Franz-Stefan Gady

Theodor Lessing's book Der Jüdische Selbsthass (Jewish Self-hatred) was the first work to discuss the concept of Jewish self-hatred, which as the British Journal of Social Psychology states "is often used rhetorically to discount Jews who differ in their lifestyles, interests or political positions from their accusers." In...

A recent reading of E. M. Forster's novel, A Passage to India, prompted me to reflect on the West's drawn out engagement in Afghanistan. The centerpiece of this prescient narrative is an incident in an ancient cave in Northwestern India between an Indian doctor and an English woman...

"Men at some time are masters of their fates."

Amid the worsening economic picture, political leaders across the globe are under attack for their lack of leadership and failure to inspire confidence in their constituencies in the face of mounting global problems. President Obama especially has been criticized as...

Since the recession, bashing the European Union has become a sport for U.S. commentators. Just skim the most recent headlines, and one is led to believe that the old continent is on the brink of economic, political and social collapse. The truth is that very few commentators really...

According to the recently released Norton Cyber Crime Report for 2011, 431 million adults worldwide were victims of cyber crime last year. The total cost of those crimes amounts to some $114 billion. This precise statement, however, hides an important problem: We actually lack comprehensive data in assessing...

On a moonless night in the morning hours of Sept. 13, 1759, a procession of boats steered silently down the St. Lawrence River. The boats contained the small British expeditionary force under the command of 32-year-old, red-haired Major-General James Wolfe, who in a low voice repeated line after line of...

Why policy makers should pick historical analogies wisely

Indiana Jones, despite being chased by Nazi thugs through Europe and the Middle East, manages to select the one Holy Grail among hundreds in a cave chapel in the dramatic finale of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. His ominous...

Why the recent attacks in Norway should remind us of the inherent danger of the political word.

The correlational dichotomy between words and deeds is as old as history itself, ranging from Alexander the Great reading the Iliad, which supposedly inspired him to conquer the world, to the disturbing image...

Michael Singh's parochial critique in Foreign Policy Magazine entitled "'Restoration' is Not an Option: Why America Can't Afford to Lead From Behind", attacks Richard N. Haass's idea of a "Restoration Doctrine," which in essence is "a U.S. foreign policy based on restoring this country's strength and...

Civil War re-enactors take heed. I have perfected the Rebel yell: Oweeeeeeyaaahhooooo!!! That's me after reading Yoni Applebaum's piece, "Confederates on the Rhine". The article is a hodgepodge of strained reason in which Applebaum tries to cobble together an analysis of German reenactments of the Civil War, a...

There is much talk about the militarization of cyber space with Russians, Chinese and Americans accusing each other of triggering a cyber "arms race." At the same time, policy makers in many countries are calling for "rules of the road" to regulate cyber conflict. However, due...

What would happen if the United States left Pakistan to China?

Cutting military and economic assistance to a country in crisis is generally seen as a failure of foreign policy. Such imperial hubris can lead to a miscalculation of national interest and leave a power vacuum in the affected country....

Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, and her vice-chancellor and foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, are under increased attack from all sides for their refusal to participate militarily in the UN-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya. Although the Merkel government promises additional AWAC surveillance flights over Afghanistan, Germany's traditional European allies --...

In early 20th century Berlin, an ex-convict shoemaker -- caught in a legal no-man's land where he can neither obtain work without a residence permit, nor earn a permit without work -- purchases pieces of a Prussian Captain's uniform to expedite his needs. Dressed as a Prussian Guards Captain, the...

Revisiting my previous post "Aircraft Carriers and Chinese Missiles: Time to Rethink US Naval Doctrine" , I would like to approach the issue from a different angle of military analysis -- the reliance of projecting power on one single tactical -- in military jargon, the primary tactical unit....

In a new study by the EastWest Institute (EWI) entitled "Working towards Rules for Governing Cyber Conflict: Rendering the Geneva and Hague Conventions in Cyberspace," one of the recommendations addresses the issue of non-state actors in cyberspace. The report states, "Russia, the U.S., and other interested parties should...

The symbol of American power, the aircraft carrier, is at risk; at least that's what some recent reports suggest. In a current article in Defense News, U.S. Vice Admiral Jack Dorsett, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance, states:

The technology that the Chinese have developed...

Simple truths are often overlooked in military conflict.

In 1862, during the early stages of the U.S. Civil War, a group of federal soldiers closed in on a young, undernourished, ragtag Confederate somewhere in Tennessee. Since he clearly owned no slaves, and did not care about the Union or cotton...

In December 2008 within milliseconds, Egypt lost 70 percent of its connection to the outside Internet. In far away India, 50 to 60 percent of online connectivity similarly was lost. In Pakistan, 12 million people were knocked offline suddenly, and in Saudi Arabia, 4.7 million were unable to connect to...