Blog Posts

"The International Criminal Court has announced it will not pursue an investigation into alleged war crimes by U.S. troops and allies in Afghanistan."

Read an excerpt and the introduction of this new report, as well as timely and important, from RAND. Also, links to the main report.

"The Taliban disclosed Thursday that the United Nations has temporarily removed sanctions against its senior leaders who are negotiating a deal with the United States for ending the 18-year-old war in Afghanistan."

"The Taliban says it has temporarily stopped the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) from carrying out relief work in the areas they control in Afghanistan and revoked security guarantees for their staff."

"Omar al-Bashir, dictator of 30 years, has been facing a popular uprising since December."

"The United States has charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with one count of conspiracy to hack a computer related to his role in the 2010 release of reams of secret American documents, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday just hours after British authorities arrested him in London."

"A dual citizen of Libya and the U.S. has marched an army to the Libyan capital of Tripoli, but don’t expect U.S. forces to stop him. The only solution to the conflict, a U.S. Africa Command spokesman told Military Times, is a political one."

"Sudan’s defense minister said Thursday that President Omar al-Bashir had been taken into military custody, effectively announcing a military coup to end his 30-year rule."

“The character of politics and warfare is evolving rapidly, driven by the pervasiveness of information and the rate of technological change. Our competitors have become masters at exploiting the seams between peace and war. As I said here in January, what constitutes a weapon in this ‘grey zone’, below the threshold of conventional war, no longer has to go ‘bang’.”

"Great power competition has been the primary driver of the Pentagon over the past few years, but the Defense Department doesn’t get to pick the next war."

"President Donald Trump says more troops will need to be sent to the country's southern border because too many dangerous people are illegally entering the United States."

"The top civilian over low-intensity conflicts, a long-held SOF specialty, and the new head of U.S. Special Operations Command told lawmakers this week that special operators will see the fight flip from how they’ve experienced the past two decades of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency warfare."

"The Iranian government has used the Guard Corps internationally to create, train, arm and sometimes plot strategy for paramilitary forces and nonstate actors in other countries."

"With renegade eastern commander Khalifa Hifter at the gates of the Libyan capital, the United Nations and Western and Arab governments have called for a halt to the fighting — to no avail."

"A northern Texas sheriff says his county has seen a big uptick in methamphetamine and heroin seizures since October, saying Mexican drug smugglers are using large groups of migrants to divert Border Patrol’s attention while they run narcotics over the border in nearby areas."

"Abuse behind bars and a record high rate of detainment are a recipe for disaster."

"The territorial defeat of ISIS is not the end of the U.S. mission in Syria, where today some 2,000 American troops help the SDF administer and control the northeastern third of the country. The question now is how Washington can use this residual presence to secure its long-term interests in the country."

"Labeling the IRGC a terrorist organization is simple truth-telling."

"Decision marks first time an element of a foreign state has been officially designated terrorist entity."

"President Trump moved to clear out the senior ranks of the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, a day after forcing the resignation of its secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, as he accelerated a purge of the nation’s immigration and security leadership."

"Three American service members and a contractor were killed in a car-bomb attack in Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said. The bomber struck as military personnel were conducting a security patrol near Bagram air base, a major air hub for foreign forces in Afghanistan."

"Forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar carried out an airstrike against the Libyan capital’s only functioning airport, as the rogue military commander defied U.S. calls to halt an assault on Tripoli."

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has established a new leadership council comprising government officials, opposition politicians and civil society representatives that will manage national peace efforts and put together an "effective" team of negotiators for possible talks with the Taliban insurgency.

"The U.S. military said it pulled a small contingent of American forces from Libya as the country teetered on the brink of full-scale civil war, with fighting continuing around the capital Tripoli."

"How to square this kind of deep loyalty to the armed forces and high public support with a long record of failures?"