War Nerd
Has been added to the blogroll.
A wise friend described him as a “talented jagoff”. Good enough for me.
About Me
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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September 2nd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I skimmed his book at Barnes and Noble the other day. It looked interesting and the last chapter kind of parallels the stuff we discuss in this corner of the blogosphere. Might have to pick it up for real some time.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:49 am
Hi Arherring,
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I just finished it. Will post a review tonight or tomorrow if I can wade thru the grad work on my plate.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 pm
The guy does come off as a smug asshole. That being said, he can be quite insightful and is interesting.
I discussed his book (which I recommend) here:
http://purpleslog.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/book-notes-war-nerd-by-gary-brecher/
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Brecher is a unique writer. He is very well-read, and very astute in his assessments. He has a good nose for bullshit. He is brutally, and comically, self-revealing as the fat kid who loved soldiers and airplanes and all that war stuff from infancy and still does. Lots of people — OK, me too — are like that but put an intellectual veil over it in adulthood. He doesn’t bother with the veil. That ties into the key element in Gary’s worldview, which is that war happens because it is deep-rooted. Men like war, especially the kind where they can rape and pillage and get away with it. As a result he has a very cynical, and sadly accurate, view of any utopian notions where war goes away. I have been reading him since the beginning of his column, and I always learn things from him.