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There’s no good outcome for this groundhog-day war
Since the end of the Cold War, America has been the world’s supreme power. The idea that the United States could be taken down militarily by any other country is simply implausible. US invincibility, indeed, has spawned the concept of asymmetric warfare: instead of trying to overwhelm an enemy, you prod relentlessly at its weak points. This has changed the world from one in which organized warfare would break out between the major powers from time to time to one where peace has to be maintained against the constant hum of terrorism and guerrilla action. It comes as a shock, then, to learn that the US has apparently all but run out of long-range precision missiles.
There’s no good outcome for this groundhog-day war
Since the end of the Cold War, America has been the world’s supreme power. The idea that the United States could be taken down militarily by any other country is simply implausible. US invincibility, indeed, has spawned the concept of asymmetric warfare: instead of trying to overwhelm an enemy, you prod relentlessly at its weak points. This has changed the world from one in which organized warfare would break out between the major powers from time to time to one where peace has to be maintained against the constant hum of terrorism and guerrilla action. It comes as a shock, then, to learn that the US has apparently all but run out of long-range precision missiles.
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The canonization of Tupac
The Tupac murder trial has finally begun. A 63-year-old former gang leader, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, is accused of orchestrating the murder of rapper, actor, and activist Tupac Shakur in a drive-by shooting 30 years ago. Tupac’s reputation – both alive and since – is chequered to say the least. Some still perceive him as one of a cadre of thugs who glorified gun violence and the gang lifestyle in the 1990s (if you’ve ever heard the phrase “Thug Life,” that’s one of his). Others have continued a campaign of quasi-canonization, presenting him as a tortured poet struggling against the strictures of fate. The latter argument gradually won through, with Tupac now closing in on Princess Diana in the global “national treasure” stakes.
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