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If you found Building Peace through my fiction writing, welcome! I encourage you to explore this blog, which in addition to my writing chronicles my ongoing education as a military officer and Middle East Regional Affairs Specialist. You can also check out my Amazon.com Author page and subscribe to my mailing list for announcements about my fiction writing.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

A Few Changes

Lately I've been tinkering with my various social media accounts.  Most significantly I am experimenting with Twitter again.  I have decided to rebrand under my real name, so @reach364 has been retired and I am now tweeting as @jacobsenmd.  I never thought much of Twitter, but that's primarily because I saw it as a megaphone for broadcasting information--and I found it rather inefficient for that.  I never broke through to the level of building and sustaining relationships, which is where I keep hearing that Twitter's magic lies.  I am making that effort now.

Second, I've changed the header at Building Peace.  The new header features the great Athenian leader Pericles facing off with a Spartan king across a map of the world.  The new banner captures the scope of my interests better than the previous one, and is designed to illustrate something of what I mean by "building peace."  My use of those words might lead to a presumption of naiveté or idealism, especially in military and policy circles, but I am actually a staunch realist and believe that genuine peacebuilding demands pragmatism and a ruthlessly honest understanding of the world we live in.  That world happens to be the same world of Thucydides, a world captive to the tragic forces unleashed by fear, honor, and interest.

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