In an article from our November issue, Tara McKelvey reports on how counterinsurgency theory has come to dominate military thinking -- and what implications that has for the Obama administration:
John Nagl's memories of Vietnam are vague, at best. He was, after all, only two years old during the 1968 Tet offensive and was in grade school in Omaha, Nebraska, during the fall of Saigon. It is perhaps for this reason that Nagl, a former tank commander turned military strategist, does not see Vietnam as a symbol of dishonor, the way older military officers do. Rather, the Vietnam War is a subject to be studied: Nagl's acclaimed book, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, explores lessons from the American experience in fighting an insurgency in Vietnam. He's been one of the foremost proponents of applying those same techniques in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tim Fernholz writes that Obama's transition has been downright ... boring:
When it comes to the transition, the most important cliché is this: If you know, you don't say, and if you say, you don't know. The work going on among the Agency Review teams and the personnel office remains hidden, leaving reporters to fixate on high-level appointments. And there haven't been many. Sure, Rahm Emanuel publicly agonized over his appointment for a few days, and there have been constant (and conflicting) reports about Hillary Clinton's potential role as secretary of state. But standards have dropped: In the past, good insider information told who was stabbing whom in the back to become Treasury secretary. Now the press just wants to know who got the job. Pretty please?
And nine youth organizers, writers, and progressive-policy thinkers weigh in about how to keep young voters engaged in politics now that the election is over:
Jeff Blodgett: Write Them into the Progressive Agenda
Ivan Frishberg: Convince Them to Love the Government
Sally Kohn: Stand Them on the Shoulders of Progressive Giants
Gara LaMarche: Ask Them to Support Likeminded Groups
Peter Levine: Keep Them Behind Obama
Courtney E. Martin: Fund Community-Organizing Programs for Them
Kristina Rizga: Connect the Campaign's E-mail List with Activism Databases
Kevin Simowitz: Let Them Unplug, Hit the Streets
Erica L. Williams: Give Them Civic Education
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--The Editors
