International

Notes From the French COVID Underground 0
- International
- August 24, 2021
A 60-something French Intellectual Takeout reader and I began an email correspondence a few years ago. We lost touch in recent months, but when I learned of the severe COVID-19 restrictions being enforced in France, I reestablished contact to get her impressions. “I belong to the vax and health pass resistant group,” Marie wrote, “and
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The ABCs of Afghanistan 0
- International
- August 23, 2021
A is for Afghanistan. A faraway, hardcore Muslim country that remains utterly mysterious to our political, intelligence, and military elites even after two decades of intervention. Between October 2001 and August 2021 America squandered more than $2 trillion and more than 2,000 lives for no clear objective or tangible benefit. B is for the Washington Beltway. The
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Aftermath of an Afghanistan Debacle 0
- International
- August 20, 2021
In Afghanistan, the mission failure appears complete. The trillion-dollar project to plant Western democracy in a Muslim nation historically fabled for driving out imperial intruders has crashed and burned after 20 years, and the Taliban are suddenly back in power. After investing scores of billions in training and arming a force of 350,000 Afghani troops,
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The Taliban May Have Provided a Sputnik Moment for Wokeness 0
- International
- August 18, 2021
In 1957, the supposedly backward Soviet Union launched a satellite into orbit and the threat of Soviet rockets became real for millions of Americans. Fortunately, the Sputnik moment galvanized a massive American response and we soon caught up and overtook the Soviets. Conceivably, the current collapse of our Afghanistan adventure might be a similar “Sputnik
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The Looming Afghan Collapse 0
- International
- August 12, 2021
As of Thursday morning, August 12 the Taliban were in control of eleven provincial capitals in Afghanistan, including the important northeastern city of Kunduz, following a sweep across the north of the country in recent days. The insurgents encountered minimal resistance from the Afghan National Army. The insurgents now have their sights on Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city in the mostly
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The Attempt to Hoodwink the U.S. Into a Cold War With Russia 0
- International
- August 2, 2021
For years conservative movement figures have engaged in “value talk,” a rhetorical means of winning acceptance for pet causes that often have little to do with conservatism or traditional morality. Such value talk has often been used as a way of prodding Washington into foreign entanglements. Leon Aron’s recent article for The Dispatch, “Welcome to the new Cold War”
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