The Links Of Syria

September 17, 2013 by

A participant in my recent Workshop on leadership and credibility asked a great question: what are the key historical connections with the Syrian civil war and the US interaction with it? Super question. Here is my thought: five jump to mind. First, the current situation in Syria points to something I've been pounding on for the past three years. We are reliving the replaying of the late 1930s. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Gulf War I, Gulf War II, History, Iraq, Leadership, Syria

Obama And Circularity

August 30, 2013 by

No political point-scoring. I'm not interested. What does interest me very much is to note something that I think you'd agree is a weird part of life. Circularity. How many times have you seen or watched something at one point in your life, perhaps criticized the person or people involved, and then discovered that at a later point many of the same circumstances and issues suddenly find their way … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Barack Obama, Circularity, George W. Bush, River, Syria

Syria And The 1930s

August 28, 2013 by

I've made the point numerous times that we're living in a bit of time warp. To me, it feels like a replay of the 1930s. I won't belabor all the reasons for why I think this. Let me focus for the moment on the current situation in Syria. Italy was one of the focal points of unfolding international controversy in the 1930s. Its expansion into northern Africa was done as a junior partner in an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1930s, Iran, Italy, Nazi Germany, Syria

Sand Lines, Numerical Thresholds, And Other Stuff From The Future

December 13, 2012 by

We spend a lot of time in the future. Maybe more than we realize. The future is a major part of leadership. Because of that, we would do well to be more aware of how frequently we refer to the time that is ahead of us. I’ll give you two examples from current events. First, the Obama Administration has announced lately that the government of Syria won’t be allowed to use chemical weapons against … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Federal Reserve, Future, Leadership, Obama, Syria