our unconscionably wasteful defense spending under control, the place to start is with a fundamentally re-imagined foreign policy that does not require a trillion-dollar military. President Obama’s recent pledge of $2 billion in response to…

India’s Multibillion-Dollar Message to America

India’s Multibillion-Dollar Message to America

June 1, 2011 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

India’s recent rejection of bids from two American jet manufacturers for the biggest defense contract in Indian history made minor news in the U.S. The rest of the world paid closer attention because that decision shot down a dozen years…

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About Patrick Lawrence

Writer, commentator, longtime newspaper and magazine correspondent abroad. Writes often on Europe and Asia. Published five books.

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