The Moon is Down

Today I took a day off from dissertation-writing to meet my friend Terry for lunch, a mentor to me who actually sat on my Truman interview panel. Because she is a bit more of a local than I am, she offered some recommendations of things to do and see in London that I otherwise may have never known about.

One of these places was Daunt Bookshop on Marylebone High Street. Although it carries all sorts of literature, it is most famous for being a travel bookshop. But do not let that fool you -- it is by no means any ordinary bookshop. Organized by region, then country (and even by American States!), they cover the globe with not only travel guides, but literature that is written by authors native to the country/region, fiction and non-fiction that is set in the region, or likewise that is about the place. It is a most brilliant way to set up a bookshop, and as a result I happened upon quite the treasure.

Unbeknownst to many, John Steinbeck (yes, THE Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, James Dean, Steinbeck), wrote propaganda during WWII. He worked for two different agencies which eventually evolved into the CIA.

Why does this matter? Well, as I was browsing I "happened" upon the "Norway" section of the bookstore. Rather small and for the most part, predictable. There was Hamsun's Hunger, Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter, and, of course, all the Ibsen you would ever want to get your hands on. Tucked away in between which are (and rightfully so) the best known authors to come out of Norway, was this little novella by John Steinbeck.

I picked it up, confused but curious as to what Steinbeck's connection would be with Norway. The book, entitled, The Moon is Down (title taken from the 2nd act of Shakespeare's Macbeth), is a story of a North European country being invaded and occupied, and the silent but soon powerful anger and resentment that push the local people to a resistance. In effect, it is the story of Germany's invasion of Norway.

Written during the war, however, the piece was written as propaganda. Interestingly, in America the story received a great deal of criticism because Steinbeck humanized the enemy soldiers rather than simply portraying them as horrible occupiers. On the other hand, in Europe the piece immediately became popular and formative for the resistance movements. In the introduction it states, "It never occurred to them [The Europeans] that the novel was sympathetic to their enemy. In fact, they regarded it as far more effective than the prevailing formula propaganda, which struck them as comical because it was so absurdly exaggerated."

The stories, too, of how this piece of fiction was reproduced and smuggled from Sweden to Norway in everything from airplanes, to sleds and rail cars, as well as its spread to Denmark, the Netherlands and France, is astounding. Steinbeck, thousands of miles away in America, effectively caught the mood of the citizens opposing the German occupation. According to one Norwegian, the book was "the epic of the Norwegian underground."

I eagerly picked up the book, bought it, and am currently ripping through its mere 112 pages (imagining what it would have been like in thin tissue-paper pamphlet form, as it was when smuggled from Sweden and across the border).

Although Steinbeck again was successful in his writing of this, it is possible that the story behind the story may even be better than the story itself. We shall see.

The Other Perspective

So I am in the midst.. really the heart.. of writing my dissertation (as they call it here).
It is really coming along and I think I am well beyond my half-way point which is very exciting.
Writing on Afghanistan is difficult, though, because of how current it is and how things keep changing on the ground.
I tried to manage this by focusing in on the civil-military partnership in Afghanistan which, although not static, has followed a relatively consistent trend over the past eight years, or at least until the McChrystal Assessment last fall which actually doubled the number of civilians on the ground. ("Doubled" may be misleading. That means, 500 - 1,000 which is actually still nothing in a country of 32 million).

My paper, in an attempt also to keep it focused, has accepted the policy in Afghanistan as it is and does not attempt to critique whether or not we SHOULD be there per se, but rather if what we are doing there in terms of Civil-Military work really transcends the unique, non-linear nature of the war.

Talking to a friend of mine the other day who also happens to be a Marine, he brought my attention to a story from last fall when a former Marine, and then later Foreign Service Officer, resigned in protest to the war. In a lot of ways Matt Hoh was the ideal man for Afghanistan; he had been in the military and then civil service, and thus brought both perspectives to his work. His assessment of what was taking place, however, was not quite what Washington had maybe hoped for. Although perhaps a bit of a bleak outlook on Afghanistan, reading this letter was one of those moments in my research where I just felt physically stopped. It is not easy to read, and in a lot of ways I wish and hope that he is wrong. At the same time, he so simply yet articulately states his perception of what is going on on the ground, that on a lot of levels it all seems crystal clear.
Regardless of your opinion on the subject, its worth a read.

Memorial Day is this Month

I thought that I would dedicate a separate post to this. Every year I sort of get in a mode of national pride in May for both the countries I claim. Not entirely sure why, although I think part of it is that it is Norway's independence day on May 17th. Additionally, in the end of the month is Memorial Day, when we celebrate all of those veterans who have lost their lives in conflict over the course of our nation's history.

As a part of this, I have found that the past couple of years I have returned to the Band of Brothers miniseries and watched it all the way through. Perhaps a bit of a bizarre tradition, but I think it is important that we remind ourselves from time to time what these men and women are willing to put themselves through out of a sense of duty to our country. Sacrifices have been made from the time of the Revolution through until today. Whether or not we agree with all or any of these wars, one can never underestimate the courage of the individuals who have actually been placed in the conflict and seen war. They must not be seen as perpetrators or executors of bad policy, but rather as public servants. If a soldier is at fault for acting upon command, then the diplomat is equally at fault for agreeing to the policy in the first place (actually, in my opinion, the civilian bears greater responsibility because they create the policy).

I have also read the book, Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose, and highly recommend giving it a read-through. At one point, as the men were preparing for D-Day, one young pilot with a wife at home and a child on the way wrote a letter home, the words of which have really stuck with me for years now.

He said, "We are fortunate in being Americans. At least we don't step on the underdog. I wonder if that's because there are no 'Americans' - only a stew of immigrants - of if it's because the earth from which we exist has been so kind to us and our forefathers; or if it's because the 'American' is the offspring of the logical European who hated oppression and loved freedom beyond life? Those great mountains and the tall timber; the cool deep lakes and broad river; the green valleys and white farmhouses; the air, the sea and wind; the plains and great cities; the smell of living - all must be the cause of it. And yet, with all that, we can't get away from the rest. For every one of our millions who has that treasure in his hand there's another million crying for that victory of life. And for each of us who wants to live in happiness and give happiness, there's another different sort of person wanting to take it away...

Those people always manage to have their say, and Mars is always close at hand. We know how to win wars. We must learn now to win peace... If I ever have a son, I don't want him to go through this again, but I want him powerful enough that no one will be fool enough to touch him. He and America should be strong as hell and kind as Christ."

1 LT Thomas Meehan of the 101st Airborne Division was killed when his plane was shot down over Normandy in the first hours of D-Day.

This year, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have come out with a new mini-series, The Pacific. I have only seen the first installment, but I can already say the whole thing is worth watching. Especially because I think to a large degree (maybe this is my Cambridge perspective kicking in), the Pacific campaign of WWII is so little understood compared to the European. It was a nasty jungle war, and this series reflects that. I think sometimes we need to be made uncomfortable, however, so we realize that war is no romanticized drama.

Easter Term

Well, after logging thousands of miles on skymiles, experiencing every major delta hub in the US of A, and getting 2 brand new flight itineraries, I am back in Cambridge.

The reason for my trips to the USA in April was because I was checking out schools in a last attempt to glean a little insight and feeling as to where I should go to law school this coming fall. In the end, the decision was a lot easier than I ever imagined it would be.

Although Boston is a beautiful city, and I know if I went to Harvard I could make it work and be just fine, I felt that Stanford was a better fit. There is a big difference between the east and west in America, something that I have become acutely aware of since being here in Cambridge and meeting hardly anyone from west of the Mississippi. Not only is the land different, but the ideology, the outlook on life, the people, and the idea that you can try just about anything once -- you may fail, but at least you can give it a try. Its that expanding westward/frontier mentality, I suppose, and I miss it. I am ready to go back for a while.

I am certainly sounding like a sentimental Stegnarian right now. Perhaps I am one.

Coming back to Cambridge was in itself a wonderful thing. I came back to warm weather and everything in full bloom. The city is alive again! One benefit of having a dreary winter is that you come to appreciate the sight and smell of living things much more. Everything is green, and the tree outside my window is now providing shade and cover from the road. In the three weeks that I was gone, Cambridge transformed into one of the most beautiful places and I realized, these last two months are going to go too fast. I am going to miss it.

Currently knee-deep in research (literally, I have books stacked) and I am loving it. I have picked up a couple of books for my work that I think are also interesting and relevant for the "general public" to read. They are two books that were actually juxtaposed and reviewed in one of last year's Foreign Affairs, but I just happened to get them together at the same point and then realized this connection. The first is "In the Graveyard of Empires" by Seth. G. Jones. He gives a history of Afghanistan, rather brief, and then dives deep into the issue of why outside forces always seem to lose Afghanistan, and subsequently lies out an outline for success. David Kilcullen, one of the modern counter-insurgency theorists, wrote a book "The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting small wars in the midst of a big one." He talks a lot about how the insurgent becomes an insurgent -- accidentally. When we infiltrate individuals' territory, they inherently respond defensively and thus become part of the fighting insurgency. Kilcullen is quoted as saying at one point, " If I were a Muslim, I'd probably be a jihadist. The thing that drives these guys - a sense of adventure, wanting to be part of the movement, wanting to be in the big movement of history that's happening now -- that the same thing that drives me, you know?" He has served as senior advisor to General David Petraeus and been the chief counterterrorism strategist for the State Department. Needless to say, this guy has the credentials to back up what he says. Highly recommend these books if you are interested at all in a little more Afghanistan/strategy reading!

Finally, and the total flip-side of the arguments presented in these two books, I ran across an article the other day written by a friend of a friend (is that a fair connection to make? I only do it because it was this friend who initially sent it to me).

Titled "Are we losing Afghanistan?" He makes a fair argument about the host of troubles when a deadline is set, and the general population is aware of this. How can we expect these local populations to fundamentally change their allegiances when we are telling them that we will be gone in another year? Food for thought.

Happy Easter (In video Format)!

Turkey

Spring break in Turkey, chronicle of events to follow, but enjoy the photos for now...

Spring is Here

when the temperature is warm enough, and the sun is out, it means I can dry my laundry outside. this is also the telltale sign that spring is here. finally!