Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing Covid-19 is taking a heavy toll around the world, but it will almost certainly subside in a few months. We will then confront a gravely weakened economy. Next months unemployment and GDP figures will be alarming, the ones in May will be appalling. A Federal Reserve Governor Read More …
Brian M Downing The politics and temperament of the emerging left-of-center majority are in place. There of course is no guarantee that they will be the same in a decade or so but a spirit of reconciliation or even civility isn’t likely to emerge, let alone prevail. The object of Read More …
Brian M Downing The US is more divided, polarized, and antagonistic than at any time since Lee handed his sword to Grant. Conflicts over history, sexual identity, spending priorities, toleration, speech, abortion, and gun control plague political institutions and public civility. Presidential elections are only rarely landslides these days and Read More …
Brian M Downing President Trump has taken the extraordinary step of stepping into the military justice system. He has countermanded a demotion and granted clemency to military personnel convicted of war crimes. Further, he has delved more deeply into military administration by insisting that a convicted NCO be allowed to Read More …
Brian M Downing Candidate Trump campaigned on leaving the JCPOA and taking an aggressive stance toward Iran. President Trump has indeed left the JCPOA, reimposed sanctions, and supported Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Syria. Nonetheless, last summer he pulled back from launching strikes on Iran, which National Security Advisor Read More …
Brian M Downing Democratic presidential contenders have conducted four debates so far. On game show-like sets they gave their positions on healthcare, education, and other domestic issues. Spirited remarks, carefully crafted and tested by consultants, flew at the incumbent and each other. Despite the several hours of airtime almost nothing Read More …
Brian M Downing One of the most divisive decisions the Supreme Court has ever issued was Roe v Wade (1973). Brown v Board of Education (1954) was unpopular, especially in the South, but it was a unanimous decision and in time, and after federal troops were sent in, school integration Read More …
Brian M Downing The Trump administration and its Saudi allies were relieved as US interest in the Khashoggi assassination receded. The passage of time and midterm elections saw to that. Riyadh, Washington, and Jerusalem breathed easier as their hardline Iran policy seemed back on track. The issue returned to the Read More …
Brian M Downing Relations between the US and Russia have declined badly since Putin’s invasion of the Crimea and eastern Ukraine. The Trump administration is determined to bring rapprochement. The contours of an arrangement seem to be reducing sanctions on Russia in exchange for its cooperation against Iran – a Read More …
Brian M Downing The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 portended favorably for world peace, at least to some. Others saw the source of Russian-Soviet actions based not in communist ideology but rather in a national security ideology and string of ambitious rulers, both of which predate Marx and Read More …