HOME > WAR IN THE MODERN WORLD

WAR IN THE MODERN WORLD

Welcome to the website!

Most of the papers here are from my studies at King's College London in an online "programme" for mid-career British Army officers called War in the Modern World. About half were indeed British Army, including a captain who deployed to Afghanistan midway through the four years. (Alas, upon his return he dropped out of the course, left the army, and began to study law instead.) The rest of us were from other militaries or civilian life, from a Danish pilot to an assistant to the prime minister of Singapore. I learned a great deal, and these web pages are to share it more broadly.

But first, my thoughts over the past few weeks:

April 12: Hungary is back in Europe

Victor Orban was trounced today by a guy name Magyar, which is kind of neat because "magyar" means -- Hungarian. Not only that, but his party, founded just a couple years ago, seems to have won two-thirds of the seats in parliament. Since Hungary is still a democracy, despite 16 years of Orban's rule and his sly changes to the government, Prime Minister Magyar should be able to do just about anything he wants. Let's hope that means distancing himself and his country from Moscow, warming up to Ukraine next door, and quit taking advantage of the EU's and NATO's effective veto, which Orban has been using on Putin's behalf.

April 11: A one-sided cease-fire

What's a cease-fire when only one side ceases fire, and how does it differ from a surrender?

April 9: A cease-fire is not a victory

Messrs Trump and Hegseth will no doubt spin it as a dazzling victory, but I'm sure the New York Times and CNN will not, and the mullahs in Tehran have their own spin upon the events of Tuesday. Note that "enrichment" means purifying uranium to the state where it can be made into nuclear bombs. I've boldfaced that and a few other notable claims:

"Iran has achieved a great victory and forced the criminal United States to accept its ten-point plan.

"In this plan, the United States has, in principle, committed to non-aggression; the continuation of Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz; acceptance of enrichment; the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions; the termination of all United Nations Security Council and Board of Governors resolutions; compensation to Iran; the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region; and the cessation of war on all fronts, including against the heroic Islamic resistance in Lebanon. We congratulate all the people of Iran on this victory and emphasize that until the details of this victory are finalized, continued resilience and prudence by officials, and the preservation of unity and solidarity among the Iranian people, remain necessary."

April 7: A brilliant, brave, and heartening rescue

The New York Times has a mostly wonderful account this morning about the "Wizzo" colonel snatched from his hiding place in a rocky crevice atop a 7000-foot ridge in Iran. Like the kidnapping of Venezuela's dictator three months ago, it was a masterpiece of high-tech special ops. More than that, it was a tribute to the American military pledge to "leave no man behind." (Once a boast of the US Marines, it has since spread service-wide.) Bravo to the unnamed weapons system officer, to the US Air Force, to our special operations teams, to the CIA, and yes, to Donald Trump and his so-called War Department.

But the NYT, being what it is these days, then concluded its spellbinding story with four paragraphs ranting against Trump and the war. Come on, Timespersons! Couldn't you have celebrated an American feat of arms, just this once?

April 5: Cheap at the price

Our pundits keep whining about how much money we're spending to punish Iran, with the latest being the loss of two special-ops aircraft that cost about $115 million each. They were destroyed on the ground during the mission to rescue an American airman shot down 36 hours earlier. Cheap at the price!

The C-130J Commando is an extraordinary update of the four-engine Lockheed Hercules transport. It can be refueled in flight, and in turn can refuel helicopters and other aircraft on the rescue mission. It's armed with Hellfire missiles and a rapid-firing 30mm cannon, can deploy parachute troops at high and low altitude, and is able to land and take off from a short runway. That we would expend two of them to rescue one man speaks well of us.

April 2: Back to the moon

With a properly diverse crew aboard, and a perhaps symbolic Roman numeral after her name, the moonship Artemis launched yesterday on a grand figure-eight that, if nothing goes wrong, will take her crew farther into space than humans have ever gone before, looping around the far side of the moon. The last time we set out in that direction, in the 1960s, we were in a race with Soviet Russia; today the great competitor is China. Artemis is an all-of-enterprise spacecraft, with contributions by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northop Grumman, and Airbus. Godspeed to her and her crew!

March 31: An American dies in Lebanon

Moshe Katz was born and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. He emigrated to Israel, enlisted in the IDF's Parachute Brigade, and was sent to Lebanon to help stop Hezbollah rockets from raining upon his adopted country. On Sunday the IDF announced that Moshe had been killed in action, one of 930 Israeli soldiers KIA in the war following the Hamas atrocities of October 2023. He was 22 years old. RIP, young Sergeant Katz!

March 29: In praise of Ukraine's drones

The Kyiv Independent is still the first thing I read every morning, though America's war on Iran comes close these days. And indeed the two are beginning to merge. Yesterday Ukraine announced that it is signing 10-year partnerships with three Gulf countries -- Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates -- to provide drones, missiles, and the training to use them against attacks from Iran. Ukrainian soldiers are already on the ground in those countries, transferring the expertise they've gained in four years of holding off the Russian army.

Benjamin Patton, grandson of one of the greatest wartime generals in US history, has been filming a documentary about Ukraine's drones and drone pilots. "I learned more about modern warfare than I ever imagined," he writes in the online newspaper today. Ukraine has set out to build seven million drones this year, and according to the Wall Street Journal has pledged to supply 1,000 a day to its partners in the Persian Gulf to defend against Iran.

March 28: And here comes the Donniebuck

It seems that Mr Trump is about to become the first sitting president whose signature will appear on US currency. (I'm not clear whether this applies only to the dollar bill or goes all the way to the Benjamin.) At least it's not his face!

But what will the sincere never-Trumper do, convert entirely to paying by credit card? That could work, perhaps with a pocket-full of fifty-cent coins for times when it doesn't, such as when the Salvation Army Santa is waiting as we leave the liquor store.

March 21: Iran will make peace -- at a price

Trump talks about "winding down" the war on Iran, but it turns out that Iran gets a vote about that. It wants the US and Israel to pay reparations for the damage they've caused, plus it gets a permanent veto over whose boats can traverse the Strait of Hormuz, with the successful traveler paying a toll for the use of the international waterway.

It's a "risky gamble," says the Wall Street Journal this morning, but apparently the mullahs have absorbed the TACO rule: Trump Always Chickens Out.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian delegation is coming to Washington with an offer to coach Allied militaries in the anti-drone technology the country has honed over the past four years. Last year, Trump and Vance humiliated President Zelensky in the White House, sneering that he "didn't have the cards." Well, it now seems that Ukraine has a few cards of its own, including the 195-mph, $2,500 Sting that has downed 3,900 Russian drones since last May. Sounds like an ace to me!

March 19: Not their war, but what about their oil?

"This is not our war," the German defense minister snipped the other day, explaining why his country wouldn't send a frigate to help open the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, European gasoline prices edged toward 2 euros a liter or $8 a US gallon, enough to shock even a Californian. So, yes, Iran's near-closure of the Strait is hitting Germans where it hurts, and an Iranian missile hitting the world's largest liquified natural gas plant in Qatar caused European LNG prices to jump more than 20 percent.

So what's the hurry to open the Strait? I gassed the Subaru the other day for $3.33 a gallon. "Not our oil," Trump could say to Herr Pistorious.

Then there's Ukraine! While Russian drones and missiles ravage the country -- 2 killed, 20 wounded yesterday -- Ukrainian drone specialists are already in the Near East, helping Qatar and other Arab nations to cope with the Iranian attacks.

The essays (in more or less chronological order)