Update from Steve — Strategic Planning is Going Well

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Steve just called in from Spectacle Lake via satellite phone to make sure readers have not abandoned TWN in his absence. He’s happy to report no run-ins with any bears thus far but is prepared to fend them off with his self-taught Davy Crockett maneuvers. Apparently the wilderness air does wonders for strategic planning.

Gaffney Plus Washington Times Equals Hilarity

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I’m honestly not sure which is more hysterical: Frank Gaffney’s most recent Washington Times column, which argues that the Russians laid claim to the North Pole in a cunning gambit to corner the U.S.

Beyond Arms Sales: Whither the US-Saudi Relationship?

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The firestorm of controversy that ignited this week over the arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other gulf states opens up an important debate that needs to be thoroughly explored, yet the thrust of the discussion–typified by Bret Stephens fulminating this morning against supposed Saudi malevolent intentions in his column “A Kernel of Evil“–has largely…

Leaving You Until Friday with Oakley & Annie

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I’m about to head off with journalist Jim Lobe and another friend to commune with big mountains and tough hiking trails and plan strategy in the Cascades. I’m not used to this stuff and think I’ll look a bit like Oakley and Annie above — though they aren’t on this trip.

John Edwards, Outsider

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It would be no great feat of punditry to suggest that John Edwards is running as an outsider in this year’s campaign. Some thought that Edwards, who has held no office since the 2004 election, would struggle to stay relevant.

Tension Inside AEI: A Neocon Heart vs. Corporate Head

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Jim Lobe brilliantly chronicles a key point of tension between various AEI stakeholders — on one hand a group of firms who help fund the place and are mostly focused on government deregulation and on the other, those who have helped shape and drive a neoconservative War in Iraq and national security strategy.

Hiking in the Cascades

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Over the next week, starting tomorrow, I’m going to be hiking with journalist Jim Lobe and some other pals in the Cascades mountains on a working, walking retreat.