“The reappearance of private armies is a harbinger of a wider trend in international relations: the emergence of neomedievalism….The erosion of the taboo against mercenarism heralds a shift in this world order, from the state-centric Westphilian system back to the status quote ante of the Middle Ages. The medieval system was not dominated by states but was polycentric in nature, with authority diluted and shared among state and non-state actors alike. States were just another actor on a crowded state, an no one had a monopoly of force to enforce their will. Instead, there was a free market of force, and actors – kings, popes, princes, city-states, rich families and so on – commonly employed mercenaries to settle disputes in contract warfare.” ~ Sean McFate
By Catherine Austin Fitts
Sean McFate is a professor of strategy at the National Defense University and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington, DC. While his academic credentials are impressive, so is his military experience. Dr. McFate served in the US Army and with a private defense contractor that provided private armies for hire.
I reviewed McFate’s earlier book on warfare The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order in 2015. McFate did an excellent job describing the significance of the US policy decision to finance significant private mercenary capacity and what history tells us about the potential impact.
Dr. McFate’s new book The New Rules of War – Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder addresses one of the significant truths of America at war – we keep losing. We lost in Viet Nam. We lost in Afghanistan. We lost in Iraq. We are losing in Syria. And the more we lose, the more money we keep spending and the more expensive equipment and technology we buy.
McFate describes new rules of war in a multipolar world with private armies for sale and a rising China and a stronger Russia. He suggests practical options for what we should do to succeed at war in this environment.
Despite McFate’s significant experience, his analysis depends on naivite about the real nature of America’s secret societies, finances, covert operations, funding and goals. He has bought too much of the official story and as a consequence has bought into the incompetence cover story – for both the coup d’etat in 1963, the financial coup d’etat that started in the mid-1990s and the real goals of our wars and our war machine. In part, his analysis underscores one of the serious costs of secrecy – our world is full of talented men and women who keep misdiagnosing problems and solutions because the intelligence they need to make a meaningful contribution is secret.
Despite this, McFate’s analysis is well worth reading. The squeeze in the debt markets means that we may not be able to continue to throw money at the war machine. We might need to field an economic military. In my interview with Professor Mair on Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, I said that the difference between Chinese military strategy as reflected in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and Western military strategy as reflected in Von Clausewitz was the bond market. If the day should come when the West has to finance war on a pay as you go system, expect big change. McFate’s analysis will be welcome.
The issues before us involve life and death. We should remember the opening admonition from Sun Tzu:
“Warfare is a great affair of state.
The field of life and death.
The way of preservation and extinction.
It can not be left unexamined.”
The future of the dollar depends almost entirely on the US military. If you want to understand the future of the currency and bond markets, then you need to understand both the present and the future of war. Consequently, you will find both of Dr. McFate’s books on our Best Books for 2019 Reading List.
Related Reading
Book Review: The Modern Mercenary
Related Solari Reports
From a subscriber:
Good afternoon Catherine,
I began to read The Modern Mercenary I suspect at your suggestion earlier.
I understood McFate’s background, but his perspective did not become
apparent until I was about 1/3 to 1/2 way through the book. Initial
passages on the history of mercenary warfare were interesting, but when he
began to discuss current practices and recommended strategies, I began to
feel the chill of globalist leanings. GWU seems to fully embrace that
trope, and it would not surprise me to find McFate affiliated with the CFR.
From my distant perch, you have never seemed one who might volunteer as a
hod-carrier for those who would build the next Tower of Babel. Perhaps
you’ve become more sanguine with age and experience. We all carry scars and
bruises, and yours are likely deep from your earlier attempts to do the
right things.
I admire you greatly, and your apparent embrace of McFate’s work is a bit
troubling.
My Reply:
I don’t embrace it. That is why I had so many disagreements with the second
book.
But what he believes and what he says is important to understand the
magnitude of the changes underway through the privatization of war. He is
the only one I know who is saying this publically
Very important that we understand tearing up the Treaty of Westphilia and
the implications to both citizens and investors. I describe in the new
Annual Wrap Up in more detail.
Recommendations welcome on how to make this clear to Solari readers.
Can’t wait until the Library is fully up and running; it is practically impossible to find old gems like the Art of War interview without some kind of clue as to what’s out there. Am I missing something as far as navigation goes? Is there a bibliography or index of all the content here on solari?
All the Solari Reports are in the Quick Access Table Press that links from the home page – it has a search function.
Excerpts of his reply:
What a gracious lady you are… Your coherent and concise reply is
appreciated and most encouraging. Please forgive any perceptible
impropriety in my original query.
No problem. McFate’s desire to please the Establishment is more than
uncomfortable to read.
I dimly recall some of McFate’s discussion of the Treaty of Westphalia, but
I recall Richard Maybury had touched on it earlier. This excerpt from his
November 2014 newsletter pertains:
“Since 1945, the global hegemon has been Washington. But as I have been
warning for years, a change has been coming, and in 2014 it finally arrived
like a thunderclap.
In February 2001, I began writing about the likely ramifications of US
officials erasing the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia. The treaty said no nation
could attack another unless the other was a clear and present danger to
them. By its attacks on Iraq, Serbia, Libya and elsewhere, Washington set a
new international law precedent: it’s okay to attack anyone you think might
be up to no good.
I started subscribing to Maybury in 2016. I used to stay with friends in SF
and would read theirs for many years but must have missed that one.
As you will see when you read the Annual Wrap Up, I believe that the tearing
up of the Treaty of Westphalia – including for US domestic operations – has
finished removing the “Sovereign” from sovereign bond in reference to the US
Treasury. I have spent a lot of time trying to explain what a significant
shift it is. Hard for people who have lived in the safety of the bubble to
grok this.
I am no longer alone in warning about the dire consequences of Washington’s
destruction of Westphalia. No less than Henry Kissinger, probably the most
prestigious geopolitical analyst in the world, has written a new book, World
Order, which argues the same.”
I firmly believe you will find a way to “make this clear to Solari readers.”
You are a great teacher…
You have attributes and traits I find very compelling. You are scary
intelligent and very smart (I make a distinction, since those traits don’t
always come together). You have determination (guts) and drive that enable
you to avoid letting emotions direct your behaviors. All these and more,
plus your healthy sense of humor make you an awesome lady in my eyes. I
have admired and followed you since I first read “Dillon Read And Co. Inc. &
The Aristocracy of Stock Profits.”
Appreciate it.
I’m a former aerospace, environmental, and nuclear engineer as well
as a US Navy, NASA, and pilot.
Thank you for what you do, but more so for who you are,
One more:
I completely understand your notes and remarks.
Feel free to use anything I might say that you wish to repeat. It’s
unlikely you could get me in more trouble than I can get myself into…
I subscribe to Dr. Gary North’s Website (https://www.garynorth.com/). Gary
is a historian (PhD), Calvinist reconstructionist theologian, and Austrian
economist. He probably has the most sound grasp of fiscal and monetary
economic questions of anyone I know (except you). While we disagree on some
things, I tend to agree with his viewpoint that the US Government will
eventually default, perhaps gradually. Constituencies with snouts in the
trough will be starved in sequence, from those with the least political
clout to those with the most. Central bankers will monetize debt until it
becomes obvious the loans cannot be repaid. We might already be there if
you count $200 trillion in unfunded obligations, some of which may not be
honored.
I began to get real uncomfortable when I noticed how easily John Corzine
robbed MF Global account holders by hypothecating their assets to cover
company losses and obligations. I now suspect our bank deposits are at risk
of the same fate above FDIC protection limits. Per Ann Barnhardt, the CFTC
had insurance in force that would have protected MF Global account holders
but refused to invoke it and let them get wiped out, which is why she closed
down her cattle futures trading operation.
You are exceptionally qualified to examine and comment on financial matters.
I will happily review your upcoming posting on government bond risks, but my
observations may not be as substantive as I might like.
We have not finished cleaning up the Library but we have added the search function so you should be able to find things more easily. Apologies if you find one we have not yet repaired!