Blog Posts

“The founder of Blackwater says privatizing the 16-year war could save taxpayer money. History suggests a different outcome.”

“The plan is opposed by senior military leaders including national security adviser McMaster, key lawmakers who have received Prince’s brief and senior military officials.”

“The White House is actively considering a bold plan to turn over a big chunk of the U.S. war in Afghanistan to private contractors.”

"Understanding drug smuggling and military organisations and enforcement agencies in ways that can inform public policies regarding illicit drug control."

“The NSC adviser is the latest target of Steve Bannon’s media friends.”

“Russia is seeking to remake its image by exploiting Afghan disappointment with the dismal results of the post-9/11 intervention by the U.S. and its allies.”

Turkey is building up military forces on the border, while Turkish President Recep Erdogan steps up rhetoric suggesting an imminent military operation into Syria.

Continue on for the Department of State’s Country Reports on Terrorism, dated July 2017.

"Designed to draw 1,000 people when it launched in 2009, the program eventually attracted 10 times that many."

“Expeditionary development is more than just development at war; it is development as an integral element of war.”

“The commanders are training a younger force that has mainly faced shadowy terrorist foes in the Middle East and Southwest Asia since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.”

“The middlemen who buy and sell antiquities looted by ISIS from Syria and Iraq explain how the smuggling supply chain works.”

“Abdurrashid Dostum’s name is synonymous with volatility and brutality.”

“Kelly’s success, or otherwise, will go a long way to determine whether the White House can successfully pursue its agenda, which has stalled amid a tumultuous period.”

“Nearly a third of territory reclaimed from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria since 2014 has been won in the past six months.”

President Trump would do well to understand that our interests in Afghanistan are narrow, defined, and achievable.

“In meeting after meeting with his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, this spring and summer, President Trump angrily hammered home two questions.”

“Attacks on the Iraqi embassy and a Shi'ite mosque in Afghanistan have reinforced fears that ISIS militants are seeking to bring the group's Middle East conflict to Central Asia.”

“Faced with the threat from ISIS, Iraqis came together. But the situation in Afghanistan is different.”

“As our country seeks more efficient ways to prevent violence and extremism, USIP provides deep expertise in locating the real roots of international conflicts.”

“What good is having the best fighting forces in the world if the U.S. Army loses the ability to employ them?”

“President Donald Trump has become increasingly frustrated with his advisers tasked with crafting a new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.”

“The U.S. should not stay in Afghanistan without considering risks and liabilities, or out of sheer strategic momentum.”

"The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has reported difficulty in identifying whether a $457.7 million program was successful due to a lack of accountability methods."

The Secretary decided to stick with an in-house solution, that is to say, more of the same, for a war we are, in his words, “not winning”.