Planet B – Book of the Week

Those of us concerned about the mounting ill effects of climate change, have often heard the rallying cry reminder “There is no Planet B”.   Agile Strategist readers might ask, “Well, why not?”  This is the theme of the mind-expanding Book of the Week: The Case for Mars by Dr. Robert Zubrin and Richard Wagner.

The authors describe the philosophical reasons that mankind should journey to and work from Mars, and they offer the precise technical options to do so.  The writing is clear and understandable; one does not need an engineering or astrophysics background to understand and take a lot from the book.  With chapters on “Getting There”, segments disabusing the myths and claims against, and several chapters detailing a practical, viable colonization and work production strategy, Zubrin and Wagner leave the reader asking, “Well, why not?”

Conflicts of a COINista - Book of the Week

Dr. John Nagl has published an autobiography distinguished by eloquence and insight.  His just released Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice is the Book of the Week.  The Agile Strategist was fortunate to attend the official book launch this week at the Center for a New American Security, where NPR’s Steve Inskeep moderated an hour’s conversation with the author.  There was a little humor, but Nagl’s analysis and recommendations for our course in Iraq were sobering.   

Dr. Nagl has seen war and high-level defense policy deliberations at close range.  Both experiences have left him determined to promulgate his observations.  The ghosts of the men lost under his command in Iraq will permit no other course.  He is unflinching in his assessments of the mistakes of our recent defense policy decisions, and urges a cold eyed but necessary future course.

A “COINista”, one of the free-thinking and obstreperous group that agitated successfully for the Army to re-learn how to fight a counter-insurgency war in Iraq, (and then literally helped write the book on how to do so) Nagl populates his memoir with a sense of sadness undaunted.  He was justifiably proud to serve, but the journey has had its costs.  Readers should avail themselves of his insights.  We owe that to the thousands of war casualties whose sacrifices he seeks to recount and turn into waypoints for the future.    

Shake It Out Tomorrow

Here’s your friendly reminder.  All my readers know that The Agile Strategist is a big believer in preparation.  Tomorrow, Thursday October 16^th, is the Great Shakeout to raise preparedness for earthquakes.

Most of the populated world has the potential to be affected by earthquakes.  They occur relatively regularly, at all levels of intensity, and with no warning.  They can be minor or tragically catastrophic.  There are things we can do to prepare.

At  http://www.shakeout.org/home.html    there’s a lot of information about tomorrow’s focused preparedness event, how other training drills can be developed, and a wealth of links to raise knowledge levels about what to do during and after a quake.

So tell your friends, bosses, colleagues, families, and neighbors.  And most of all, remind yourself what to do.  Practice for just a few minutes.  It might be a lifesaver one day.

Value Speed – Book of the Week

The laws of physics must be obeyed.  Yet within them, speed may be harvested, if you value it enough.  Look for example at this week’s book recommendation: Michael Lewis’s Flash Boys.  There are several intriguing stories that unfold in this work via Lewis’s masterful writing.  But the one that caught the eye of The Agile Strategist was an early chapter about fiber optic cable paths. 

Electrical impulses, it turns out, are like everything else.  They obey the laws of physics and cover shorter distances faster.  What’s the shortest distance? A straight-line.  So a fiber optic cable between two markets (Chicago and New York) that was laid in an exactly straight line, would permit impulses (trading signals) to travel to a destination faster.  Faster than what? Faster than any path that wasn’t a straight line.  And, of course, there is financial advantage in getting information more quickly at the destination – even if the marginal difference is microseconds.   The reader can enjoy the maneuverings and nerve it took to obtain the rights of way for that straight-line cable path.  It’s a superb entrepreneurial tale.

Translate this idea to other strategic challenges.  How quickly can the world community move how much of what to West Africa to combat Ebola?  How rapidly can US Liquid Natural Gas port facilities be remodeled to permit large-scale export of product, instead of just the current import capability?  There are numerous other current examples.

Read Lewis this week, think about speed as a strategic factor, value and harvest rapidity.

Gain Perspective - Book of the Week

This first weekend in October, 2014 is tumultuous around the globe.  There are events underway on each continent with potentially far-reaching effects: massive street demonstrations in Hong Kong, war against ISIS in the Levant, Ebola in Africa with cases spreading via international air travel links, Presidential elections in Brazil, fears of resumption of combat in Eastern Ukraine, and unexpected diplomatic dialogue on the Korean peninsula.

Seeking perspective is always useful.  To that end, The Agile Strategist respectfully submits an (Inaugural) Book of the Week recommendation.   The Lessons of History by Will & Ariel Durant is well-suited for helping one see that turbulence is not particularly unusual.

The Durants were a husband and wife team that devoted the decades of their lives together to write the magisterial, multi-volume Story of Civilization.  If you are unfamiliar with this work, treat yourself to selecting any of the 11 volumes, opening it at random, and spending a few moments reading one of the segments.  I guarantee you will learn something (probably several somethings), that you didn’t know.

The Lessons of History is a thin summary work – the Durants’ own attempt at perspective.  With Chapters like “Biology and History” and “ and “History and War”, they “zoom out” succinctly and effectively.  Read the Durants this week.  As the headlines unfold, you’ll be more resilient and discerning.  Good qualities in tumult.