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SHORT TAKES ANDREW J. BACEVICH Waist Deep in the Big Muddy What can the Vietnam War teach us about the war in Ukraine? I spent part of the long Independence Day weekend listening to an...

A culture of avoidance (July 2023)

ANDREW J. BACEVICH The Politics of Avoidance On the debt as on security, we prefer to ignore inconvenient facts. According to President Biden, “the American people got what they needed” in the...

Beyond Impeachment (February 2020)

SHORT TAKES ANDREW J. BACEVICH Beyond Impeachment Our political crisis will outlast this presidency. ith the impeachment process hurtling toward its conclusion, the endgame has...

The new abbess (January 2020)

SHORT TAKES ANDREW J. BACEVICH The New Abbess Encountering ‘hidden fruitfulness' in dark times I ndulge me in this statement of the obvious: these are difficult days in which to be a Roman...

The Second Mountain (July 2019)

BOOKS Andrew J. Bacevich Pundit on a Pilgrimage The Second Mountain The Quest for a Moral Life David Brooks Random House, $28, 384 pp. David Brooks eludes easy classification. To call him a...

A World without the West (March 2019)

SHORT TAKES Andrew J. Bacevich A World without the West LEARNING TO LIVE 'WITHOUT' THE FREE WORLD Does the West still exist? Most American politicians, journalists, and policy intellectuals seem...

Bing Crosby (February 2019)

Andrew J. Bacevich Uncle Sam without Whiskers Bing Crosby Swinging on a Star The War Years, 1940-1946 Gary Giddins Little, Brown and Company, $40, 736 pp. Readers of this book may find it...

Our 'Ally' Saudi Arabia (December 2018)

Andrew J. Bacevich Our 'Ally' Saudi Arabia THE MOMENT IS RIGHT FOR A CLEAN BREAK By what definition of the term does Saudi Arabia qualify as an ally of the United States? The murder of journalist...

Beautiful Country Burn Again (November 2018)

Andrew J. Bacevich A Lung-Cleansing Scream Beautiful Country Burn Again Democracy, Rebellion, and Revolution Ben Fountain Ecco, $27.99, 448 pp. Ahalf-dozen years ago, Ben Fountain published his...

Eat the Apple (September 2018)

Andrew J. Bacevich Pretend You Don't Care Eat the Apple A Memoir Matt Young Bloomsbury, $26, 251 pp. The author photo inside the dust jacket of this beguiling, yet disturbing, memoir reminds me...

Doubling Down on Nukes (March 2018)

Andrew J. Bacevich Doubling Down on Nukes THE PENTAGON'S ARMS RACE WITH ITSELF The famous "Doomsday Clock," first unveiled in 1947 in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and periodically...

The Cold War (November 2017)

Andrew J. Bacevich Hardly a Triumph The Cold War A World History Odd Arne Westad Basic Books, $40, 720 pp. Born and raised in Norway, Odd Arne Westad is a prize-winning historian, who now...

The New Normal (July 2017)

SHORT TAKES Andrew J. Bacevich The New Normal SOCIAL CHANGES THAT TRUMP HASN'T, WON'T, AND CAN'T AFFECT Asampling of recent headlines: "Art in the Age of Trump;" "Truth in the Age of Trump;"...

Sound & Fury (August 2016)

Sound & Fury What Does Brexit Signify? Andrew J. Bacevich Not since Y2K plunged the planet into chaos— remember?—has a story provoked overwrought handwringing comparable to that triggered by...

New Nukes (February 2016)

ELECTION 2016 Andrew J. Bacevich New Nukes TURNING AWAY FROM DISARMAMENT Do nuclear weapons help keep us safe? Or do they threaten our very existence? Rhetorically, American presidents endorse...

Catching Up & Passing On (December 2015)

SHORT TAKES Andrew J. Bacevich Catching Up & Passing On MEMORIES OF A MONASTERY SCHOOL Fiftieth-year high-school reunions are not for the faint of heart. To encounter classmates last seen a...

'Under God' (August 2015)

Andrew J. Bacevich 'Under God' SAME-SEX MARRIAGE & FOREIGN POLICY Whether Americans today sin more frequently or less frequently than they did when I was a boy growing up in the 1950s is...

Kill Chain (June 2015)

BOOKS Andrew J. Bacevich Mowing the Grass Kill Chain The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins Andrew Cockburn Henry Holt and Company, $28, 310 pp. In this imperfect but exceedingly useful book,...

Soft Thinking, Hard Problems (March 2015)

SHORT TAKES Andrew J. Bacevich Soft Thinking, Hard Problems THE QBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S NEW NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY The Obama administration's 2015 National Security Strategy (NSS), delivered...

Strange Glory (October 2014)

BOOKS Andrew J. Bacevich Beyond the Parlor Strange Glory A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Charles Marsh Alfred A. Knopf, $35, 544 pp. Writing in Commonweal in 1980, the historian David O’Brien...

The Duplicity of the Ideologues (July 2014)

SHORT TAKES Andrew J. Bacevich The Duplicity of the Ideologues U.S. POLICY & ROBERT KAGAN'S FICTIVE NARRATIVE lmost seventy years ago, a new world order was born from the rubble of World War II,...

The Twilight of the American Enlightenment (May 2014)

Andrew J. Bacevich Out of One, Many? The Twilight of the American Enlightenment The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief George M. Marsden Basic Books, $26.99, 209 pp. Nostalgia, faint but...

American Innocence? (January 2014)

Andrew J. Bacevich As a source of insight into the wellsprings of U.S. foreign policy, Reinhold Niebuhr's The Irony of American History is an invaluable text. If you want to understand the...

Peace Activism (September 2013)

Peace Activism What Is It Good For? Andrew J. Bacevich & R. Scott Appleby Andrew J. Bacevich From time to time over the past decade, I've visited precincts that I might once have considered...

For the Republic (September 2013)

The Party of Humanity Andrew J. Bacevich For the Republic Political Essays George Scialabba Pressed Wafer, $15.95, 255 pp. Let us begin with the subtitle, where a correction is in order. For...

The Patriarch (May 2013)

Andrew J. Bacevich Before Camelot The Patriarch The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times ofJoseph P. Kennedy David Nasaw The Penguin Press, $40, 868 pp. I began reading this book fully...

Endless War (October 2012)

ELECTION 2012 Andrew J. Bacevich Endless War DOES WASHINGTON STILL WANT PEACE? Here's what you need to know about the forthcoming presidential election: Whoever you vote for in November, you...

Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith (July 2012)

BOOKS Andrew J. Bacevich Lapel-Pin Christianity Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith Religion in American War and Diplomacy Andrew Preston Knopf, $37.50, 832 pp. Every now and then a book...

History, Hope & Iphones (October 2011)

Continuing the Conversation History, Hope & iPhones Robert P. Imbelli I have long admired Andrew J. Bacevich’s writings. His style is limpid and often eloquent. His analyses are penetrating and...

Selling Our Souls (August 2011)

ARTICLES Selling Our Souls Of Idolatry & iPhones Andrew J. Bacevich Confronting the twentieth century, Catholicism stood fast. This was its mission: church as bulwark against the disorders...

42 The Publisher (October 2010)

Andrew J. Bacevich God's Chosen People The Publisher Henry Luce and His American Century Alan Brinkley Alfred A. Knopf, $35, 560 pp. Old geezers tend to collect things: coins or stamps,...

The Twilight Years by Richard overy (April 2010)

Books Andrew J. Bacevich The End Was Coming The Twilight Years The Paradox of Britain between the Wars Richard Overy Viking, $35, 522 pp. This history of Great Britain between the World...

Rebirth of a Nation (September 2009)

Books Andrew J. Bacevich Cutting Through the Cant Rebirth of a Nation The Making of Modern America, 1877–1920 Jackson Lears HarperCollins, $27.99, 432 pp. The great harm done by the...

The War We Can't Win (August 2009)

Articles The War We Can’t Win Afghanistan & the Limits of American Power Andrew J. Bacevich History deals rudely with the pretensions of those who presume to determine its course. In an...

American Triumphalism: Foreign policy after George W. Bush (January 2009)

Commonweal . January 30, 2009 Short Takes American Triumphalism Andrew J. Bacevich A PosTMoRTeM Adown the curtain on a distinctive era of American brings office from departure his...

The Great Divide : Rethinking the military (March 2008)

Commonweal. March 28, 2008 Andrew J. Bacevich The Great Divide THE CRiSiS oF U.S. MiliTARY poliCY R egardless of who wins the presidency in November 2008, rethinking the premises of...

No Exit from Iraq? (October 2007)

Andrew J. Bacevich There’s no doubt about it: A nation that embarks on a morally problematic war incurs stiff obligations. The war begun in March 2003 when the United States needlessly and...

Downsizing (April 2007)

O 9 ster's servants encircle the globe, keeping record of the number ofpysanky made. When there are few, the monster's chains loosen, and evil flows throughout the world. When they are many,...

Twilight of the Republic? (December 2006)

Article Twilight of the Republic? Seeds of Decline, Path to Renewal Andrew ~. Bacevich I n his 2005 inaugural address, President George W. Bush declared the promulgation of freedom to be...

Breaking the Habit (March 2006)

in Houston rather than occupying the Oval Office. As America's collective day of reckoning draws near, going cold turkey is not a practical option. But neither is demand- ing that "their" way of...

The Cult of National Security: How real are the threats the United States faces? (January 2006)

Short Take Andrew Bacevich The Cult of National Security WHAT HAPPENED TO CHECKS & BALANCES? R ecent revelations that President George W. Bush authorized U.S. intelligence agencies to engage in...

The Assassins' Gate (November 2005)

Andrew BaEevich Neoeon Men g 4 The Assassins' Gate America in Iraq George Packer Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25,454 pp. A s the epigraph for his new book on the politics ot~ America s...

Who's Bearing the Burden? (July 2005)

Who's Bearing the Burden? Iraq & the Demise of the All-Volunteer Army Andrew .7" Bacevich T he All.Volunteer Force (AVF), arguably the most successful and widely hailed federal program...

The view from Berlin (March 2004)

Andrew J. Bacevich THE VIEW FROM BERLIN Reflections on empire he apartment we're staying in overlooks the Wannsee, the great body of water that cuts through Berlin's westernmost precincts. Each...

Bacharach, Jacob

Bacik, James

Baer, Alban

Baer, Barbara L

Baer, Barbara L.

Baer, Dom Alban

Baer, Dora Alban

Baer, Werner G.

Baerwald, Frederick

Baerwald, Friedrich

Bagger, Eugene

Bahr, Howard At