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Pat is currently writing nonfiction works exclusively in the areas of
national security, foreign affairs, and military history. The following
are projects on which he is currently working. Pat also accepts
solicitations for articles and essays in these areas. To submit a proposal,
click here.
Adobe Acrobat is required to view all of
the articles and documents on this page
- Ideas to Die For:
Seizing the Arab Spring to Move Beyond the War on Terrorism
(Book-length manuscript, ~250 pages,
Complete)
“The United States has spent a
decade trying to reshape the Muslim world by force. Attacked by a dangerous
ideology that seeks to destroy Western civilization--salifist jihadism--America
responded by sending its unmatched military to fight two wars halfway around
the world. Yet, rather than destroy the threat and defeat this ideology,
America has found itself embroiled in stubborn insurgencies that every day
attract more young men from across the Islamic world to join the jihad
against the West.
“Meanwhile, young people
across the Arab world, from Tunisia to Egypt, Libya to Bahrain, have stood
up to reshape the Middle East themselves. This so-called Arab Spring
is sweeping away Western-backed despots, but its future is far from certain;
it could be the opening act in the transformation of the Muslim world into a
community of thriving democracies, a den of despotic regimes, a region of
failed states, or a land of salifist theocracies. America must either
rapidly pivot from a strategy of war to one of mass politics or remain a
spectator as this opportunity slips away.”
For inquiries concerning this
work, contact Pat's literary agent, Grace Freedson. For contact
information, click
here.
Proposal: Ideas to Die For: Seizing the Arab Spring to Move
Beyond the War on Terrorism
- Clausewitz 101
(Nonfiction article, 3,500 words, complete)
You may have never heard
the name Carl von Clausewitz, but if you have even a passing interest in
current affairs or military history, you have almost certainly heard the
“quotable” Clausewitz. He is best known to Americans for saying, “War is
the continuation of politics by other means.” Terms he coined, like
center of gravity and the fog of war, have become the vocabulary for
American military thought. A post-Vietnam rediscovery of Clausewitz
shaped the Powell Doctrine and the US military that was so successful in
the first Gulf War. Some say it is the legacy of this revival that is
causing the US military so many problems in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
This article was written for
Armchair
General Magazine. It will appear in the magazine in 2011.
"Clausewitz 101" excerpt
- An Unlikely Start to a World War
(Nonfiction article, 1,500 words, complete)
The Forks [the site of modern day Pittsburgh]
became ground zero for a clash between two great empires which ignited
the first true world war. This war began with the unlikeliest chain of
events and most colorful cast of characters. Among them was a young
colonial officer who would one day be a household name.
This article was written for
Armchair
General Magazine. It will appear in the magazine in 2011.
"An Unlikely Start to a World War" excerpt
- The
Vietnam "Surge"
(Nonfiction article,
5,800
words, complete)
After the loss of both houses
of Congress in midterm elections in 2006, President George W. Bush doubled
down on his Iraq war policy. In a dramatic change in strategy that has come
to be known as the Iraq “surge,” he authorized the deployment of an
additional 20,000 troops to Baghdad and al Anbar province in a last-ditch
effort to salvage the war. He also replaced Gen. George Casey with Gen.
David Patraeus and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with Richard Gates.
Along with more troops and a new security team came a new strategy: instead
of watching from forward operating bases while Iraq ripped itself apart, US
forces struck deals with Sunni insurgents and moved out into the cities to
focus on protecting the population.
Four decades earlier, the Vietnam War saw
similar, wholesale changes. After the Tet Offensive, senior military leaders
were replaced and the strategy changed dramatically. And, just as in the
Iraq war, the changes netted positive results: North Vietnamese Army (NVA)
and Viet Cong attacks were less frequent and less effective, American
casualties decreased, American troops came home by the thousands, and, most
importantly, the South Vietnamese government was more stable than it had
ever been. Yet, unlike in the Iraq war, this change in strategy did not
yield a dramatic change in public opinion. After an initial “bump,” public
support for the war cratered. Nixon was finally forced to accept a
humiliating compromise peace with North Vietnam that set the stage for the
eventual destruction of South Vietnam.
This article is currently under
consideration
Journalism History by .
"The Vietnam 'Surge'"
excerpt
- The Information Engagement Band-Aid
(Nonfiction article,
2,700
words, complete)
While the sentiment is
laudable, the solution is suspect. Putting public affairs and PSYOP together
on a chart or explicitly calling public affairs an information operations
(IO) capability does not address the underlying problem. Public affairs is
the only discipline designed to communicate in the media and it seeks only
to inform, not influence, while PSYOP seeks to influence but cannot
effectively use the media. This new Army IO construct, even if applied to
the entire US military, cannot cure the US military’s fundamental inability
to fight effectively in the media battlespace.
This article is currently under consideration by
the
Artillery Journal.
"The Information Engagement Band-Aid" (~2,700 words)
- Defining the Media Battlespace
(Nonfiction article, 3-5,000 words, complete)
The
past half century of warfare has seen a military revolution, the
telecommunications revolution, which has fundamentally reshaped warfare
and society in dramatic ways. The US military embraced this revolution
and successfully reshaped itself by embarking on a revolution in
military affairs, becoming networked and computerized. By doing so, it
temporarily gained an asymmetric advantage over every other military in
the world. However, it has been caught completely unprepared for a
second revolution in military affairs (RMA), the media-enabled
insurgency, and now finds itself at an asymmetric disadvantage to its
enemy in Iraq.
"Fighting in the Media Battlespace" is currently under consideration by
the
Air
and Space Power Journal for publication.
"Defining the Media Battlespace" (short version-3,000 words)
"Defining the Media Battlespace" (5,000 words)
"Fighting in the Media Battlespace" (5,000 words)
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