Small Wars Journal

Blog Posts

SWJ Blog is a multi-author blog publishing news and commentary on the various goings on across the broad community of practice.  We gladly accept guest posts from serious voices in the community.

by The National Interest | Fri, 05/03/2019 - 1:28pm | 0 comments
"Despite the dark cloud of pessimism hovering over the Afghan peace talks, negotiation is the only way out."
by The Wall Street Journal | Fri, 05/03/2019 - 12:46pm | 0 comments
"Local religious fissures and imported Wahhabism make countries like India and Sri Lanka vulnerable."
by SWJ Editors | Fri, 05/03/2019 - 11:07am | 0 comments
In a new report published by the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute, author Michael L. Burgoyne, a U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer, looks at the limitations of current policing models in Mexico and Central America to confront “militarized criminal violence.”
by The Washington Post | Fri, 05/03/2019 - 1:18am | 0 comments
"The appearance of the Islamic State’s leader in a video this week after a five-year absence appeared to be an effort to signal that the group is preparing for a long global war despite its territorial defeat, terrorism experts say."
by Institute for the Study of War | Fri, 05/03/2019 - 12:10am | 0 comments
"The U.S. will likely fail to secure its national security interests with its current strategy in Afghanistan."
by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction | Fri, 05/03/2019 - 12:03am | 0 comments
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has released its forty-third Quarterly Report to Congress, continue on for the report’s key points and a link to the full document.
by The Wall Street Journal | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 2:23pm | 0 comments
"Houthi rebels in Yemen ramp up pilotless attacks; U.N. suspects input from Iran."
by Foreign Affairs | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 12:42pm | 0 comments
"True peace in Yemen will remain elusive unless both sides accept that they have nothing to gain from more fighting. We are not there yet."
by World Politics Review | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 10:56am | 0 comments
"The next generation of violent extremists will almost certainly be inspired by the rubble left behind by the U.S.-led war against the Islamic State."
by The National Interest | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 3:11am | 0 comments
"The Baltic States don’t have a chance in a conventional war with Russia. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania could be conquered in less than three days, according to some estimates. But a guerrilla army just might make the Baltics so indigestible as to deter Moscow from invading, according to a study by U.S. thinktank RAND Corp."
by Associated Press | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 1:09am | 0 comments
"No longer burdened by territory and administration, Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi outlined the new path forward for his group: Widen your reach, connect with far-flung militant groups and exhaust your enemies with a 'war of attrition.'"
by The Wall Street Journal | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 12:59am | 0 comments
"An April 19 U.S. airstrike in Somalia killed the al-Shabaab militant believed responsible for an American soldier’s death last year in an attack on an isolated outpost, according to the U.S. military."
by The Washington Post | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 12:56am | 0 comments
"More than a week after devastating bombings in Sri Lanka, a government minister and a U.S. diplomat warned that the group that carried out the attacks could launch further strikes."
by Military Times | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 12:30am | 0 comments
"The war in Afghanistan is getting harder to track for the American public, as U.S. military officials there have decided to no longer report how much of the country is controlled or influenced by the Taliban or other insurgent forces, according to oversight officials."
by Reuters | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 12:27am | 0 comments
"Islamic State remains a potent threat around the world despite reduced capabilities, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday, adding its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had made his latest video appearance in a 'remote area'."
by The Washington Post | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 12:25am | 0 comments
"Opposition leader Juan Guaidó brought thousands of demonstrators into the streets of the Venezuelan capital to confront tear-gas firing security forces Wednesday as the opposition sought to regroup and regain momentum in the campaign to oust President Nicolás Maduro after a failed effort to ignite a military uprising a day earlier."
by Military Times | Thu, 05/02/2019 - 12:04am | 0 comments
"Defense Department officials don’t know when — or if — the military’s deployment to the U.S. southern border will end. In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he is pressing Department of Homeland Security officials for more information on their personnel shortfalls, with an eye towards when the military missions on the border might end."
by The Washington Post | Wed, 05/01/2019 - 2:46pm | 0 comments
"The White House sent Congress a $4.5 billion emergency spending request for the border on Wednesday, citing an unfolding 'humanitarian and security crisis' as record numbers of Central American families seek entrance into the United States."
by The Center for a New American Security | Wed, 05/01/2019 - 2:20pm | 0 comments
"An Instruction Guide for Leveraging Syria’s Fragmentation to Achieve U.S. Policy Objectives" - Continue on for an excerpt from the Executive Study and links to the full report.
by Voice of America | Wed, 05/01/2019 - 1:00am | 0 comments
"Venezuela's self-declared president Juan Guaido is calling for another day of massive street protests Wednesday to try and convince Nicolas Maduro that he must go. Guaido said late Tuesday night that Maduro’s claim that he still has the respect and support of the Venezuelan military is false."
by The Washington Post | Wed, 05/01/2019 - 12:57am | 1 comment
"The National Security Agency revealed the identities of many more citizens, permanent residents and corporations who were mentioned in intelligence reports last year, in a process known as 'unmasking' that has been a source of controversy for President Trump and his allies in Congress."
by The Washington Post | Tue, 04/30/2019 - 8:17pm | 0 comments
"Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó appeared Tuesday with troops at a Caracas military base to announce a 'final phase' to remove President Nicolás Maduro from office."
by Lawfare | Tue, 04/30/2019 - 1:06pm | 0 comments
"This is the first in a new series of posts about developments in Justice Department efforts to combat transnational organized criminal groups."
by The American Conservative | Tue, 04/30/2019 - 11:24am | 0 comments
"How this oft-forgotten conflict unleashed our hyper-powered American exceptionalism and birthed an era of forever war."
by Reuters | Tue, 04/30/2019 - 9:10am | 0 comments
"Erik Prince - the founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater and a prominent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump - has been pushing a plan to deploy a private army to help topple Venezuela’s socialist president."