Ike had experience on the world stage… Kennedy was without portfolio here. Khrushchev had to wing it because he had no real clue how Kenedy would react; push the button or not was the question. Nikki didn't want to find out.

Cattle make methane; eat them faster before they fart!

I always considered tactical / strategic as the polars; tactical (your operational) as the movements and specific battles while strategic was in terms of the over all outcome… the flow (and sum if you will) of all the tactical machinations.

….  Let me make my own judgements based on what I read. 

They are just giving you evidence (biased and partial as it may be  8) ) upon which to make your judgement, eh?

But didn't Rome bring irrigation tech to the Middle East? 

Yes but I'm looking at the Iberian Peninsula in particular when i refer to the Moorish influence… also we have a minor disconnect in the Middle Ages when many of the Roman accomplishments fell into disuse. This was a great opening for the Muslims to show their stuff. No?

…. They have to live like that in order to be able to spread their message.  Some animals are more equal than others….

And they will have to keep them after we are all back living in hovels and eating gruel because someone has to make sure the system is kept organized. Same reason communist leaders didn't live like the proles.  >:(

….Comparing empire to empire in a broad political and military context is not apples to oranges but rather a valid analytical method. ….

This, my friends, is how we strive to understand history… what happened to one group as opposed to another, how it is similar, why it is different… the part beyond the factoids. This is higher level thinking skill at work.

….However when talking about the fall of Rome, is it wrong to say that they failed against some remote barbarian tribes ? …

To my mind, yes; they failed against themselves. The barbarian tribes (from the north and east at least) were trying to become part of the Empire to escape the Huns. As they moved into the Empire the internal system failed… they couldn't be integrated into the mainstream fast enough (not enough bread and circuses to go around or so it has been said). Countries with massive immigration are seeing similar things going on. The folks coming in aren't able to become part of the system fast enough to avoid problems (not a question of why so much as the fact the immigrants are not acculturating as fast as they used to) of belonging or not. Another question remains… who is the problem? The immigrants for holding to their mother culture or the new homeland for expecting the immigrant to acculturate? 'nother thread altogether, eh?