Blog Posts

"In one of the deadliest cities in the world, an embattled group of young men had little but their tiny patch of turf — and they would die to protect it. Journalists from The New York Times spent weeks recording their struggle."

Foreign Policy Research Institute - "After three days of talks in Turkey, representatives from Washington and Ankara failed to reach agreement on the terms of a proposed safe zone in northeastern Syria."

"It was one of the last places anyone expected the Islamic State to strike. Just weeks after its decisive defeat in Syria, the radical group claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks more than 3,000 miles away in Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean."

"Regime insiders in talks with opposition are said to have lost confidence in the bid to remove Maduro. Venezuela’s opposition came tantalizingly close to removing President Nicolás Maduro from power this week, according to more than a dozen people involved in talks to oust him."

"The Taliban in Afghanistan has rejected calls for a Ramadan ceasefire and attacked the traditional council, or loya jirga, which made the proposal."

"Russia has increased its airstrike campaign on the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib in the past few days, which rights group warn could lead to a new humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country."

"Despite the dark cloud of pessimism hovering over the Afghan peace talks, negotiation is the only way out."

"Local religious fissures and imported Wahhabism make countries like India and Sri Lanka vulnerable."

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.”

"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."

"The U.S. will likely fail to secure its national security interests with its current strategy in Afghanistan."

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.

"Houthi rebels in Yemen ramp up pilotless attacks; U.N. suspects input from Iran."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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.'"

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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'."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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.