Lynette Nusbacher

Devil's Advocate

Apply for a Blog

Dec 15, 2020, 12:13 AM

Drunkards, queers and hen-pecked husbands: The embitterment of John le Carré

Author John Le Carre, real name David Cornwell at his home in London, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Fundamental to his novels was that even when one side was right and the other was wrong, both sides' methods were comparable

Jan 5, 2020, 7:36 PM

A death well spent: Soleimani dies for confrontation

Senior Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani, center, at a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (not seen) and Revolutionary Guard commanders in Tehran, September 18, 2016 (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

It is not wrong to kill a professional soldier in a war zone, but it is counterproductive to kill competent senior technocrats

Jun 4, 2017, 2:14 PM

It’s the Armageddon, stupid

Fighters from the Free Syrian Army fire an anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on a vehicle deploy during fighting against the Islamic State (IS) group jihadists in the northern Syrian village of Yahmoul in the Marj Dabiq area north of the embattled city of Aleppo on October 10, 2016.(AFP PHOTO / Nazeer al-Khatib)

The guys who committed murder in London hoped to goad the UK into making a very big, very bad mistake

Apr 26, 2017, 4:15 PM

Stopping the Shoah with a bombing raid? If only

Netanyahu claimed the Allies could have bombed the tracks and saved millions -- If only it were true

Nov 17, 2015, 4:59 AM

Acts of War: Destroy Daesh wisely

ISIS knows just how it wants this war to play out in the end; the West must have its own strategic endgame

Oct 29, 2015, 7:21 PM

It's easy to think ill of the United Nations. With its tremendous promise, vast expense, and inability to manage expectations; it's hard for anyone in UN service to breathe without disappointing someone. In the Middle East, where reputations go...

Oct 13, 2015, 6:46 PM

There Was Only One Intifadah: Part One

There has been a lot of noise in the past week about 'a third Intifadah', with some threatening one, some saying they're conducting one and some dreading one. The words 'a third Intifadah' are obscuring the reality of the...

Sep 29, 2015, 7:13 PM

Dear Israel, America is just not that into you

US foreign policy is driven by national interests, and these don't always include having Israel's back

Sep 24, 2015, 8:36 PM

Obama’s war on Daesh isn’t collapsing — it isn’t there

According to Weinberger's rules for when America should resort to combat, Obama has no case against Daesh

Sep 18, 2015, 10:57 PM

Those other refugees from Aleppo

Helping collect donations for Syrian migrants while also remembering the Jews who were forced to flee

Load more

About Me

Dr Lynette Nusbacher is a strategist and devil's advocate. She is Principal at Nusbacher & Associates, a strategy consultancy. She has been a senior national security official in the United Kingdom, was Senior Lecturer in War Studies at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and served as a military intelligence officer.

Contact Me