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Critiques US strategy in Afghanistan, contending that ambition is its fundamental flaw, with the US & NATO trying to do too much. It is argued that the opted-for population-centric counterinsurgency does not clarify US policy in Afghanistan nor provide any guidance with respect to de-escalation. Further, the inability of the Afghan government to inspire confidence among the populace is a key obstacle to success, along with Pakistan's support of the Afghan Taliban as a strategic partner. Advocated is a more modest approach that acknowledges the limits of US power & the usual constraints of any counterinsurgency. Adapted from the source document.

This past April, the U.S. Department of Defense released an inauspicious two-page "Fact Sheet" outlining the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), a comprehensive examination of the U.S. military's strategic posture. Such a document rarely raises eyebrows outside the cloistered world of military analysts and wonks. But this unremarkable two-pager speaks volumes about the roles and responsibilities of the U.S. military in the beginning of the twenty-first century. It begins by laying out an exhaustive list of "threats and challenges the nation faces." Key security challenges include "violent extremist movements, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, rising powers with sophisticated weapons, failed or failing states, and increasing encroachment across the global commons (air, sea, space, cyber-space)." Confronting these challenges suggests a broad national mandate for the U.S. military.

A summation of a two-page document outlining the US Dept of Defense's 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review underscores the assertion that the military is chief architect & implementer of US foreign & national security policy. The development of this situation is traced, highlighting the post-Cold War period & the utilization of a massive & essentially unchallenged military during relative peacetime in military operations other than wars. Problems inherent to a militarized foreign policy defined by security threats & challenges are described, along with the crisis in civil-military relations this has fostered. A reconceptualization of fundamental US security interests is called for. D. Edelman. Adapted from the source document.

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, a mass culture of popular radicalism – consisting of various socialist, industrial unionist, anarchist, Progressive, feminist, black radical and other movements – arose to challenge the legitimacy of corporate capitalism in the United States. This article considers the role of radical cartoonists in propagandizing for, and forging unity within, this culture of popular radicalism. By articulating a common set of anti-capitalist values and providing a recognizable series of icons and enemies, radical cartoonists worked to generate a class politics of laugher that was at once entertaining and didactic. Through a discussion of the works of Art Young for The Masses, Ryan Walker's cartoons for the socialist newspaper, Appeal to Reason, and the proletarian humor of Joe Hill and the IWW, this article argues that radical cartooning did not merely provide comic relief for the movements, but was an active force in framing socialist ideology and goals in a revolutionary age.

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, a mass culture of popular radicalism - consisting of various socialist, industrial unionist, anarchist, Progressive, feminist, black radical and other movements - arose to challenge the legitimacy of corporate capitalism in the United States. This article considers the role of radical cartoonists in propagandizing for, and forging unity within, this culture of popular radicalism. By articulating a common set of anti-capitalist values and providing a recognizable series of icons and enemies, radical cartoonists worked to generate a class politics of laugher that was at once entertaining and didactic. Through a discussion of the works of Art Young for The Masses, Ryan Walker's cartoons for the socialist newspaper, Appeal to Reason, and the proletarian humor of joe Hill and the IWW, this article argues that radical cartooning did not merely provide comic relief for the movements, but was an active force in framing socialist ideology and goals in a revolutionary age.

It is almost always the case that a "spontaneous" movement of the subaltern classes is accompanied by a reactionary movement of the right-wing of the dominant class, for concomitant reasons. An economic crisis, for instance, engenders on the one hand discontent among the subaltern classes and spontaneous mass movements, and on the other conspiracies among the reactionary groups, who take advantage of the objective weakening of the government in order to attempt coup d'Etat. ŠŠŠŠAntonio Gramsci
When the true history of this decade shall be written in other and less troubled times; when facts not hidden come to light in details now rendered vague and obscure; truth will show that on some recent date, in a secluded office on Wall Street or luxurious parlor of some wealthy club on lower Manhattan, some score of America's kings of industry, captains of commerce and Kaisers of finance met in secret conclave and plotted the enslavement of millions of workers. Today details are obscured. The paper on which these lines are penciled is criss-crossed by the shadow of prison bars; my ears are be-set by the clang of steel doors, the jangle of fetters and the curses of jail guards. Truth, before it can speak, is strangled by power. Yet the big fact looms up, like a mountain above the morning mists; organized wealth has conspired to enslave Labor, and—in enforcing its will—it stops at nothing, not even midnight murders and wholesale slaughter. It has laughed at law, subverted popular government local, state and national, and spread a network of protected villainy from coast to coast. ŠŠŠŠHarrison George, Member of IWW Executive Committee

The appearance of this special issue of Organization Science reflects—and will surely increase—the attention organizational researchers are paying to studies of "complex systems." There has been a remarkable wave of interest in this synthesis of concepts arising from the intersection of biology, physics, and computer science. However, if this line of work is to develop into a permanent source of valuable ideas for organizational researchers, rather than to prove a passing fancy, we need to begin sharpening our appraisal of the promise and limitations of complex systems theories in the study of organization. To have real value, such new ideas cannot for very long be characterized as the potential answer to almost every question. A period of testing their applicability across a spectrum of issues is needed. This will help us to determine on which problems the ideas work best, and which are best attacked with other tools.