Friday’s Reading List
By Taylor Marvin
Fieravino Francesco Il Maltese, ‘Allegory of Music’, 1670s. Via People of Color in European Art History.
Apologies for the light week, again. Now, what I read this week:
Juan Gabriel Tokatlian has an interesting post drawing lessons from Brazil and Argentina’s now forgotten nuclear arms race, and the transition “from nuclear competition to nuclear partnership.” Unfortunately, I’m not sure how many of these lessons apply to current nuclear questions, as both countries transition to democratic governance and the improving Southern Cone security situation are decidedly not applicable to today’s Middle East.
Rolling Stone has a long investigative piece on possible war crimes by US special operations forces in Afghanistan.
How much does the occupation cost the Israeli economy?
“Spreading the theater” in the western Pacific, and a reminder that East Asia is not Cold War Europe:
“East Asia’s problem is that there is no structure like NATO or the European Union providing coherence and guidance. Given the region’s sheer size and diversity – it has eight times as many people as Europe and at least four major language families compared to Europe’s one (Indo-European) – it’s unlikely there ever will be.”
In other naval news, a former naval aviator blasts the F-35C and boost the F/A-18E/F and future UCAVs.
How sustainable are Russia’s renewed defense spending ambitions?
Danny Hirschel-Burns on whether humans are violent by nature; Rachel Strohm has more, drawing lessons from work on the Rwandan genocide.
Do different languages confer different personalities? A new look at an old theory.
More linkage at Political Violence @ a Glance, including a visually-stunning Dutch colonial-era political cartoon in support of colonialism.
Smoke & Stir 