Sublime
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While technology is by far the most important factor today, and apparently growing more so, all four major megapolitical factors have played a role in determining the scale at which power could be exercised in the past. Together, these factors determine whether the returns to violence continue to rise as violence is employed on a larger scale. This
... See moreJames Dale Davidson, Lord William Rees-Mogg • The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
During the Korean War, Harry Truman went to war without any authorization of Congress. The Cuban missile crisis was a purely presidential decision, as was the 1998 intervention in Kosovo. The congressional role in authorizing war was at least diminished and sometimes omitted.
George Friedman • The Storm Before the Calm: America's Discord, the Coming Crisis of the 2020s, and the Triumph Beyond
the Marshall Plan, announced by Secretary of State George Marshall in June 1947. The focus was on Europe’s recovery; the aid ($150 billion in today’s dollars) was extensive but transitional, with the goal of getting Europe to the point where its economic growth would be self-sustaining.
Richard Haass • The World
With that in mind, I want us to consider three great issues for our time as we use our backward gaze at history to gain insights for the future. First, can the world choose a path of shared prosperity, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability in this seventh age of globalization? We can call this the challenge of sustainable development.
... See moreJeffrey D. Sachs • The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions
The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes

Kiras, James D. Special Operations and Strategy: From World War II to the War on Terrorism. London: Routledge, 2006.
David Tucker • United States Special Operations Forces
Europe, for the opening decades of the post–Cold War era, appeared to be another successful region of the world: at peace, democratic, and economically developed. The European Union not only expanded (from a dozen members when the Cold War ended to more than twice that number over subsequent decades) but also introduced a shared currency (the euro)
... See moreRichard Haass • The World
Europe’s expansion amounted in part to a deliberate assault on the modernizing ventures of other peoples and states. Perhaps it was not Europe’s modernity that triumphed, but its superior capacity for organized violence.
John Darwin • After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000
Step 1: Tariffs as leverage
Step 2: Pressure allies to revalue currencies
Step 3: Restructure foreign debt holdings (short → long duration)
Step 4: Link U.S. defense support to economic concessions
Yes — it merges military + monetary strategy.