By Dr. Scott Jones In a series appropriately named Lessons Learned, the U.S. military takes pride in documenting what it has learned from battles and campaigns. The assumption being that this record will guide strategies and tactics in future wars. The irony is not lost to the professional warrior that the major lesson to be …
By Chris Cote I have never fought in a war, but for the majority of my memorable life my country, the United States, has been in one. The United States emerged triumphant in the Cold War shortly after I was born and throughout the 1990s exerted its military power in a number of small affairs …
By Akio Matsumura “Well George, we knocked the bastard off.” These were Sir Edmund Hillary’s first words to a friend after descending from the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. Time Magazine named him and his companion Tenzing Norgay, the first two to summit Mount Everest, two of the most influential people of the 20th …
From remotely flown Predator drones to deepwater oil drills and from financial derivatives to Twitter, America’s engineers and scientists continue to bring imagination to life. Each invention allows us to get more: security, oil, wealth, information. We are also able to achieve our goals from a distance, with more automation and less personal connectivity. Often, …
By Akio Matsumura Looking back through my last article, “Uprising in Egypt”, it seems that it was written in a different era. So much has changed in the last month. News from the Arab world has grown and Japan unfortunately joins it in dominating the screens and the papers. We continue to pray for …
Dear friends: I have been so fortunate to have the advice, opinions and wisdom of extraordinary men available to me throughout my life. The three with whom I sought counsel the most were former US Ambassador to the UN, Reverend Dr. Glenn Olds; Ambassador Angier Biddle Duke (D); and Mr. Bradford Morse, former administrator of …
By Akio Matsumura The United States and Japan are both plagued by suicide. Many people are taking their own lives out of a sense of isolation and loneliness. Although the circumstances for the two cases are distinct, the challenge to both countries–overcoming complacency–is the same. A few weeks ago someone called my cell phone and …
By Akio Matsumura In childhood we played the game Rock-Paper-Scissors. Rock wins over Scissors, Paper wins over Rock, and Scissors wins over Paper. There is no single absolute power among three partners. The outcome always depends on the opponent’s tactic. This game also plays out in democratic governance. Government executives have power over… Continue reading
by Akio Matsumura We are out of money. The 2008 world economic crisis and economic recession have forced many governments to cut back in spending. The media reports daily on which programs will be kept or cut, and lobbyists are working hard to make sure their piece of the pie is not tossed out. In …
Read in Japanese. By Akio Matsumura During September in 1973 I found myself beginning a two hour bus ride, headed for the outskirts of Jakarta. I was with the Japanese Parliamentary Study Mission on Population and Development, headed by former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. We had already had very fruitful visits to India and Thailand, …
