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China’s “Century of Humiliation” began in 1839 with the First Opium War. The Qing Dynasty was in decline, and foreign powers began stealing territories and extorting trade concessions through wars and military expeditions. It was a long century that only really ended in 1949 with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. (more…)
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On April Fools’ Day, Donald Trump addressed the nation about the Iran War. It would have been too painful to listen to his adenoidal droning and borscht-belt insult comedian shtick, so I just read the transcript. He said nothing new. It was just a live version of his social media tweets: rambling, mendacious, self-contradictory, delusional, emotionally labile, and laced with insults and threats. I wish he were joking, but he probably wasn’t.
When it was all over, however, I was certain of one thing: Trump has learned nothing so far. So he’s going to send in ground troops. (more…)
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America lost the Iran War on the first day.
Pyrrhus of Epirus was one of the greatest generals of the ancient world. In 279 BCE, Pyrrhus defeated the Romans in the Battle of Asculum in Southern Italy. But the battle was so costly to Pyrrhus that he remarked that one more such “victory” would ruin him. This is the origin of the term “Pyrrhic victory,” meaning a victory that is really a defeat.
The lesson here is that the real victor is not the one who prevails on the battlefield but rather whoever gains power from the fight. By that standard, some battles have no victors. By that standard, the United States lost the Iran War on the first day. (more…)