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 Washington Times | Wed, 12/16/2015 - 2:11pm | 0 comments

“The nation's top military officer said the Pentagon will revamp combat commands for the 'fight of the future' because current 'old plans' take too long to execute.”

by Voice of America | Wed, 12/16/2015 - 12:42pm | 0 comments

"A new Saudi-led Islamic military alliance to fight terrorism could be part of a solution, but Riyadh will have to first overcome its ambivalence toward Islamic extremism."

by CTC Sentinel | Tue, 12/15/2015 - 11:54pm | 0 comments

"The Islamic State’s leaders may see advantage in increasing their encouragement of overseas terrorism, even to the point of directing attacks."

by The Christian Science Monitor | Tue, 12/15/2015 - 10:10pm | 0 comments

“Saudi Arabia said all the right things in announcing a Islamic military coalition against terrorism. The move could help in some ways. But it could also be window dressing.”

by DoD News | Tue, 12/15/2015 - 12:15pm | 0 comments

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed his short-term priority – defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – and provided insight into his long-term goals.

by Voice of America | Tue, 12/15/2015 - 5:05am | 0 comments

"U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said President Barack Obama has reiterated to the military the need to accelerate the campaign against Islamic State."

by Breaking Defense | Mon, 12/14/2015 - 6:07pm | 5 comments

"After 15 years of ad hoc solutions, the Army may build specialized battalions and brigades to train and advise foreign forces."

by Voice of America | Mon, 12/14/2015 - 5:26pm | 7 comments

"Obama said the U.S.-led coalition will prevail in its battle against IS, adding that the militant group is losing ground and its leaders have no place to hide."

by Center for American Progress | Mon, 12/14/2015 - 3:48pm | 1 comment

"Despite thousands of U.S. civilians, the results in Afghanistan were very mixed."

by STAND-TO! | Mon, 12/14/2015 - 12:45pm | 0 comments

"The U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Interagency Fellowship Program is a career broadening, educational opportunity for field grade officers."

by Voice of America | Sun, 12/13/2015 - 1:08pm | 10 comments

"The terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have added urgency to the conundrum now facing the U.S. and its allies: What to do about the Islamic State group?"

by Chris Townsend | Sat, 12/12/2015 - 5:03pm | 4 comments

How does the DoD conduct a media war, especially when considering the number of other players already in the counter-messaging game?

by SWJ Editors | Sat, 12/12/2015 - 1:24pm | 1 comment

"This paper examines the possibility of the assassination of Kim Jong-un and assesses what type of assassination has the highest probability of occurring in North Korea."

by Parameters | Sat, 12/12/2015 - 8:21am | 0 comments

Continue on for the latest issue of Parameters.

by The Christian Science Monitor | Sat, 12/12/2015 - 7:40am | 2 comments

“It's easy to blame presidents for a lack of strategy, but a growing number of officials are saying that the fault lies with a lack of vision in the Pentagon.”

by DoD News | Fri, 12/11/2015 - 7:48pm | 0 comments

"Restoking the Pentagon’s wargaming engine will multiply ways to explore defense and national security futures, Deputy Defense Secretary Work has said multiple times this year."

by Breaking Defense | Fri, 12/11/2015 - 5:12pm | 5 comments

"War among the people — whether it’s counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, or just conventional warfare in an urban setting — will only get nastier and harder to avoid."

by The Hoover Institution | Fri, 12/11/2015 - 4:25pm | 0 comments

"The intent of this essay is to shed light upon why the United States is performing so poorly in twenty-first-century warfare."

by Defense One | Fri, 12/11/2015 - 4:49am | 2 comments

“To defeat terrorists, we need to overhaul our military and other levers of government to tackle complex and shifting threats.”

by R.C. Porter | Thu, 12/10/2015 - 12:26pm | 0 comments

Crimes Against Humanity are certain acts which are committed as part of a widespread, systemic attack directed against any civilian population, or an identifiable part of a population. 

by National Public Radio | Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:40am | 0 comments

"President Obama's request that American Muslims help "root out" and confront extremist ideology in their communities is getting mixed reactions."

by The Wall Street Journal | Wed, 12/09/2015 - 4:02pm | 0 comments

“Wars aren’t won simply by bombing the enemy, yet this delusion has bipartisan, multinational support.”

by The New York Times | Wed, 12/09/2015 - 1:53am | 1 comment

"How overwhelming firepower can fail to defeat a determined or ideologically driven guerrilla force in the absence of a coherent and well-executed strategy."

by Gary Anderson | Tue, 12/08/2015 - 5:56am | 1 comment

By western standards, making unnecessary enemies is bad strategy; by jihadist standards, it makes perfect sense.

by American Enterprise Institute | Mon, 12/07/2015 - 1:46pm | 1 comment

"Al Qaeda and the Islamic State are no longer on the run in the Middle East and represent an increasingly serious threat to the United States."