"I'm always in conversation. And sometimes other people are involved."

As Mr. Samuel Clemens notes in the quote above, we all speak to ourselves constantly. Whether this discussion is intentional, unbidden, vocal, or internal varies on the person in question. I am personally partial to speaking to myself out loud- a habit that has earned me many strange looks. Unfortunately, my conversations are often times relatively simple; there is really only so much insight to be gained when both sides of a discussion come from the same source. But, to me, self-discussion is also necessary; so many of my closest friends (not to mention my significant other) are passionately disinterested in the topics that I am passionate about: war, security, statecraft, and global relations. It leaves few opportunities for discussion and development.

As such, the hope of this blog is simply to open the conversation up beyond the veil of my own head.  It's possible that I will end up just speaking to myself in a more public venue. But, if you're interested, I invite you to share in the discussion in whatever capacity you'd like. Agree, disagree, comment, question- all are welcome. Hopefully, as I get further along in this blog's development, I won't be quite as alone as Samuel.