Small Wars Journal

Journal

Journal Articles are typically longer works with more more analysis than the news and short commentary in the SWJ Blog.

We accept contributed content from serious voices across the small wars community, then publish it here as quickly as we can, per our Editorial Policy, to help fuel timely, thoughtful, and unvarnished discussion of the diverse and complex issues inherent in small wars.

by Dean Shumate | Tue, 04/12/2016 - 8:06am | 0 comments

Although the military must be prepared to fight a conventional state on state conflict, it is an insurgency that the United States Government is more likely to confront.

by Julian Way, by Robert Muggah | Mon, 04/11/2016 - 1:19am | 1 comment

Due in part to the rapid digital penetration of the Internet and social media over the past decade, there are novel ways of tracking cartel and gang activity.

by George Hodge | Sun, 04/10/2016 - 11:55am | 0 comments

A model for actively integrating deception planning into the brigade level orders process, specifically during mission analysis, course of action development, and course of action analysis.

by Robert Murphy | Sun, 04/10/2016 - 10:49am | 9 comments

America must take better advantage of its security structure and change the status quo of being the world’s first line of defense.

by Brett Piekarski, by Brian Sadler, by Stuart Young, by William Nothwang, by Raghuveer Rao | Thu, 04/07/2016 - 9:40am | 0 comments

Mad Scientist series - If we put on our Mad Scientist hats, the Army’s “Win in a Complex World” stops short of how far we could push technology and a vision for 2025 and beyond.

by Charles Barham | Wed, 04/06/2016 - 1:46pm | 0 comments

The U.S. and our military should broaden its approach and adopt a more comprehensive response to the growing religious extremist threat.

by Steve Blank | Wed, 04/06/2016 - 10:07am | 0 comments

Stanford University has just conducted its first Hacking for Defense class and 8 teams have hit the ground running.

by Sterling Jensen, by Waleed al-Rawi | Tue, 04/05/2016 - 7:19am | 0 comments

Daesh's Wilaya AlForat, or the Euphrates State, along the Iraqi-Syrian border is the heart of the terrorist organization’s homeland, yet it is not understood and is easy to bypass.

 

by Corey Collier | Mon, 04/04/2016 - 7:46pm | 3 comments

Russia has increasingly tested the resolve of Europe and the West, inciting and then intervening in manufactured crises in Georgia and Ukraine. The Baltic States could be the next target of Russian enlargement.

 

by Keith Nightingale | Sun, 04/03/2016 - 10:50pm | 0 comments

Dedication is a learned quality and uncommonly common among those that do the heavy lifting for our society.

by Daniel E. Ward | Thu, 03/31/2016 - 3:33pm | 4 comments

The US has adopted a more “direct action” approach to issues such as Boko Haram, and moved away from traditional skills sets such as Foreign Internal Defense.

by Alan Ryan | Thu, 03/31/2016 - 6:47am | 0 comments

Relatively junior civilian officials and NGO representatives are making decisions with long-term strategic ramifications on the “modern war battlefield”.

by Roman Skaskiw | Wed, 03/30/2016 - 9:22am | 1 comment

With varying degrees of urgency, history often returns to the question of whether Russia is Europe.

by Justine Sacco | Tue, 03/29/2016 - 4:38pm | 0 comments

The unprecedented rate of technological change will significantly alter modes of logistical support in the future and this article aims to contribute to the dialogue.

by Austin Michael Bodetti | Tue, 03/29/2016 - 2:48pm | 0 comments

The Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement has expanded from Darfur to other warzones in Sudan, promoting a countrywide revolution against an aging government.

by Michael C. Davies | Mon, 03/28/2016 - 7:31pm | 1 comment

The Human Terrain System has found itself in the news again. A feat of considerable effort as the program ceased operations in September 2014.

by Robert Bunker, by John P. Sullivan | Mon, 03/28/2016 - 12:10pm | 0 comments

While cartel drones are typically considered a tool for smuggling, they are increasingly seen as having application for other purposes including espionage, surveillance, and as weapons.

by Roman Skaskiw | Sun, 03/27/2016 - 9:18pm | 4 comments

The long term viability of Russian autocracy is more threatened by the standard of living in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland, than by any foreign military.

by Philip Murray | Fri, 03/25/2016 - 2:06pm | 0 comments

Human Insecurity in Mali: Overcoming Obstacles to Economic Solvency and Democratic Governance through External Intervention

by Tom Pike, by Eddie Brown | Thu, 03/24/2016 - 5:23pm | 5 comments

Mad Scientist series - The U.S. Government must improve its capability to rapidly analyze foreign populations and the need for this capability will only increase.

by Miguel Bedolla, by John Bedolla | Wed, 03/23/2016 - 6:18pm | 0 comments

Healthcare delivery in ISIS is characterized by a very low doctor/patient ratio of 1/50,000. Most doctors and healthcare professionals have left or have gone underground.

by Douglas Paul Rose | Wed, 03/23/2016 - 2:38am | 0 comments

It is necessary to embrace the notion that current impressions and metrics likely represent a high degree of inaccuracy when used in a predictive model.

by David Knapp, by Robb Randall, by Jim Staley | Tue, 03/22/2016 - 6:06pm | 0 comments

Mad Scientist series - Weather conditions within dense urban and complex terrain environments will influence a greater populace and can negatively influence military operations.

by Victor R. Morris | Tue, 03/22/2016 - 3:13am | 4 comments

Mad Scientist series - In light of the contemporary operating environment, terrorist activity and political violence will continue to have direct and indirect effects on European security.

by Joel Lawton | Wed, 03/16/2016 - 4:48pm | 0 comments

The importance of network analysis and socio-cultural understanding within the military intelligence community and how it was used to capture Saddam Hussein.

by Ehsan Ahrari | Tue, 03/15/2016 - 7:54pm | 5 comments

As the United States is eagerly, if not desperately, trying to build its anti-Daesh (ISIS/ISIL/IS) coalition, Iran is increasingly appearing to be an important potential player in that arrangement.

by Danielle L. Ippolito | Mon, 03/14/2016 - 8:28pm | 0 comments

Mad Scientist series - Biomarker-based far-forward diagnostic strategies and technologies have the potential to transform military healthcare in megacities and dense urban areas.

by Robert Schafer | Sun, 03/13/2016 - 11:02am | 2 comments

The challenge is to not only identify and define the threat of ISIL, but to influence a wide network of interagency stakeholders to take decisive measures.

by Steven S. Speece, by Keith B. Klemm, by Salomon Alvarez, by Scott A. Andresen | Sun, 03/13/2016 - 10:14am | 0 comments

Prestige weapons, often symbols of power and policy, rarely affected the outcomes of tactical engagements.

by Matthew Noland | Sun, 03/13/2016 - 5:39am | 0 comments

A cadre concept would ensure that a Combatant Commander had a well-trained core of professionals and platforms to perform small-scale riverine operations if required.

by Doyle Quiggle | Sat, 03/12/2016 - 12:00pm | 6 comments

The primal motivational pattern of diplomatic coercion as understood within the context of intertribal warfare is important to study.

by Elton F. Duncan IV | Fri, 03/11/2016 - 8:42pm | 2 comments

Although the U.S. is heavily invested in the region, stability in the Pacific will continue to be a secondary priority to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

by William Hedges | Fri, 03/11/2016 - 7:29am | 0 comments

Mad Scientist series - An analytic framework in support of framing, mapping, and developing courses of action for operations in dense urban areas.

| Thu, 03/10/2016 - 6:40pm | 1 comment

Many of the declassified letters from bin Laden’s “bookshelf” are about mundane concerns with reference to family and al-Qaeda members abroad, the remainder refer to jihadi matters.

by Robert C. Hodges | Wed, 03/09/2016 - 3:24pm | 6 comments

Americans as a whole, do not fully understand the current IED attack capabilities and the threat posed to the U.S.

by Marcie Fowler, by Laura L. McGhee | Tue, 03/08/2016 - 4:20am | 0 comments

“Mad Scientist” series - There is a need for improved pain control on the battlefield, as well as in higher echelons of casualty care.

by Paul O. Kwon | Mon, 03/07/2016 - 4:52pm | 1 comment

“Mad Scientist” series - The need for an Integrated Global Health Surveillance and Response Program through a complex web of surveillance, education, and interactive coordination.

by Carole N. House | Mon, 03/07/2016 - 1:10am | 0 comments

Unconventional warfare and political warfare offer valuable strategic options beyond traditional military means to achieve national policy objectives.

by Robert Murphy | Sun, 03/06/2016 - 11:10am | 56 comments

“Paper Tiger (noun): one that is outwardly powerful or dangerous but inwardly weak or ineffectual” -Merriam-Webster.com

by David Rodman | Sat, 03/05/2016 - 1:30am | 0 comments

Skilled armies sometimes choose to emphasize attrition over maneuver warfare because circumstances warrant such decisions.

by Mark A. Carter | Fri, 03/04/2016 - 6:58am | 0 comments

This paper identifies challenges faced by Geographic Combatant Commanders when operating as part of a multinational force or an interagency team.

by Christopher Paul | Thu, 03/03/2016 - 5:40pm | 7 comments

What might really be interesting but hidden within the various conceptions of gray zone conflict, ambiguous warfare, political warfare, and their ilk.

by Philip Lere | Thu, 03/03/2016 - 4:43pm | 2 comments

The US-led Coalition adjusted its logistics strategy, setting out to create an Afghan system based on the model of “pull” sustainment. The Afghans  were, and are, not ready.

by Robert Bunker | Wed, 03/02/2016 - 10:13pm | 0 comments

Bloodbath on the beaches: The Mexican drug gangs riding on JET SKIS to blast victims ‘James Bond-style’.

by Colin Tansey, by Mark Read, by Amy Krakowka Richmond, by Richard Wolfel | Wed, 03/02/2016 - 2:35pm | 0 comments

“Mad Scientist” series - As the US Army considers the challenges of operating in dense urban areas, leadership requires a basic understanding of the operating environment.

by Alfred C. Crane, by Richard Peeke | Fri, 02/26/2016 - 8:29am | 0 comments

“Mad Scientist” series - It may prove beneficial to leverage the IOT in order to provide our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines the decisive advantage needed to fight and win.

by Shade T. Shutters, by Wes Herche, by Erin King | Fri, 02/26/2016 - 4:21am | 0 comments

“Mad Scientist” series - It is critical that we understand complex systems.  This requires embracing a complex adaptive systems framework focused on urban networks.

by Doyle Quiggle | Thu, 02/25/2016 - 5:42pm | 1 comment

Today’s non-warfighters have largely forgotten that Western civilization’s art and style of thinking was invented by a grunt, a decorated hero, a veteran of three wars—Socrates.

by Dylan Farley | Wed, 02/24/2016 - 3:29pm | 0 comments

Urban areas present diverse challenges and one issue is communications. Communications that could be easy in other environments become remarkably more challenging in urban terrain.

by Colin D. Wood, by Dawn A. Morrison | Tue, 02/23/2016 - 3:58pm | 0 comments

"Mad Scientist" series - Megacities and dense urban environments are firmly on the horizon as likely and potential environments for future warfare and humanitarian engagements.