Brad DeLong — Nikita Sergeyevitch Khrushchev to John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Brad DeLong pulls up couple of letters from the files that are relevant now.

Grasping Reality
Nikita Sergeyevitch Khrushchev to John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Brad DeLong | Professor of Economics, UCAL Berkeley

Tony Norfield — Indian Boots on the Ground

British policy was to depend upon alliances with others, rather than to maintain a large standing army itself. So it was important to be able to draw upon a force of colonial troops when needed, including for the policing of the British Raj.

Important though they were for British power, Indian troops commonly faced racial discrimination, were looked down upon by white officers and were often used as cannon fodder, while also being given worse grade arms and equipment than regular British troops. Attractive as a cheap military resource for the Brits, these men could nevertheless see enlistment in the army as a reasonable option. There was regular pay and regular food, something not always available in the Indian economy dominated by British Empire interests….

Still going on in a modified form. Now they are mostly proxies and mercenaries rather than subjects.

Of course, the same goes for the "cannon fodder" recruited from domestic resources on the same basis, given the alternatives at the low end of the socio-economic scale.

Economics of Imperialism

Indian Boots on the Ground

Tony Norfield

John Helmer — The Battle Of Aleppo, The Battle Of Dresden, The Battle Of Masada And The Battle Of Bosworth Field

The sad story of how one of the casualties of war is truth.

Dances with Bears

The Battle Of Aleppo, The Battle Of Dresden, The Battle Of Masada And The Battle Of Bosworth Field — Who Lies, Lies Longest

John Helmer

Bruce Hoffman — ISIS has studied the past successes of terrorism all too well

History lesson. 

Terrorism is traditional political-military tactic of the weaker party to conflict. It's inexpensive, readily available, simple to implement, and history shows that it works. It also harms a lot less people and causes less damage than conventional military operations for political ends.

Aeon
ISIS has studied the past successes of terrorism all too well
Bruce Hoffman, director of Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies and a senior fellow at the US Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center