Center for Strategic Communication

Book Bonanza

[by Mark Safranski, a.k.a. “zen“] My usual yuletide haul of books received and purchased….                         The Last of the President’s Men by Bob Woodward Being Nixon: A Man Divided by Evan Thomas Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern...

The Chinese Strategic Tradition: A Research Program (II)

This post is the second in a series. It was originally published at The Scholar’s Stage on the 26th of May, 2015. I strongly recommended readers start with the first post in this series, which introduces the purpose and methods of this essay. That post focused...

T. Greer on Ibn Khaldun’s Asabiyah

[by Mark Safranski, a.k.a. “zen“] T. Greer of Scholar’s Stage has an exemplary post comparing the philosophy of English social contract theorist Thomas Hobbes with medieval Arab historian Ibn Khaldun, who described a critical component of a...

Rofer on The Fall of Beria and Putin’s Vanishing Act

[by Mark Safranski, a.k.a. “zen“] Lavrenty Beria (center)  Russian President and brazen strongman Vladimir Putin reappeared Monday, looking wan and a little uncomfortable for the cameras, but jesting at the mad swirl of internet rumors sparked by his...