Small Wars Journal

Blog Posts

SWJ Blog is a multi-author blog publishing news and commentary on the various goings on across the broad community of practice.  We gladly accept guest posts from serious voices in the community.

by Reuters | Tue, 10/25/2016 - 6:31am | 7 comments

"The 21st-century U.N. doctrine called Responsibility To Protect (R2P), set up by the world body's member states to prevent mass killings, has only had limited success."

by Adam Twardowski, by Rachel Rizzo | Mon, 10/24/2016 - 2:17pm | 0 comments

Russia’s apparent success in exploiting fissures within the Alliance is the greatest threat the United States and its NATO allies face from Moscow.

by Voice of America | Mon, 10/24/2016 - 4:51am | 0 comments

Fugitive Afghan Taliban leaders are being increasingly pressured to relocate from Pakistan along with their families and businesses for refusing to join peace talks with Kabul.

by National Public Radio | Sun, 10/23/2016 - 3:20pm | 1 comment

Dr. David Kilcullen interview (audio) on National Public Radio.

by The Week | Sun, 10/23/2016 - 12:17pm | 1 comment

“When everybody else decided it was a good idea to forestall a public debate about enormously important and complicated policy questions, the press decided to go along and let it happen.”

by National Defense University Press | Sun, 10/23/2016 - 11:16am | 10 comments

"The current revision of Joint Publication 5-0, Joint Operation Planning, provides an opportunity to fix the flawed description of the center of gravity concept."

by Voice of America | Sun, 10/23/2016 - 3:54am | 0 comments

IS leaders accept they will lose control of the city of Mosul but are planning to defend their last major urban stronghold in Iraq tenaciously, U.S. and Kurdish officials say.

by National Public Radio | Sat, 10/22/2016 - 4:06pm | 0 comments

Dunford and other military leaders have called countering violent extremism a "generational problem," one they privately concede the U.S. may never resolve.

by Stars & Stripes | Sat, 10/22/2016 - 3:47am | 0 comments

“The Islamic State group is expected to fall back from its outer perimeter defenses in Mosul and wage what could be brutal urban combat inside the city.”

by Voice of America | Fri, 10/21/2016 - 4:19am | 0 comments

While Saudi Arabia and other US allies, or individuals close to their governments, have long been suspected of financing extremist groups in the region, this accusation is more specific.

by The Daily Beast | Thu, 10/20/2016 - 2:51pm | 17 comments

“Four days ago, the U.S. Defense Secretary was predicting a ‘lasting defeat’ of ISIS. Now, a top general is warning that the terror group is preparing for a guerrilla war.”

by U.S. News & World Report | Thu, 10/20/2016 - 11:43am | 0 comments

“The Obama administration's willingness to appease Tehran is costing us in Yemen.”

by Voice of America | Thu, 10/20/2016 - 9:52am | 0 comments

Zipline International is using drones to deliver vaccines, medicine and blood to some of the most hard-to-reach populations in Rwanda.

by The Wall Street Journal | Thu, 10/20/2016 - 9:22am | 0 comments

“All Colombians want peace. Any future deal with FARC, however, must address citizens’ concerns.”

by The Washington Post | Wed, 10/19/2016 - 5:42pm | 0 comments

"American troops are poised to expand their hands-on support to local forces battling the Islamic State."

by Associated Press | Wed, 10/19/2016 - 8:29am | 0 comments

AP analysis: "While the long-awaited Mosul offensive began earlier this week, there's no sign of an imminent campaign against Raqqa."

by The Wall Street Journal | Tue, 10/18/2016 - 12:10pm | 0 comments

“On second day of the offensive, Kurdish fighters accuse the Iraqi army of inaction.”

by The Modern War Institute | Tue, 10/18/2016 - 9:24am | 1 comment

In this MWI report, CPT John Chambers draws on this case study to recommend ways the US Army can improve its capacity to counter gray-zone hybrid threats.

by John P. Sullivan, by Robert Bunker | Tue, 10/18/2016 - 7:56am | 0 comments

This work is our fifth Small Wars Journal--El Centro anthology, covering writings first published in 2015.

by Think Broader | Mon, 10/17/2016 - 10:30am | 1 comment

All women in the military and female veterans are invited to join LeanIn.org Military Women /  Women Veterans and Think Broader Foundation to create a PSA.

by Georgetown University Center for Security Studies | Mon, 10/17/2016 - 10:16am | 1 comment

Dr. Sean McFate discusses the future of warfare, what it might look like, and why.

by Voice of America | Mon, 10/17/2016 - 6:31am | 0 comments

The long-anticipated campaign to reclaim Mosul from the Islamic State began Monday. It is the largest military operation in Iraq since U.S. forces left five years ago.

by The Daily Beast | Fri, 10/14/2016 - 5:27pm | 7 comments

"But hope, as the old military saw goes, is not a plan."

by SWJ Editors | Thu, 10/13/2016 - 7:50am | 0 comments

Continue on for all the details.

by Voice of America | Thu, 10/13/2016 - 7:44am | 0 comments

The U.S. military said Thursday it struck three radar sites in Yemen in response to missile launches from territory controlled by Houthi rebels that targeted a U.S. Navy destroyer.