Not Bad from the Guardian

Stagger on, weary Titan, by Timothy Garton Ash, compares the Iraq War to the Boer War. I like may of his points.

However, I think he probably goes a bit overboard with the Paul Kennedyesque impending fall stuff. Sure, Amerian power is not going to last forever, but I'm not sure he has the future laid out as well as he thinks. For one thing, considering the falls of most great powers, I'd take the British version--they are still very influential and important in many ways. Another thing is that I do not think China now is a very good analogy to Germany and the U.S. at the turn of the last century. China is consuming more, yes, but I'm not sure they have the dynamic producing economy that made the U.S. and Germany such up and comers. He also seems to skip over the devastation World War I brought on Britain.

Anyway, lots to think about from his piece, and I think the Boer War analogy has some uses.

(Hat tip to Cliopatria.)