Austin Bay Austin Bay is author of three novels. His third novel, The Wrong Side of Brightness, was published by Putnam/Jove in June 2003. He has also co-authored four non-fiction books, to include A Quick and Dirty Guide to War: Third Edition (with James Dunnigan, Morrow, 1996). Bay writes a syndicated column on international affairs for Creators Syndicate. He is a commentator on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, covering foreign affairs but often addressing issues in Texas that have a national interest. Bay has appeared as a guest commentator on Fox News Channel, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC and ABC News' "Nightline," as well as on numerous regional radio and TV shows. As a journalist, he has filed reports from throughout Europe, Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He is a contributing editor to FYEO, an Internet foreign affairs newsletter found at www.StrategyPage.com, and writes a weblog on his home page, www.austinbay.net. Bay, who has had two commercial wargames published, worked for four years as a special consultant in wargaming in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (1989-1993). He is a colonel (retired) in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 2004, he was recalled to active duty and served in Iraq as chief of strategic initiatives, Multi-National Corps-Iraq (May-September 2004). He received the Bronze Star for meritorious service in Iraq. Bay also served on active duty in the Pentagon during Operation Desert Storm (1991). On active duty in the 1970s, Bay served in Germany as a tank platoon leader in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and as an assistant operations and chemical/nuclear defense officer in the headquarters of 1st Infantry Division's forward brigade group. (Goeppingen, Germany). While with 1st Infantry Division, his duties included liaison work with NATO allied units - in particular with West German, Canadian, and French forces. In 1995, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization sent him to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to observe anti-ballistic missile training exercises. In 1999, Bay accepted a special reserve tour in Guatemala, where he was deputy commander of a Hurricane Mitch recovery operation and medical relief mission. In October 2001, Bay served a two-week tour with Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. Bay has a bachelor of arts from Rice University (1973) and has a Ph.D. in English and comparative literature from Columbia University (1987). He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School and the U.S. Army War College. He currently teaches a course in strategy and strategic theory for the University of Texas' PLAN 2 undergraduate honors program. Recent projects include organizing a micro-development aid project for the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Texas. Bay is a member of The Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, The Modern Language Association, The Reserve Officers Association, The National Conference of Editorial Writers and The Society of Professional Journalists. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2012 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Wed, 16 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT Wed, 16 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ The last two decades have demonstrated that NATO's post-Cold War death notices reprised a classic Mark Twain one-liner. When Twain learned that a New York newspaper had published his obituary, he wisecracked, "The... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/05/16/chicago_summit_showcase_for_a_21st_century_nato 50a4f3bc-0ec4-49a6-be5d-8f6b0e5eb8af Wed, 16 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT The 23-year-old photograph is a stunning record of Chinese courage past and an insight into China's present political turmoil. Unless China's government chooses liberty and just law over tyranny and crony corruption,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/05/09/chinas_dilemma_berlin_transition_or_tiananmen_destruction 11f380fb-5ab3-4266-9af0-35799ced5cf4 Wed, 09 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT NAFTA isn't NATO, at least not yet. However, the North American defense ministers conference hosted by Canada the last week of March sent the low-key but categorically public message that Mexico has emerged as the U.S.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/05/02/naftas_evolving_nato c0a9a5f4-57d3-48ac-aa07-2ca99b61453d Wed, 02 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT In the last two weeks, the lingering war between Sudan (northern Sudan, capital in Khartoum) and South Sudan (capital in Juba) has escalated dramatically. Fearing a wider regional war involving other east and central... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/04/25/sudan_versus_south_sudan_mixing_volatile_oil_water_and_religion 6ee96976-0693-408f-9328-f4ac0caebbfe Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:01:00 GMT Bashir al-Assad's Syrian dictatorship is fighting a "creeping war of repression" hideously similar to the "creeping war of aggression" Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian dictatorship pursued,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/04/18/creators_oped 084aad67-3adc-49bc-858f-56cac409f3f3 Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:01:00 GMT This past Tuesday, April 10, as the ceasefire arranged by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan supposedly commenced, Syrian rebels posted a short video on the Internet that they claimed showed mortar shells... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/04/11/creators_oped a68092e8-dba0-4a2f-acfc-8a78249d0888 Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:01:00 GMT Somali pirates launched fewer successful attacks on commercial shipping in 2011. European Union nations want that trend to continue through 2012 and beyond. Last week, EU nations agreed to let their military forces... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/04/04/creators_oped ba20dc76-c4e1-449d-9a7c-0c035b697068 Wed, 04 Apr 2012 04:01:00 GMT As President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ended a public conference in South Korea (a nation demonstrably threatened by North Korean ballistic missiles), a still-open microphone inadvertently... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/03/28/creators_oped b16d9c40-e4fc-4eed-8017-71e9ad89313f Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:01:00 GMT China's tough neighborhood has gotten just a little bit tougher for China, diplomatically and militarily, and Beijing ought to blame its own political blundering. Consider South Korea and Vietnam, two of China's... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/03/21/creators_oped b026873a-598e-4a82-8c21-704bc315fc20 Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:01:00 GMT In the wake of the murder of 16 innocent Afghan civilians, slain by a lone American soldier, the Afghan government is asking the Obama administration to do two things. The first request should surprise no one. The... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/03/14/creators_oped f3e10904-b247-46b2-8105-051cf2f90345 Wed, 14 Mar 2012 04:01:00 GMT Argentina is using the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War to tout its historical claim to the South Atlantic islands. The diplomatic ballyhoo includes trade threats aimed at Great Britain, with a belligerent hint of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/03/07/creators_oped 72249647-861c-4af5-90cb-221be7817c80 Wed, 07 Mar 2012 05:01:00 GMT Syria's Assad regime is conducting a deadly and very personal counterattack on its most dangerous enemy: information. Syria is now the most crucial battleground in the Counter-Information War waged by closed... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/02/29/creators_oped 8f5e2a54-8929-478e-9d7a-3433b66b95f6 Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT Last month, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper told the U.S. Senate that "Mexico"s government remains committed to fighting the country's drug cartels and enacting reforms aimed at strengthening the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/02/22/creators_oped 69afe4b4-f940-4fb4-bca1-0a763c722cf0 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT Anarchists tossing firebombs celebrated the Greek government's latest round of economic austerity measures. In their violent revelry's afterglow, four dozen or so Athenian buildings became party candles and 150 Athenian... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/02/15/creators_oped 26c201fe-3e3e-42dd-b42a-0c043701089e Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT In a Feb. 1 Wall Street Journal essay, the always eloquent and astute Fouad Ajami characterized Syria's bitter and bloody struggle as the Cold War's last battle. Ajami's Cold War frame is very instructive -- to a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/02/08/creators_oped d800fc3b-ec9b-47b9-b921-1a21cfbb3be7 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT Sudan and South Sudan's slow yet deadly war of blood for oil reserves has ensnared Africa's slyest empire builder: Communist China. The two Sudans' complex background helps illustrate China's emerging diplomatic... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/02/01/creators_oped d1777e91-127c-43bb-affe-fa38fc1f9953 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT Should war with Iran erupt, you can bet the 2012 election that the Obama administration hopes the national press will conveniently forget Ambassador Ryan Crocker's September 2007 reply to Rep. Tom Lantos' belittling... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/01/25/creators_oped af4ba2bf-c69d-468e-88a7-593c65fa889b Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT February 2012 will mark the 40th anniversary of former President Richard Nixon's historic Cold War visit to China. Nixon's trip produced the Shanghai Communique, a diplomatic statement in which both the U.S. and a still... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/01/18/creators_oped 23250cdf-b7a6-4c49-85c0-067673bea0e2 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT President Barack Obama's new American defense strategy doesn't look so new. His election-slanted Defense Strategic Guidance manifesto sounds more than a bit like Donald Rumsfeld-era chatter circa summer 2001. Aircraft,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/01/11/creators_oped b472f8ba-5c93-4106-94fa-15bd5df1a5df Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT Colossal sovereign debts owed by member nations may yet shatter the eurozone. The political effects of a euro-breakup are uncertain, though Greece may be serving as an unfortunate indicator of what a small state can... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2012/01/04/creators_oped ca69c081-a031-4003-8902-42c9df5c3362 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT Cultural adaptation is a perniciously slow process. It has been a decade since Bernard Lewis' classic "What Went Wrong?" appeared in the wake of al-Qaida's 9/11 massacres. That short book reflected... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/12/28/2011_bin_laden_and_arab_spring_in_context e20c0c0e-15bc-4162-a2e1-aecd8bc9032c Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:01:00 GMT For the second time in two decades, North Korea's hereditary communist state confronts dynastic change -- and the civilized world, wary of the chronically belligerent realm's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/12/21/creators_oped 56787017-7dd0-499f-8394-846df325fb62 Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:01:00 GMT Iran's tyrannical regime has sent the world what passes for a holiday greeting in contemporary Tehran -- a grim and cynical threat. This week, a member of Iran's National Security Committee intimated that Iran would... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/12/14/creators_oped be9f9f36-b835-4c78-ac13-6e0c60b9f1b0 Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:01:00 GMT Imagination, deception and audacity, in combination, are the deadly acme of warfare. Japan’s Pearl Harbor ambush of America’s Pacific Fleet, which occurred 70 years ago this week, displayed these traits.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/12/06/creators_oped a734d28b-09c4-4f12-a63a-3569753b3e04 Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:01:00 GMT The social and economic success of Arab Spring 2011's revolutions hinges on the personal and public integrity of democratic political Islamists, like the leaders of Tunisia's Ennahda Party claim to be.This week,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/11/30/tunisia_and_its_islamists_the_revolution,_phase_two aac5a93b-5fd6-4310-9a04-bb1de9ad86e2 Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT On Aug. 25, members of the Zetas drug cartel gang attacked a casino in Monterrey, Mexico, and murdered 52 people.It was a particularly gruesome act of mass slaughter, even for a nation that has seen 40,000 people killed... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/11/16/failed_states,_curtailed_states_terror_versus_crime f928fdc3-ec1d-4ff7-a6f9-e7c0b82460a4 Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT In 1981, Israeli fighter-bombers attacked and destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor. That airstrike, widely condemned by the so-called civilized world, kept the truly barbaric Saddam Hussein from obtaining a nuclear... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/11/09/iran_armageddon_one_day_closer beb9b03c-6812-46e5-a875-b01ca1ec0897 Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT To the chagrin of European Union negotiators, the Greek government of Prime Minister George Papandreou has decided to ask the Greek public to give its yea or nay regarding the terms of the European Union's latest... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/11/02/greeces_papandreou_gambles_on_democracy 8efb4dd4-27f9-45b4-a1f5-07e4d2481083 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:01:00 GMT The people of Tunisia, Arab Spring 2011's first revolutionaries, have earned their chance to struggle with one of the 21st century's most essential political, social and cultural questions: Will democracy moderate... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/10/26/from_arab_spring_to_tunisian_fall_--_islamists_enter_the_school_of_democracy 129d362d-ad42-4f9f-a08e-d2988da30f8a Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:01:00 GMT For almost two decades, Joseph Kony, senior commander of the Ugandan rebel Lords Resistance Army, has practiced a peculiarly evil brand of the sociopathic warfare that curses central Africa. Listing the horrors... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/10/19/tracking_ugandas_lords_resistance_army_the_regional_context 7ed68aed-f792-4d9c-96c2-bc0d27c17876 Wed, 19 Oct 2011 04:01:00 GMT Militant Islamist extremists murdering Egyptian Christians offer one criminal version of change amidst the Arab Spring 2011 revolutions. Islamist extremists, many linked to Iran or al-Qaida, are using assassination and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/10/12/arab_spring_and_the_paradox_of_american_leadership fb23ac0d-5cf4-4680-a23d-7093411ba102 Wed, 12 Oct 2011 04:01:00 GMT The appalling loss of life and physical destruction of al-Qaida's 9-11 suicide air strikes stunned the United States. The shock of surprise -- the unexpected attack "out of nowhere" on the presumed safe havens of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/10/05/ambushing_terror_surprise,_the_predator_and_the_aclu b4e1aa93-b1b9-461d-8bb8-69d85e06ca9a Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:01:00 GMT Remember Darfur, site of the genocide in Western Sudan? Two years ago, in August 2009, the then-United Nations peacekeeping force commander claimed the war in Darfur had "effectively ended." He argued that major attacks... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/09/28/sudanese_genocide_attention_fatigue d01c9d52-2ec8-48df-9555-586b62dee83a Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:01:00 GMT Syria's Arab Spring civil war began as another round in a long struggle between the 10 percent and the 90 percent -- the 10 percent loyal to the Alawite dictatorship of the Assad clan versus everyone else. The civil war... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/09/21/iran_vs_nato_the_twilight_war_in_syria 35a88f32-464e-4048-a6a9-3c9afddb0bc9 Wed, 21 Sep 2011 04:01:00 GMT The generals running Egypt's military services need to decide what kind of future they want for their country, and they must decide quickly. Initial reports of the mob attack on Israel's Cairo embassy suffer from the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/09/14/egyptian_islamist_militants_following_khomeinis_script ea400764-3f7b-487c-98e8-eea0db21a815 Wed, 14 Sep 2011 04:01:00 GMT Osama bin Laden justified 9/11's great evil on the basis of fixing blame for the Islamic world's cultural and political decline. He was angry with the last seven centuries of history -- history gone wrong for Arab... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/09/07/from_911_to_2011_al-qaidas_battle_of_blame 54c7b4ce-03cd-41e5-a2dd-0c6c5ed04e8d Wed, 07 Sep 2011 04:01:00 GMT On Aug. 26, Amnesty International charged that guards loyal to Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi murdered scores of prisoners at two military camps inside Tripoli. The human rights organization based its claim on... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/08/31/gadhafi_atrocities_justify_intervention 3fbf667f-7bf8-42c8-8c34-b7a742b2b18d Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:01:00 GMT Gun battles in Tripoli's suburbs signal the death throes of Muammar Gadhafi's dictatorship. Regime change is succeeding, albeit slowly and with needlessly protracted agony. The honest understand that the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/08/24/libya_2011_now_comes_the_war_for_order 6857ad7f-e3b4-4d48-aca3-2ad52e4e1c83 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 04:01:00 GMT Even for a television talk show, it was an extraordinary claim. During his January 1, 2000, end-of-the-millennium broadcast, "McLaughlin Group" host John McLaughlin declared that his award for... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/08/17/ataturk_an_intellectual_biography 9cae431c-57f6-49cf-9809-e5bd785643c6 Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:01:00 GMT America's military services devote much time and thought to developing strategic leaders. Producing a leader capable of commanding a combat theater like CENTCOM remains a long and involved process, where experience and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/08/10/americas_strategic_leadership_deficit 080285bd-48cb-4dc9-8505-4629a3b35bcf Wed, 10 Aug 2011 04:01:00 GMT In a democracy, when senior military officers can no longer support the policies of the elected civilian government they serve, they are supposed to resign their posts and retire -- not launch a coup. This... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/08/03/turkeys_military_resigns 1fd7cbe1-c076-4be9-8ab1-30608d9ec14f Wed, 03 Aug 2011 04:01:00 GMT In April of this year, it was already apparent that the Libyan War of 2011 had become a curious war of military, economic and political attrition. That was cruel news then, and remains so today. Wars of attrition... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/07/27/libyan_war_2011_a_short_history 7cb235aa-63d3-40a4-ae7b-1564def2f1b9 Wed, 27 Jul 2011 04:01:00 GMT Two of the oldest tricks in the Middle Eastern dictator's grab-bag of deceit and thuggery have failed Syria's Bashar al-Assad. In early June, Assad's regime played the Israel card. Assad's gangsters connived to attack... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/07/20/syrias_twilight_of_the_diversions 8542a8b5-525f-4966-8788-c6db5c4de36e Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:01:00 GMT American troops are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011 --but don't bet that all of them will leave. There are several reasons to maintain a residual, combat-capable U.S. military... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/07/13/an_american_military_nightlight_in_iraq 97f807cd-2d99-4a2a-9ec1-7db36074b4f9 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:01:00 GMT Since the middle of June, Berber rebels based in western Libya's Nafusa Mountain region have launched what is arguably the most successful and sustained rebel offensive action since NATO intervened last March.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/07/06/reinventing_libya bab0d598-28f1-43ab-82b9-2cbc84939c0c Wed, 06 Jul 2011 04:01:00 GMT What links the Arab Spring rebellions with political agitation in China and at least another five dozen simmering or emerging crises? If your answer is "the Internet," you have identified one of the key... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/06/29/corruption_feeds_crises_worldwide 2b510d70-f9fc-4101-861e-d2df9bcbbe07 Wed, 29 Jun 2011 04:01:00 GMT Based on current trends, Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is losing his war against his own people. That's good. Gadhafi's defeat will be another significant victory in the struggle against... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AustinBay/2011/06/22/attrition_as_the_price_of_vacillation 055f023c-9f00-4a0c-bbef-6718504ab62b Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:01:00 GMT