The West may collapse very suddenly. Complex civilizations do that, because they operate, most of the time, on the edge of chaos.

A historian is battling all the time to remember as much as possible.

Collaboration is risky. If it fails, if the occupation is wound up prematurely and the bad guys come back to power, you might find yourself in some serious trouble.

To make a living space, there first had to be a killing space.

The British press has an insatiable appetite for making public things that should be private. It's a prurience that I've never understood.

For 500 years the West patented six killer applications that set it apart. The first to download them was Japan. Over the last century, one Asian country after another has downloaded these killer apps- competition, modern science, the rule of law and private property rights, modern medicine, the consumer society and the work ethic. Those six things are the secret sauce of Western civilization.

The West may collapse very suddenly. Complex civilizations do that, because they operate, most of the time, on the edge of chaos.