Category Archives: Strategy and International Politics

French Military Intervention in Mali

Posted on January 12, 2013 by briansandberg

French President François Hollande has launched a military intervention into war-torn Mali, where a civil war has been raging for months. The French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault explained the rationale for the French intervention, claiming that military action is justified … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, Empires and Imperialism, European Union, French History, History of Violence, Mediterranean World, Political Culture, State Development Theory, Strategy and International Politics, Terrorism, Uncategorized, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Political Assassinations in Paris

Posted on January 10, 2013 by briansandberg

Three Kurdish women were murdered in Paris yesterday in the offices of the Kurdish Institute. The women were all political activists affiliated with the PKK, a Kurdish nationalist group active in Turkey and Iraq. Sakine Cansiz, one of the co-founders … Continue reading →

Posted in European Union, French History, Gender and Warfare, History of Violence, Human Rights, Paris History, Strategy and International Politics, Terrorism, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

Interview with Hervé Drévillon

Posted on December 5, 2012 by briansandberg

Historian Hervé Drévillon has launched a new Institut des Études sur la Guerre et la Paix (Institute for the Study of War and Peace) at Université de Paris I. Research centers and institutes at major universities are engines for original research … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Research, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, French History, History of Violence, Paris History, Strategy and International Politics, Uncategorized, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | 1 Comment

Napoleon’s Letter on Destroying the Kremlin in 1812

Posted on December 3, 2012 by briansandberg

During Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, the French emperor came to the realization that he would have to abandon Moscow and order the retreat of his Grand Armée. In a coded letter to his foreign minister, he announced that … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Early Modern Europe, Empires and Imperialism, European History, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Tom Ricks on Firing Generals

Posted on November 4, 2012 by briansandberg

Tom Ricks has a new book out on American military leadership, entitled, The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today. NPR has done an interview with Ricks on his book, and particularly on the issue of when … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Culture, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Mitt Romney and the Neocons

Posted on November 4, 2012 by briansandberg

Mitt Romney, despite his sometimes “soft” rhetoric on foreign policy issues, has embraced Neoconservative (Neocon) policymakers and advisers, including many of the same advisers who were responsible for the planning and implementation of the invasion and occupation of Iraq in … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Culture, Strategy and International Politics | Leave a comment

US Elections Viewed from France

Posted on October 27, 2012 by briansandberg

The 2012 United States Presidential Election is being closely followed in France, where I am currently doing archival research. Daily radio and television news broadcasts are filled with the latest U.S. political news, tracking opinion polls and each major twist … Continue reading →

Posted in French History, Globalization, Political Culture, Strategy and International Politics | Leave a comment

Violence and Non-Violence in the Palestinian Conflict

Posted on May 9, 2012 by briansandberg

Violence and non-violence have both been employed in the Palestianian conflict throughout all of the phases of the Palestinian struggle for national formation. WBEZ’s Worldview interviews Wendy Pearlman, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and author of Violence, … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, History of Violence, Political Culture, Religious Violence, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Bernard Lewis Claims to Have Opposed Iraq War

Posted on April 23, 2012 by briansandberg

Bernard Lewis, Professor Emeritus of History at Princeton University, is one of the most controversial figures in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean history. Lewis is known for his many books on Middle Eastern history, but also for his influential formulation of … Continue reading →

Posted in History in the Media, Mediterranean World, Political Culture, Strategy and International Politics, Terrorism, War, Culture, and Society | 1 Comment

Body Counts and Human Rights

Posted on April 1, 2012 by briansandberg

Body counts seem morbid, conjuring up grim memories of the horrifying language of the Vietnam War.  Yet, body counts have become key aspects of human rights law and efforts to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes. A recent article by … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Violence, Human Rights, Religious Violence, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment