Terrorism

The "Control" Mentality

This article about getting Russia's help as an "answer" for a nuclear Iran by Sen. Schumer (D-NY) illustrates a number of the classical strategic mistakes commonly made by politicians. Of course, his most consistent mistake is viewing the world to fit his politics rather than fitting his politics to the world.

Claiming Victory in Iraq: Five Steps to Success

According to Sun Tzu, you cannot advance a position without completing the four-step cycle of listen, aim, move, claim. The most difficult step is often the final one, making a claim. To be successful, a claim has to be limited, make value clear, and get acceptance from others. The last part is the trickiest because it depends so heavily on what the others are looking for.

Motivation and Reaction: The September 11 World

Sun Tzu's strategy says that you can only predict people's reactions if you understand their primary goals. It also says that you can only know people's true goals by judging their actions rather than their words. People have, or can claim to very different goals from those that truly motivate them. For example, this article by Senator Joe Lieberman discusses the fairly recent reversal in the traditional view of the Democratic Party regarding their view of national defense.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Terrorism