Search Results for: military

Return of the Hit Man

Return of the Hit Man

Return of the Hit Man

Longreads Pick

Cradling a cosmopolitan in his plump right hand, Don Kirshner is reminiscing about his former life as a pop-music mogul and getting a little wistful. All the hits, all the bands, all the favors he did for up-and-comers. But here he sits, at the best table in this swanky restaurant, pretty much forgotten. Slighted is a better word for it, or that’s the way he feels, anyway. Yes, the maitre d’ and the waiters here know who he is. And the other retirees in the nearby plush gated community where he lives will pat him on the back and say things like, “This guy is spectacular. Spectacular!” But the rest of the world? “I’m a military secret,” he rasps in a blustery Bronx accent.

Source: Washington Post
Published: Dec 20, 2004
Length: 13 minutes (3,496 words)

The History of the Glock in America—and What Happened To Our Conversation About Gun Laws

The History of the Glock in America—and What Happened To Our Conversation About Gun Laws

The Tyranny of Defense Inc.

The Tyranny of Defense Inc.

The Man Who Spilled the Secrets

The Man Who Spilled the Secrets

The Tyranny of Defense Inc.

Longreads Pick

For those at the top, the American military profession is that rare calling where retirement need not imply a reduced income. On the contrary: senior serving officers shed their uniforms not merely to take up golf or go fishing but with the reasonable expectation of raking in big money. In a recent e-mail, a serving officer who is a former student of mine reported that on a visit to the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army—in his words, “the Sodom and Gomorrah of the Military Industrial Complex”—he was “accosted by two dozen former bosses, now in suits with fancy ties and business cards, hawking the latest defense technologies.”

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Jan 4, 2011
Length: 13 minutes (3,410 words)

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be the Taliban: Tourism in Afghanistan

If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be the Taliban: Tourism in Afghanistan

If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be the Taliban: Tourism in Afghanistan

Longreads Pick

Tactically, our vacation had begun to feel similar to a military raid—rush in and rush out—and it was both exhilarating and unsatisfying. You were trying to be a tourist in a place that didn’t allow for it. You could strike up a conversation with a shopkeeper, but he might be a Taliban informant. You could wander down some beckoning side street, but you might not be seen again. It was the central paradox of a Hann trip: we were in Afghanistan, but the country still felt just out of reach.

Source: Outside
Published: Dec 10, 2010
Length: 25 minutes (6,349 words)

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

Longreads Pick

Viewed historically, the question is not whether the United States will lose its unchallenged global power, but just how precipitous and wrenching the decline will be. In place of Washington’s wishful thinking, let’s use the National Intelligence Council’s own futuristic methodology to suggest four realistic scenarios for how, whether with a bang or a whimper, US global power could reach its end in the 2020s (along with four accompanying assessments of just where we are today). The future scenarios include: economic decline, oil shock, military misadventure, and World War III.

Source: The Nation
Published: Dec 8, 2010
Length: 18 minutes (4,713 words)