Lessons from Military History

In this special episode of Battlegrounds in honor of Black History Month, H.R. McMaster and Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Robinson, US Army (Retired), son of General Roscoe Robinson Jr., the first African American four-star general in the U.S. Army, discuss his father’s determination and dedication to serve his country even as he confronted racial inequities in the U.S. military and how all Americans can learn from his leadership and legacy. http://hvr.co/3uqeuwm

Military history burst onto the news last week with the statement of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany justifying the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany as an apology for Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s invasion of the USSR in 1941. June 22 will be the eightieth anniversary of the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the German head of state said. More than twenty million people of the former Soviet Union fell victim to the war. We can’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Yes, we now live in a time of difficult relations but there was a past before that and a there will be a future after it. -Andrew Roberts

Deciding whether the path towards containing China is best served through improved relations with Russia correctly implies that the United States will ultimately need help to do so. The idea of aligning with any country for security is rooted in the principles of realism and balance-of-power designed to create a stabilizing equilibrium among great powers. -Hy Rothstein

In this ninth episode of Battlegrounds, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster and former President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovi discuss education reform, peacebuilding in South East Europe, and strategies to achieve energy security and combat cyber-enabled information warfare. http://hvr.co/2N60XcR

Theoretically, two superpowersthe United States and Russiashould go after China, a rising contender, to preserve the established hierarchy. But it won’t happen. For an instructive historical lesson, go back to a comparable constellation when that master of manipulation, Henry Kissinger, failed to play China against the Soviet Union. -Josef Joffe