Warfare in recent decades has turned historic assumptions upside down. Countries used to be the enemy; now regimes are the enemy, while their subject peoples are our friend - which leads to the astonishing sight of Western powers both bombing and feeding the other side. Battlefield superiority used to be the goal, now the Western party is assumed to enjoy this before even a shot is fired. Victory used to be the goal, now it's peace. Promoting one's own interests was the only objective, now helping the defeated is no less important. Victors used to plunder the vanquished; now victors fund the defeated. Rooting for one's own side was once assumed, while helping the enemy was treasonous; now, allegiance has become an open question.
The Israeli fiasco on the high seas today, killing nine, prompts me to assemble my writings on how warfare has changed, something most Western high commands have yet to fathom and draw implications from.
- "Mysterious America." IntellectualCapital.com, April 1, 1999. "While objective indices point to unparalleled American power, subjective realities paint a much murkier picture of confusion, insularity and reluctance."
- "Lift the 'siege' [on the Palestinian Authority]?" The Jerusalem Post, March 14, 2001. Points out the historical anomaly of wanting one's enemy to prosper.
- "Attack U.S. and Win Aid. (with Jonathan Schanzer). New York Post, January 28, 2002. Considers and criticizes The Mouse that Roared symptom.
- "War's New Face." New York Post, April 16, 2003. Summarizes my views of the changes in warfare by analysing six distinctive features.
- "War as Social Work?" New York Post, May 6, 2003. Exposes the absurdity of fighting for the welfare of one's enemy.
- "[Lee Harris on Why the U.S. is] Discarding War's Rules." New York Post, July 22, 2003. The West can win only if it acts with less restraint.
- "Strange Logic in the Lebanon War." The New York Sun, August 15, 2006. Weakness is now strength, and vice-versa in a topsy-turvy world where combatants compete to show themselves in greater stress.
- "The End of Treason." The New York Sun, August 16, 2005. Documents and explains why the concept of treason is nearly defunct.
- "Op Eds Now More Central in War than Bullets." The New York Sun, October 17, 2006. Hardware used to be the key to winning wars, now software is. "Solidarity, morale, loyalty, and understanding are the new steel, rubber, oil, and ammunition." Public opinion is the new center of gravity.
- "Can Counterinsurgency [Wars] Win?" The Washington Times, September 14, 2008, argues that insurgencies can indeed be defeated.
- "Public Opinion, Now More Important in War than the Literal Battlefield." DanielPipes.org, October 19, 2006. More on the role of public opinion.
- "Arabs, Israelis, and Underdogs." FrontPageMagazine.com, April 1, 2009. Making oneself small on the map helps sway public opinion.
- "Victory – An Obsolete Concept?" DanielPipes.org, July 23, 2009. Reviews major statements about the need to impose one's will on the enemy.
- "Reflections on Modern Warfare." DanielPipes.org, May 31, 2009. Lecture notes as a preliminary guide to my general thinking on this subject, to be replaced one day with a full-scale article on the topic.
(May 31, 2009)
- "Leaders on the Run, Like Common Criminals." DanielPipes.org, June 3, 2011. Notes the pattern of former potentates now on the lam and points out the significance of this new development.
- "Blame the UN's Power on George H.W. Bush." DanielPipes.org, February 7, 2012. Points to the key moment in August 1990 when the U.S. president made the great mistake of turning the UN Security Council to handle the Kuwait crisis.
- "Why Does Hamas Want War?" National Review Online, July 11, 2014. Explains the logic why the militarily inferior side (Hamas) is aching for a fight while the much stronger one (Israel) is trying to avoid one.
