Blog Posts

“The Regionally Aligned Force Concept can help the Army more effectively undertake its Security Cooperation missions.”

“The military’s top commanders are telling lawmakers that slashing diplomacy would undercut the military.”

“The only one way to make MDB both effective and a reality: Eliminate the independent services.”

They are nameless and ageless but they are forever. They made us what we are and they will determine what we will be.

“Turkey is assembling a contingent of of Syrian Arabs who it insists should lead the offensive to retake IS' stronghold of Raqqa instead of the Syrian Kurdish militia the US favors.”

“President Trump has approved a plan to provide Syrian Kurds with heavier weapons so they can participate in the battle to retake Raqqa from the Islamic State.”

Three The Cipher Brief commentaries on the roles, missions, and state of U.S. SOF capabilities.

“Trump is expected to make a final call on the strategy before a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels that he plans to attend.”

“Chronic conflict between Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the Trump White House has hobbled the nomination process for top Pentagon posts.”

This new CNAS report examines the increasingly small subset of the U.S. population serving in the military and their isolation from the general population.

“Insurgents consolidate power by administering schools and electricity, making dislodging them harder for government and coalition forces.”

The leader of Islamic State in Afghanistan has been killed in a joint raid in eastern Nangarhar province, Afghan and U.S. military officials confirmed Sunday.

“The idea of lateral entry remains under discussion among Marine Corps planners. It would not be the first time.”

Heavy fighting is raging in northern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency has overrun several districts since launching its so-called yearly “spring offensive” more than a week ago.

Some of Pakistan’s highly educated youth are gravitating toward violent extremism and radicalization.

Al-Shabab militants in Somalia killed a member of U.S. Special Forces Friday and wounded three other members of an American team assisting Somali soldiers, U.S. officials said.

“USIP as ‘Combat Multiplier’ for ‘Striking Success’ in Iraq.”

“The U.S. Army’s Dagger Brigade is preparing for a September deployment. But it’s stretched thin.”

“The U.S. Secretary of State says nation will emphasize national security, economic interests over human rights in its ties.”

The Afghan government any new U.S. strategy should include supporting a Kabul security plan aimed at vastly improving Afghan security forces.

“A rigid, bureaucratic personnel system made sense in 1947. Now it’s dangerously out of date.”

"Jettisoning the lessons of the Iraq War for fear of striking a political nerve would be feckless. Gaslighting the COINdinistas would be cataclysmic."

Almost three weeks after the US dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb in E. Afghanistan, the IS group continues to show battlefield resilience as well as run its FM radio channel in the area.

IS hopes to emulate its precursor jihadist organizations, which were able to weather the military defeats inflicted on them by U.S. forces during the 2007-08 Surge.

"Islamic State is claiming to have attacked and captured a volatile district from the rival Taliban in eastern Afghanistan."