Blog Posts

"25 years after the first U.S. Marines swept across the border into Kuwait, American forces are battling the extremist Islamic State group, born out of al-Qaida."

“The current environment - many conflicts at once - has created a seller’s market for peacekeepers.”

"No Afghan will be surprised that Kunar was one of the first places where IS - or Da'esh as we call it - appeared. The region has always had a reputation for being difficult to control."

This is the fifth in a series of analyses of the candidates’ national security positions based primarily on information gleaned from their web sites.

“Overshadowed by the violence in Syria, news from Afghanistan rarely makes headlines unless it is a reminder of the dire situation there.”

Please join the TRADOC G2 for an online discussion of Megacities and Dense Urban Areas in 2025 and Beyond with Frank Prautzsch on 23 February 1400 EST.  Continue on for details.

“The U.S. military isn’t prepared to wage long fights against Islamic State and other enemies.”

Dr. Bruce Hoffman, Director of the Georgetown University Security Studies Program, presents "Anonymous Soldiers: How Terrorism Undermined Britain's Rule Over Palestine".

“Unity between air and ground forces and a clear objective have enabled the Russians to turn the tide of the Syrian civil war.”

This is the fourth in a series of analyses of the candidates’ national security positions based primarily on information gleaned from their web sites.

"The world must adjust to the growth of Islamic State and the displacement of millions of people from the Middle East as the 'new normal'."

“The United States has been able to identify buildings as key financial centers for the Islamic State through intelligence collected.”

“Russian-backed separatists have sharply increased their attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk—a stark reminder that President Vladimir Putin hasn’t given up his designs on eastern Ukraine.”

This is the third in a series of analyses of the candidates’ national security positions based primarily on information gleaned from their web sites.

From Stalemate to Settlement: Lessons for Afghanistan from Historical Insurgencies That Have Been Resolved Through Negotiations by Colin P. Clarke and Christopher Paul, RAND Corporation.

"The plan, code named Nitro Zeus, was designed to disable Iran’s air defenses, communications systems and key parts of its power grid."

This is the second in a series of analyses of the candidates’ national security positions based primarily on information gleaned from their web sites.

Lincoln recognized both the inequity and the meaning of this circumstance and he established the first absentee voting system for those engaged in our Civil War.

"In the millennia-old history of Kurds, there has never been a time when this ancient people of the Middle East were so tantalisingly close to statehood."

To examine where the drive for the F-35 has gone astray we can look at the second of the Air Force’s core tenets: service before self.

“Global Radical Islamist Insurgency: AL QAEDA AND ISLAMIC STATE NETWORKS FOCUS: A Small Wars Journal Anthology”

This is the first in a series of analyses of the candidates’ national security positions based primarily on information gleaned from their web sites.

"Once again, Moscow has shown itself better able to make strategic choices than we are."

Continue on for information concerning NATO's new journal "Defence Strategic Communications" and a link to the first issue.

While world powers gathered to negotiate a cease-fire, forces on the ground grew increasingly desperate, resorting to shifting strategies and alliances to survive.