Codevilla on war and international affairs: Groups are who they are, want what they want, and do what they do.

 From "Advice to War Presidents" by Angelo Codevilla who passed away this week:

"This book .. looks at international affairs as the interaction of individuals and groups
who are what they are, want what they want, and do what they do. 
It is about the consequences of forgetting common-sense definitions: 
that diplomacy is mere communication,
that international intercourse requires a positive imbalance of means over ends,
that allies are available in inverse proportion to the need for them,
and that war is the avenue to peace via the gateway of the enemy's death or submission."

"No amount of wishing can
abstract from fact that we are one variety or another of Sinotic or North African or Negroid or European,
or break the molds in which our civilizations cast us,
cancel the categories that our relgions have stamped on our minds,
make tasteful the things that have revolted us since childhood,
lessen our tribal averisons and affections,
or reduce the relevance of the regimes in which we live.
Our statesmen deny the relevance of diffferences - of other people's loves and hates, calcualations and intrigues - treating all as if they were not foreign at all." 

Quotes available in the free sample download in Kindle.