September 8, 2013

The French Connection in Syria

By Bernie Reeves
France appeared on the global stage in the current Syrian imbroglio as if out of whole cloth, the nation's single aircraft carrier steaming to the Mediterranean.  Sadly, most Americans have no clue why. There are obvious reasons, but they are obscured by trends in the teaching of history, warfare and diplomacy over the past 40 years. On most liberal arts campuses today, history is more sociology and identity politics than the study of actual events. Warfare is not taught in many colleges, except in former ROTC courses disguised as curricula in "peace, war and defense."   Graduate degrees in diplomacy are marred by a huge lacuna: resistance to acknowledging the value of the experience of western colonialism and the application of its lessons to current events.  This reluctance to learn from colonialism is a process that began with the radical scholars who declared Western civilization anathema for nurturing racism, chauvinism and -- the root cause of these...(Read Full Article)