Home, Above Feeds, Annoucement

“It takes a brave man to be a coward in the Red Army.”
-- Joseph Stalin
“For Dave Dilegge and Bill Nagle, founders and editors of Small Wars Journal. They gave the counterguerrilla underground a home, at a time when misguided leaders banned even the word ‘insurgency,’ though busily losing to one. Scholars, warriors, and agitators, Dave and Bill laid the foundation for battlefield success: our generation owes them a debt of gratitude.”
-- David Kilcullen ('Counterinsugency' Dedication)
“With no other security forces on hand, U.S. military was left to confront, almost alone, an Iraqi insurgency and a crime rate that grew worse throughout the year, waged in part by soldiers of the disbanded army and in part by criminals who were released from prison.”
-- John Spratt
"In 1991 the Gulf War showed everyone how not to fight us, but the 2003 invasion of Iraq showed everybody how to fight us."
-- David Kilcullen
"Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."
-- Old MOUT Adage

"Small wars are operations undertaken under executive authority, wherein military force is combined with diplomatic pressure in the internal or external affairs of another state whose government is unstable, inadequate, or unsatisfactory for the preservation of life and of such interests as are determined by the foreign policy of our Nation."

— Small Wars Manual, 1940

Small Wars Journal publishes original works from authentic voices across the spectrum of stakeholders in small wars. We also link you to relevant goings on elsewhere. Login with your SWJ Username to comment, or Register, it's free. You can start your own threads in the Small Wars Council discussion board, but note that the board requires a separate Council Username. Follow SWJ on Twitter @smallwars.

Journal

Why Ukraine Won’t Quit

by Yurij Holowinsky | Sat, 11/26/2022 - 8:18pm | 0 comments

The world is witnessing the horrors of full-scale war in Ukraine, and some are beginning to offer the advice that Ukraine should seek peace with Russia. Those who do so do not understand Ukraine and Ukrainians; the unstoppable passion of a people awoken and pursuing the goal of real freedom.

Security Studies and Foreign Policy Analysis: The academic legacy of Jorge Chabat

by Rafael Velázquez Flores | Tue, 11/22/2022 - 11:24am | 0 comments

This memorial essay by Rafael Velazquez Flores celebrates the life and work of Mexican scholar Jorge Chabat (1956−2022).

How Can We Do What We Do Better?

| Sun, 11/20/2022 - 11:39pm | 0 comments

(Editor’s Note: Flavius Belisarius reads the SWJ National Security and Korea News and Commentary daily. Below he comments on three articles from last week and provides a unique perspective worth pondering to help us answer the question of “How Can We Do What We Do Better?”)

Revolution in Military Affairs vs Military Revolution: The Emergence of Drones and Robotics as a driver in Societal Change

by Bill Edwards | Fri, 11/11/2022 - 11:13am | 0 comments

The war in Ukraine has proven one explicable truth, the convergence of commercial off-the-shelf drone technology with the military-industrial complex (MIC) drone platform is here to stay and possibly the first military revolution we’ve seen since the advent of the nuclear age.

The Russo-Ukrainian War and the Principles of Urban Operations

by Amos C. Fox | Thu, 11/10/2022 - 10:05pm | 0 comments

The Russo-Ukrainian War provides an exorbitant amount of information for the security and defense studies communities, much of which is too immature, or insufficiently detailed to stake out ‘lessons learned.’ Nonetheless, examining urban operations from the macro-level, that is, above the movement of troops and individual formations, provides several noticeable trends. Most notably, urban operations in Ukraine demonstrate that attrition is how wars between industrialized nations are fought, won, and lost. Next, dislocation, or the effect of rendering an adversary’s strength irrelevant through position, function, time, or will, is germane to fighting and winning wars of attrition. As a result of these two features of urban warfare, sharply brought into focus by the Russo-Ukrainian War, Western militaries must make doctrine, organization, and training adjustments to how they think about and prepare for future war. This paper provides a set of principles for urban operations, based on these findings, to help orient the community of interest toward that end.

The Problematic Symptom of Donald J. Trump

by Robert C. Jones | Mon, 11/07/2022 - 9:59am | 0 comments

Blaming people like Donald Trump for instability is easy – but it is wrong as well. Trump is far more symptom than causation. He is a symptom of a deep and growing sense of outrage and abandonment felt across a vast and diverse segment of our nation. To ignore that grievance and fixate on symptoms places the stability of our nation at risk. It places our democracy at risk. As a retired Green Beret Colonel, and as a special operations strategist I have spent a lifetime studying and participating in the drivers of political instability. If I could offer one insight it is simply this: the old playbook is obsolete.

An International Post-War Security Force is Needed in Ukraine

by Daniel Rice | Thu, 11/03/2022 - 8:17pm | 4 comments

The war in Ukraine will end at some point. When, and under what terms, is unknown and still to be determined. But when it does end, there needs to be an international security force in Ukraine to ensure Russia never invades again. In hindsight, after Russia invaded and illegally annexed the Donbas and Crimea in 2014, an international security force should have been installed in Ukraine. Had the international community done so, we would not likely be in this massive war.

Understanding Bukele’s Gang Crack Down in El Salvador

by Jonathan D. Rosen | Tue, 11/01/2022 - 11:01pm | 0 comments

This paper reviews recent gang crackdowns by Salvadoran President Nayib Buckle. El Salvador is home to some of the most powerful gangs in the Western Hemisphere: Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, the 18th Street Southerners, and the 18th Street Revolutionaries. These gangs compete for control of territory and are present in more than 90 percent of the municipalities in El Salvador.

Ukraine is the Modern-Day Sparta

by Daniel Rice | Fri, 10/28/2022 - 8:56pm | 0 comments

It occurred to me that Ukraine is the closest we have to a modern-day Sparta. This war has affected every single member of Ukrainian society, for years, starting with the Russian invasion of 2014 and the illegal annexation of Crimea and Donbas.

Transnational Cartels and Prison/Jail Gangs: A Social Network Analysis of Mexican Mafia (Eme) and La Familia Michoacana Conspiracy Cases

by Isaac Poritzky, by Nathan P. Jones, by John P. Sullivan | Mon, 10/24/2022 - 6:28pm | 4 comments

This article is a mixed methods research study, using social network analysis (SNA), on the Mexican Mafia (La Eme) and La Familia Michoacana (La Familia or LFM), with a focus on their alliance, dubbed “The Project.” Using two indictments of the Mexican Mafia that included an attempt to establish a permanent relationship with the Mexican La Familia drug cartel.