Journal

We Americans tend to invent for ourselves a comfortable U.S.-centric vision with an enemy who looks and acts more or less as we do, and a situation in which the fighting is done by conventional military units. 

This SWJ article compares the British handling of the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) with that of the French in Algeria (1954-1962).

"Along with the rest of the U.S. government, the Department of Defense depends on cyberspace to function. It is difficult to overstate this reliance."

This article is a working paper designed to present the early findings of my research to the field, particularly the model of insurgency which is still in its early developmental stages.

In Afghanistan, and across much of the developing world, agriculture is the primary enterprise and key to local food security, as well as national and regional political stability.

Mexico and the US continue to assert that this a war on drugs, but provide no evidence that the drug trade has diminished despite the mounting death toll and the billions of dollars spent.

It is clear that long-term COIN involving large numbers of US forces will be considered a last resort; however, approaches and programs that supported COIN will remain as actual or potential support to ongoing and future missions.

The civilian population’s diversity, through its multitude of ethnic, tribal and social groups, has made Mali an area of operations with its own challenges and advantages.

Where Mao’s style was measured and subtle, Guevara’s prose is that of a decisive young revolutionary eager for the next victory.

Despite the United States’ ongoing transition from the Middle East toward the Pacific, Africa remains strategically important to U.S. interests.

The human domain is one of the most critical and challenging aspects of modern conflicts and will remain a decisive factor in future conflicts.

As applicable as the concept of Security Force Assistance has been before; and as intriguing as it has become, we must accept that SFA has a time, a place, and yes, even limitations.

As a law enforcement officer with over 20 years of experience, I led many Community Policing efforts and observed firsthand the impact of bringing order to crime riddled neighborhoods.

Memetic Theory can potentially provide mathematical modeling tools and concepts to assist Information Operations (IO) officers when conducting IIA.

U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is an example of a great power fighting a guerrilla war in pursuit of geopolitical objectives greater than simply the defeat of a local insurgency.

Anything that distances, atomizes or alienates people - technology, bureaucracy, security - defeats the purpose of public diplomacy.

It is evident that there is still a long way to go before the practice of child recruitment into the armed forces is fully eradicated from the country.

If DOD and the U.S. Army want to maximize their resources to ensure success in building partner nation security capacity with our allies, recommendations contained in this article will strengthen our ability to accomplish this strategic goal.

Attacks against Mexican government officials, law enforcement, and political institutions by drug cartels, fall neatly into the Fourth Generation Warfare paradigm.

Calls for a formalized strategic planning process and grand strategy have been mounting for years.  However, those sounding these calls erroneously remember a past that rarely if ever existed.

Hard-won progress in one of Afghanistan’s most violent districts, with warnings from the Afghan National Army for looming decisions about U.S. involvement in the embattled country.

Since 2006 exceptionally intense drug-related warfare has plagued Mexico and accumulated a death toll ranging from at least 50,000 to perhaps over 100,000 with an additional 20,000 missing.

Is the international system shifting away from one in which technology and organizations hold sway?

The US military’s checkered past with regard to conducting development is evidenced by the recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although DOD’s Counternarcotics & Global Threats Strategy specifies a comprehensive set of goals and objectives associated with combating TOC, it stops short of providing the details necessary to achieve its desired end state.

While the ‘privatisation of peace’ may not be a worldwide phenomenon, it is undeniable that the private military and security sectors have seen a growth in conflict involvement.

The U.S. Department of Defense and supporting intellectual communities are abuzz with discussions about assessment and how it is conducted.

The inability to craft an effective national policy to deal with the surge of left-wing extremism is a subject of intense policy debate and mounting public concern in India.

The Arab Spring spawned a series of revolutionary movements that are unique in that they utilized social media as a means to spread information and promote agendas.

In the near future, in a galaxy not so far away from Planet Earth, millions will march across the battlefields, mercilessly mowing everything in their path. Unlike computers, they will be self-aware and conscious.

The US must shift focus away from the Global War on Terror and prepare for the complexities of the twenty-first century international security environment. 

The study of war, or peace, remains relevant.  But does the study of On War?

The development of female local national security forces are a useful tool in designing culturally appropriate security operations.

This essay discusses warnings our top leaders ignored, the dangers of political correctness, thwarted opportunities to “know our enemy,” and ideas on changing this deadly path.

The Company Intelligence Support Team (CoIST) can provide great value to their organization by developing refined geographic targets.

US strategy must continue to include a significant element dedicated to irregular warfare to counter likely future threats and retain hard won knowledge and expertise in irregular warfare.

The issue of the Kashmir is important not because of the region itself, but because the dispute involves two nations of strategic interest to the United States.

The last decade has again reminded us that irregular warfare can be every bit as challenging and deadly as conventional wars, even in the maritime setting.

The types of information needed by the military to conduct population-centric counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan shares little in common with intelligence used for lethal targeting.

Sustainable development is a catch phrase, found throughout our modern culture, which does not have a common definition. While these multiple meanings are acceptable within society, the military requires an unambiguous definition that can be used across services and government agencies.

Although some theories expound truly universal principles that apply regardless of time or place, others are uniquely suited to a specific strategic context. Attempting to apply a particular theory to circumstances outside of the context for which it was developed can result in failure on the battlefield.

Governments are being confronted by hard realities, peace and stability can’t be sustained through the introduction of military power alone. Today’s military powers are either engaged in, or preparing for counterinsurgency operations.

This article is written as a letter from an insurgent commander to a sub-commander to illuminate the perspective and tools used by insurgent forces to influence and control medical NGOs.

Thinking and Writing About COIN: A Review Essay of Fred Kaplan’s The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War.

This article provides insights into the privatization of violence and the legal as well as illegal armed actors’ activities in the new wars.

The war in southern Thailand that began in earnest in 2004 shows no signs of stopping. Critics of the government’s Counterinsurgency (COIN) operations abound.

If only I could speak personally with the old master I would ask him in the first person to give me his opinion as to whether his theory could explain today’s phenomenon.

This article examines Hezbollah's strategy and the evolution of their tactical performance during their insurgency in the security zone in Southern Lebanon between 1985 and 2000.

This essay examines several COIN case studies to detail lessons and provide recommendations for both policy-makers and warfighters engaged in future conflicts of these and other comparable types.

A lot of people focus on the annual budget figures of DOD.  Not many realize DOD spends just south of $1T annually because of previous year appropriations. This is like crack cocaine to Congress.