The Cockpit

What is this blog about?

 

The cockpit is a collaborative effort which hopes to provide a rationale, interesting and fun place to discuss developments in the world of international relations.

 

Why did we start it? Well because we have important interesting things to say of course!

 

Ok that and one aspect of the “blogosphere” which annoys us is how blogs seem to gravitate heavily to one point of view or another and divergent views are either unwelcome or vastly overshadowed. One of our goals for this blog is to have a civil, yet passionate exchange of different views on developments in international relations.

 

So welcome, we hope you enjoy your stay. We love comments, so please let loose on us and tell us how wrong we are. All we ask is that you have something interesting to say and be respectful to us your tireless writers and each other.

A quick note, the writers are going to try to self-censor themselves in regard to to domestic US politics, while we all care about them passionatley, they aren’t what this site is about.  And its much harder to talk about them (especially during the heat of an election) civilly.  So while we will certainly be talking about the international implications of US politics, we are going to work hard to stay civil and on topic.

 

Why the hell is this site called “the cockpit” anyways?

 

Because the cockpit of a plane provides such a clear view of the world below of course!

 

Or no maybe it’s an allusion to the ugly deadly world of international relations, you know like cockfighting…

 

Oh no wait its our Anglophillia shining through and were referring to the cockpit on Royal Navy ships of old, that must be it.

 

Wait didn’t someone call Belgium the cockpit of Europe?

 

Or perhaps its refers to the Cockpit at the Palace at Whitehall which houses the British Foreign office for many years and served as a stage for numerous important events in British History.

 

That must be it.

 

Or maybe we just like names which confuse people and sound vaguely dirty.

 

 

Writers/Admins:

 

Dark Defender – Born and raised in California. He has held a number of jobs including delivering pizzas, working in the financial sector, the tech industry and most recently as a paralegal. Currently he is studying to earn his Law degree.

 

He describes his political views as conservative-libertarian. Usually libertarian on social and economic issues, he does however favor a more muscular and Conservative foreign policy, that big L libertarians couldn’t handle. You could almost say hes a 19th century liberal, almost.

 

DD has an ongoing obsession with Churchill, Battlestar Galactica, Rome, Navies, a lingering love of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and an exciting new obsession with Sarah Palin.

 

Olivia Clemens– I’ve assumed the nom de plume of Olivia Clemens who was the beloved wife of Samuel Clemens, one of the most imaginative American authors and a right colorful and ornery person.  I do have that in common with Mark Twain, but little else except that my own political orientations have changed over the last four years so that I am more conservative in my values and more aggressive in my world outlook.

I am a proud native North Carolinian and probably represent most of the values and political orientations that you might ascribe to residents of that red state.  As a female undergraduate I double-major in international relations and psychology.   My free time is taken up by the typical whimsical activities college students are known for – music, tv, Internet chatting, shopping, hiking, swimming, and partying.

Contributors-

Renegade Knight– A native Southerner by way of Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, DC, and Florida again, Renegade tends to identify with moderate and rational policies, which of late makes him a Democrat…though one who thinks highly of President George H.W. Bush’s foreign policy.

Seeking contributors

We are seeking contributors of different political beliefs and from different areas of the world to join us as regular contributors. If your intelligent, capable of civility and passionate about international relations, please send us a message as we would love to hear from you.