A new study sheds light on weather events in one part of the world and violence elsewhere on the planet. And it’s the light that’s doing it!

Poet David Wojahn writes of war and loss and death and America at the end of one bloody century and the beginning of another. Read him.

Courtney Messerschmidt takes a part-time job at Line of Departure. I told her she has to be in at 10 p.m. And that’s in the house and not on the porch, young lady!

A lifetime ago Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho sat down across from each other in a Paris apartment. Both understood Clausewitz. We sure should try to understand all three. And ourselves.

Line of Departure gets a lot younger, smarter and prettier. Ladies and gentlemen, live from Athens, your future Secretary of State, Courtney Messerschmidt! With a cameo by Starbuck. Photos might not be work friendly.

A vagabond Irish bounder steals Tate’s London show. Sounds like one of my ancestors! A peek at the photos of John Burke and Simon Norfolk.

President Obama is going to give a speech about troop reductions in Afghanistan. But it’s largely meaningless. Five points to consider.

What’s the deal with Juan Cole? He wanted the war in Libya he got. I guess in the end, Cole just wanted a whole lot more war.

It took nine decades to finish the Akkadian dictionary, but the words from those who spoke it are still with us today. And so are the military innovations that made the Assyrians, and their language, great.

Cato’s Chris Preble arrives for a Prine of Departure interview. We talk Libya, Afghanistan, future Pentagon budget cuts and the death of Osama bin Laden.