Friday’s Reading List

By Taylor Marvin

Sani ol-Molk, 1849 – 1856. Via Wikimedia.

What I read this week:

Daniel Altman reexamines the conventional wisdom on Hugo Chávez’s economic record.

What the US invasion felt like to Iraqis.

The Sauds oil war on Iran.

The jostling fight over which practitioners escape the post-Afghanistan blame game: Vali Nasr and Sarah Chayes, both in Foreign Policy.

Relatedly, C. Christine Fair’s furious attack on COIN’s advocates.

Is the US pivot to Asia sustainable?

Colin M. Snider on the new Pope’s troubling past.

How seriously should the international community take Kim Jong Un’s sabre rattling? Fred Kaplan argues the leader’s inexperience is worrying. Relatedly, Andrew Kydd warns that South Korea’s musing over decapitation strikes is useless.

Efterklang – Hollow Mountain.