As it is Christmas and I am often (for some reason) DMed about gift ideas for that hard-to-buy-for curmudgeon, here are some books that I have read or re-read this year that would make for a good & sound Christma gift. In no particular order ⬇️
Well this is in order as it is the excellent memoir of our former Governor General and most senior soldier, as well as my own former commanding General, Sir Peter Cosgrove
This by @hoyer_kat on the German Empire is superb and should be read by every sound person here
This memoir of General Wrangel, leader of the White Armies in the Russian civil war, is superb. Wrangel had a fascinating life. His evacuation of his people from the Crimea was in stark contrast to this year’s Kabul catastrophe. Published by @MysteryGrove
I would normally assume that you have already purchased @SohrabAhmari ‘s book but if not you should & it will be a useful & needed corrective to any tiresome Lefty Boomers in the family (unless they are bequeathing you one of their investment properties, cf Prudence as a virtue)
This on the formal end of the western Roman Empire is very good and is written in clear and accessible prose. Very good gift for those inclined to see civilisational collapse around them albeit not all that reassuring it is not happening now …
You should all own this but if not, do yourself and those around you a favour for this Christmas so that you can instruct the ignorant and correct error.
If you have sound and sensible youth and adults, not to mention those who are ‘based’, to buy for this Christmas, then you cannot do better this year than @RCCoulombe ‘s biography of the last Habsburg emperor.
If you have raised or are raising sound youth, they can have no better book to read than @EduardHabsburg ‘s “Dubbie” - if a copy of “Dubbie” is not in the stockings of the youth this Christmas, you have sinned by omission.
That will do for now but will be added to in due course.
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US delaying arms & munitions to Israel is all about domestic US politics - US allies especially in the Middle East see Biden Admin wiling to dirk *even Israel* here means Egypt, Jordan, Gulf Kingdoms etal start to reevaluate relying on the US vs an Iranian arc with PRC/RUS ‘help’
Rightly or wrongly, the US' allies seeing that if the Biden WH will cut *even Israel* adrift on arms and munitions supplies in a war after a massive terrorist attack, that their alliance with the US, too, operates purely at the whim of domestic US politics ... Obama's 3rd term
A global military alliance of intelligence support & arms sharing (going to standardisation of kit & calibres etc) is only sustainable, ultimately, to the degree that allies trust in the support of each other, esp when the going is hard... no one respects disloyalty esp enemies
Putting Tucker to one side here .... weirdest part of Putin's villain role in the contemporary Western mind (admittedly an historically illiterate mind] is that if Putin dropped dead tomorrow, his successor would follow the same policies, probably more aggressively.
In July 2018, I wrote this piece, "The Sources Of Russian Conduct", on my blog, in an effort to put "The Russians" in some context for that part of the lay Western readership that was not totally brain damaged by America's internal convulsions
Reality is that the West will never be close to Russia - we will have bouts of accomodation & OK times - but we also have many friction points. But we will need a modus vivendi with Russia in space, Arctic, and esp as Russia spans 11 time zones & Eurasian landmass
I am shocked - shocked I tell you - that the same people who were (catastrophically) wrong about Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, etal, have now been proven wrong about the war in Ukraine ....
Twitter trying to work out whether Prigozhin is "for real" this time or whether he is a character from the Cyrillic production of Turkey's 2016 'not quite a coup' ... or an Ernst Rohm or Lin Biao...regardless a lesson taught in these regimes is to never overrate your usefulness.
A key change in how RUS state fought the UKR war over past 6-10 months was to move slowly from 'war on the cheap' (Luhansk/Donetk militias & Wagner) to mobilising Russian reserves + bringing in more of the regular Russian armed forces hence extensive prep for UKR offensive
On any view, Wagner in 2022 filled gaps the RUS state wanted filled-it provided combat power ivo Soledar & Bakhmut in late 2022/early 2023. At same time, regular RUS units were being filled out & commencing the sappering & digging in for the very slow UKR offensive we see now.
ANZAC Day Thread
Tuesday is ANZAC Day (April 25th) which commemorates the landing in 1915 by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli. It is Australia's national day for remembering our war dead, wounded, and war veterans, and their families awm.gov.au/commemoration/…twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
If you or a family member are "On Parade" on Tuesday and not in uniform, a useful dress and bearing guide from @MHHVic here
For #AnzacDay, an Australian tradition is the making of "Anzac Biscuits". The Anzac Biscuit is hardy, it is practical, it goes well with any hot brew, esp Tea, and, has become, since the Great War, the sustenance of a free people. Recipe here awm.gov.au/articles/encyc…
Retirement will be a luxury that occurred in a brief historic period of high birth rates where workers could support retirees .... hard to have retirements with QE, money printing, and, especially, low birth rates.
Sorry but anyone who thinks what is happening in France with riots over a minor upwards revision of pension ages is not coming to every western society is kidding themselves… Right politics that made it harder not easier for larger families are their own worst enemies
Likewise western military establishments will be very hard to maintain in societies where birth rates are so low … the devising of foreign legions and Wagner groups in all but name - however well disguised by law - are as much the likely Western future absent action as the past