The Useless Tree

Sun Tzu

  • The Strategic Implications of the AIG Take Over

       As per my last post, I have been consumed, in the last 24 hours, with the dramatic moves in the US financial system.  The Fed's take over of AIG is simply stunning.  I think "take over" is a better… Continue reading

  • Sun Tzu on Georgia

    Though the American media has been distracted in recent weeks with the Olympics and, now, the Democratic Convention, tensions in Georgia remain.  Yesterday, Russia formally recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, sparking protests from the US and Europe. … Continue reading

  • Sun Tzu on how the Giants can win the Super Bowl

         I am back in my office at Williams in rural northwestern Massachusetts.  A far cry from the intense urban-ness of Taibei and Hong Kong.  But the great advantage of this place, for me, is that it is home.… Continue reading

  • Is the US “Surge” in Iraq Working? Sun Tzu would not be impressed

         A few days ago a reader named Jeff, who has a Sun Tzu site, suggests that the US "surge" in Iraq is working. Is it?      At one level, the increase in US troops in recent months… Continue reading

  • CIA Lying – What Would Sun Tzu Do?

        Rather unsurprisingly, it has now been revealed that the CIA lied and broke the law (by disobeying  a court order to produce "documentary evidence") to cover up its use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (read: torture).  So, now we… Continue reading

  • Ignoring Sun Tzu, Again

        My friend, Abu Aardvark, has an excellent post on the problems of the Iraq war.  The bottom line: Tactics working against strategy – that’s been the concern I’ve been expressing for many months now. I haven’t been reassured. … Continue reading

  • Sun Tzu and “The War”

         As I mentioned previously, I watched most of the PBS documentary series, "The War," which presented the US experience in WWII.  One of the things that stuck me about that experience was the tenacity of the American soldiers. … Continue reading

  • Sun Tzu does Survivor: China

        My friend and former student Kim, who blogs at The Small Pond (and is especially good these days on Hawaiian politics), commented on another post that Sun Tzu has popped up on the US TV show, "Survivor: China." … Continue reading

  • Sun Tzu on the Failure of the Generals

         Fred Kaplan has an article in yesterday’s NYT Sunday Magazine, "Challenging the Generals," which follows up on the critique of US military leadership in Iraq put forward by Lt. Col. Paul Yingling.       The problem, it seems… Continue reading

  • Political Leadership and the Iraq War: Clausewitz 1, Sun Tzu O

         I learn a lot from Sun Tzu and I believe he has some important things to say to us today, across all the centuries from his own time.  But  his notions about the relationship between political and military… Continue reading