Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen
The New Social Distance Way of War
If we don’t see Americans on the front lines killing and getting killed, is it still a war? Could the pandemic make our wars disappear? On this show, retired US Army Major Danny Sjursen looks at the new social distancing version of war, and the future of our seemingly endless wars. Sjursen, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and has taught history at West Point, argues that our new strategy: machines, militia, and mercenaries is another way to fail. With people in Somalia, Iran, and Venezuela feeling the terror of not being able to social distance from the coronavirus, when there is the added threat of attacks funded and directed by the US, the result will be more support for even repressive local regimes. Sjursen says the Covid 19 crisis really is an opportunity for systemic critique and change.