Blog Posts

A discussion of the changing character of war at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2016 Annual Meeting.

SIGAR letter to DOD regarding continued reports of absentee or non-existent Afghan National Defense and Security Force personnel, or "ghost" soldiers.

"Booz Allen, a consulting firm that earns billions by working for American intelligence agencies, has been called the world’s most profitable spy organization."

"The U.N.’s next secretary-general, António Guterres, says that persecuted Christians shouldn’t be resettled in the West."

"Who is this alluring, conflicted and mysterious woman? If you have been paying attention to the news you might know her by her most common name – la Santa Muerte, Saint Death."

Killing is easy. Living with it later is far harder.

Officials of the U.S.-led coalition assisting Iraq say up to 45,000 troops will be needed to keep Mosul secure after it is recaptured.

"Sometimes it feels as if we are back to square one, that there is nothing to show for it."

"The military and the academy need each other, at least when it comes to enhancing our understanding of war."

Continue on for all the details.

Continue on for a link to the full concept.

"The bloggers—four of them—will be part of a professional development forum talking about the value of blogs, social media and the internet in providing lessons in leadership."

Today, SIGAR's Lessons Learned Program released a conference report entitled "Lessons From the Coalition."

"At first glance, unconventional warfare appears to provide the ideal solution to many of the problems the administration faced with prolonged occupation and counterinsurgency campaigns."

"An effort to fight corruption by monitoring the financial assets of top Afghan officials, underwritten by the US, has been a near-total failure, according to American auditors."

"There are five counterterrorism approaches that have worked well over the past two decades. The next administration should embrace them, while adapting policy to new conditions."

"The United States and its allies need to look beyond the fighting, and beyond tactical victory."

"The Pentagon’s top brass have entered a debate coursing through the presidential campaign: how to define an enemy the US military has been fighting for 15 years."

Continue on for this Modern War Institute Report.

Most American military personnel are deeply skeptical of nation-building missions overseas and would prefer to see leaders focus the country's resources on less ambiguous missions.

Continue on for the video.

The Silver Wings perform more parachute demonstrations in a year than the ubiquitous Golden Knights with a fraction of the budget and with primarily part-time team members.

"Although Pyongyang appears to be stable now, such stability is like nuclear deterrence: it works right up to the day when it does not."

"Trying to secure North Korea after a chaotic collapse or overthrow of the Kim regime would be a nightmare."

While in the past, irregular tactics and protracted forms of conflict have mostly been marked as tactics of the weak, in future hybrid opponents may exploit them because of their effectiveness.