ROBOT WARFARE
Blogfriend Matt at MountainRunner is concerned about the military use of robots and the perception such use in warfare may possibly create. He also is taking a survey which I hope that you can give him a hand with by taking a few moments to fill out.
And…as a reward for your presumptive online altruism:
” The Terminator vs. Robocop “
MOUNTAINRUNNER ON KENNAN’S LESSONS
Matt at MountainRunner has a fine post on lessons that can be drawn from George Kennan’s “Long Telegram“.
“For those who frame the modern conflict in Cold War images, it might be useful to remember the real designs and purposes of early Cold War policies. For those who think public diplomacy is simply a beauty contest to hopefully “win hearts”, should go back to the aggressive “five-dollar, five syllable” foundation of public diplomacy as a psychological struggle for minds and wills against an enemy who understood perception management.”
Kennan’s two volume memoirs make for some interesting reading, as does his work Russia and the West Under Lenin and Stalin, though it helps to have some of the period’s diplomatic historiography under your belt to better read between the lines of Kennan’s prose. If we have any George Kennan equivalents today, they are probably employed by the Defense Department or have been, which says a great deal about the intellectual and political decline of the State Department since Kennan’s time.
KENNAN ADDENDUM:
“America and the Russian Future (1951)” by George F. Kennan
“More reflections on George Kennan” by Dave Schuler
“LET HISTORY JUDGE THE FATHER OF CONTAINMENT ” – Zenpundit
“George Kennan Speaks to the War on Terror” and “Tipping Points” by CKR
Zenpundit is a blog dedicated to exploring the intersections of foreign policy, history, military theory, national security,strategic thinking, futurism, cognition and a number of other esoteric pursuits.
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