Copyright 2013 Clifford May Tue, 21 May 2013 03:40:02 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Clifford May :: Writings http://www.cliffordmay.org cliff@defenddemocracy.org (Clifford May) webmaster@pundicity.com en-us http://www.cliffordmay.org/13309/newseum Thu, 16 May 2013 09:00:00 EST Inspire is a glossy, English-language, online magazine published by al-Qaeda. It was conceived by Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric and al-Qaeda leader, who also contributed editorials. In 2011, President Obama ordered a drone strike against... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13265/syria-policy Thu, 9 May 2013 09:00:00 EST "Arming the rebels — that's an option. You look at and rethink all options. It doesn't mean you do or you will. . . . It doesn't mean that the president has decided on anything." Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, May 2, 2013 But deciding on something is... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13238/guantanamo-hunger-artists Thu, 2 May 2013 09:00:00 EST The detention camp at Guantanamo Bay was established in 2002 to hold the most dangerous of those captured in what the Bush administration called the Global War on Terrorism. Controversy over the facility has simmered ever since. In recent days, it has... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13210/defense-jihad Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST Defense policies are not created in a vacuum. They are designed to meet threats. Over time, threats change in ways that are difficult to predict. In the past, America's enemies generally wore uniforms and confronted American soldiers on a foreign field... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13187/asia-pivot Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST Last year, the White House announced a "pivot" toward Asia, a "rebalancing" of what National Security adviser Tom Donilon called "all elements of U.S. power." There was to be less emphasis on the Middle East, where nothing ever seems to go America's way,... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13166/supreme-leadership Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST North Korea may be an economic basket case with a GDP that is less than half that of Ethiopia, and with much of the population malnourished and lacking even an electric light to turn on when darkness falls. Most North Koreans enjoy no freedoms or human... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13135/holy-wars Thu, 4 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST In much of what we now call the Muslim world, Muslims are fighting Muslims. The conflicts fall into two broad categories: those in which militants battle militants, and those in which militants battle moderates. The outcomes of these conflicts matter.... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13114/crossing-jordan Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST Meeting with King Abdullah II in Jordan last Friday, President Obama was gracious enough to mention the monarch's great-grandfather, King Abdullah I, who "gave his life in the name of peace." To Western ears, that sounded like a tribute. To Arab and... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13090/missile-defense Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST Chuck Hagel deserves praise — four words I did not expect to be writing — for announcing an expansion of the U.S. missile-defense system. Fourteen additional ground-based long-range missile interceptors are to be installed in Alaska by 2017 at a cost of... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13053/st-patricks-day-edmund-burke Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST Perhaps because St. Patrick's Day is coming up, I've found myself re-reading Edmund Burke and Conor Cruise O'Brien — and drinking Irish whiskey. I first became acquainted with these three sources of stimulation back in 1978. That was also my first brush... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13025/beat-opec Thu, 7 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST If you suffer a heart attack but your doctor thinks you've got a nasty case of indigestion, the medicine he prescribes probably won't cure you. The same applies to policymaking and legislating: Misunderstand the problem, and you're likely to come up with... http://www.cliffordmay.org/13004/sanctions-paradox Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST Two points are vital to understanding the sanctions being imposed on Iran: They are unlikely to succeed — if success is defined as stopping the regime's rulers from developing nuclear weapons — yet they are an essential component of any serious and... http://www.cliffordmay.org/12981/middle-east-tour-dhorizon Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST Next month, both President Obama and newly minted secretary of state John Kerry head for the Middle East. They should listen to a range of views, see the sights, and pause to smell the hummus. As for policies, this would be a good time to consider a few... http://www.cliffordmay.org/12948/targeted-killing-memos Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST "Think about the mothers!" That was the anguished cry of one of the protesters from Code Pink, the left-wing women's group that four times interrupted John Brennan's confirmation hearing last week. She was apparently referring to the mothers of such... http://www.cliffordmay.org/12919/letter-from-the-west-bank Thu, 7 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST Ramallah, West Bank — It's difficult not to like Salam Fayyad. The prime minister of the Palestinian Authority has an avuncular demeanor and old-fashioned professorial charm. He boasts a doctorate in economics from the University of Texas at Austin and...