Blog Posts

A look at the DoD’s language, regional expertise and culture program.

"There are six rules in wargame design. JFCOM batted a thousand in violating all of them."

Joe Galloway’s account from the Battle of Ia Drang Valley.

"To downplay the attack would not be smart, because it did not come out of emotions that are not connected to the general mood of the country."

"Iraqi forces’ hopes of recapturing the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State have stalled, largely because their efforts to cut resupply routes into the city have failed."

Happy 240th Birthday Marines. Continue on for Such as Regiments and Marine Corps Order No. 47, Series 1921.

"This symposium will bring together scholars, research institutes, practitioners and other interested parties to discuss Daesh Beyond the Levant."

Continue on for a CNAS press release concerning this report, with links.

"Iran's landmark nuclear deal with world powers has done little to stop the country from pursuing activities beyond its shores that the U.S. considers destabilizing."

The fractious Taliban movement is a symptom of the changing economic and political dynamics within Afghanistan.

SWJ's "Drudge-like" National Defense & Foreign Affairs News & Opinion Page (Updated 24/7)

“NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Lt. Col. T. Mark McCurley, a retired drone pilot who wrote the tactical manual for the Predator. His new memoir is called Hunter Killer.”

"The new methods meant that war, which was once a supreme crisis governed by constitutional limitations, was converted almost at stroke into something routine."

The U.S. focus has been on treating the symptoms of the growing instability and not the cause, weak governance by the NUG.

"The American strategic community has largely turned away from thinking about ground combat."

"The term 'band of brothers' has become almost a cliché to describe how the close personal bonds formed between soldiers translate into combat effectiveness."

"VOA's Senate correspondent spoke with multiple lawmakers about a weighty issue before Congress: authorizing the fight against the Islamic State group."

“The battle between Syrian forces, backed by Russian air power and rebel fighters, played itself out on social media over the course of several hours.”

Continue on for information on the new CNAS ISIS Study Group.

Continue on for the agenda, location, how to watch it live and a registration link.

Continue on for the agenda and a link for registration for this December 8 event.

"The Multimedia Library has set up a list of books and journal articles on the history of United Nations peacekeeping forces and operations."

The Joint Special Operations University Library posts multiple reading lists. Continue on for the link.

"Vietnam was a complex conflict, which historians and political scientists have struggled to understand."

"With the apparent lack of progress and success in Afghanistan and Iraq, COIN has fallen out of favor within the political and military establishments in the U.S. and elsewhere."