Richard D. Anderson, Author at Public Seminar

Feature

What Do Military Attacks Accomplish?

Effective Action in Syria

May 1, 2018 • by Richard D. Anderson

When, on April 7, Syrian aircraft dropped canisters of toxic chlorine -- and maybe the chemical weapon sarin -- on the city of Douma, in an attack that killed seventy civilians, for once President Donald Trump spoke the truth: he called repeated chemical attacks “crimes of a monster.” On April ...

Nuclear Crisis — Or Nuclear Theater?

Comparing the Cuban Missile

August 15, 2017 • by Richard D. Anderson

In the Cuban Missile Crisis, the sound judgment and self restraint of President John F. Kennedy, ably advised by his Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, supposedly saved the world from the nuclear war advocated by hawks like Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay. But that triumphalist story is ...

The Politics of Russian Nationalism

Vladimir Putin as Centrist

July 17, 2017 • by Richard D. Anderson

In this essay, national intelligence expert Richard D. Anderson forwards our first critical perspective: Vladimir Putin is, in the context of Russian authoritarianism, a political centrist. Promoting and managing conflict with the United States, Anderson argues, allows Putin to balance the competing demands of kleptocracy and nationalism without giving in ...