Monday, April 28, 2014

CrossTalk: Containment 2.0? (ft. Stephen Cohen & John Mearsheimer)


Both John Mearsheimer and, especially, Stephen Cohen are both extremely smart and knowledgeable academics and it is a crying shame that these two men are so completely ignored by the current US elites. I highly recommend this very good show.  Enjoy!

The Saker 


Personal note: I want to add something here. Mearsheimer and Cohen are the living proof that the caricature which a lot of non-US people have about Americans being arrogant, ignorant and stupid is fundamentally wrong. During the Cold War an entire generation of very savvy academics and analysts materialized who were refined, well educated and sophisticated thinkers with the ability to truly look ahead in a non-ideological fashion. I have had the pleasure and honor to study with Paul Nitze and I personally knew Admiral Elmo Zumwalt and I can attest that while not necessarily always sinless saints, these men were truly remarkable decision-makers who loved their country and who wanted to do what is right for it. Listening to Mearsheimer and Cohen I had a flashback to my conversation with Nitze who by the end of his life also had reached a certain wisdom and detachment which allowed him to see things from a higher perspective. I also hope that Steven Cohen will impress those who naively believe that all American Jews are sayanim or AIPAC/JINSA/ZOA agents as this is far from being the case. The USA is far more complex than a lot of non-Americans think and it should not be judged by the performance of clowns like Dubya, Obama or Biden.