Small Wars Journal
  • “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
  • “It takes a brave man to be a coward in the Red Army.”
    -- Joseph Stalin
  • "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."
    -- Old MOUT Adage
  • "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
  • “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)

Home, Above Feeds, Annoucement

 

Ukraine

"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

by Howard Campbell | Wed, 07/24/2024 - 2:32pm | 0 comments
SWJ–El Centro Fellow Howard Campbell, an anthropologist, interviews journalist Kurt Hollander on his new book and photography project Cali Caliente that documents the history and culture of violence in that city.
by Daniel Rice | Fri, 07/19/2024 - 3:29pm | 0 comments
For 2.5 years the Russians have used strategic assets of Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers, along with Black Sea Fleet ships to fire cruise missiles into Ukraine at civilian targets such as power plants, shopping malls, hydro-electric dams, children’s hospitals and many civilian targets.   This sustained bombing campaign represents institutionalized war crimes from a state sponsor of terror and must be stopped.   Instead of providing weapons that might be able to shoot down the inbound missiles, we must provide weapons to deter the Russian bombers and fleet by going directly at them with weapons that can reach them.
by Andrew Byers | Tue, 07/16/2024 - 2:33pm | 0 comments
The June 2024 arrest of eight Tajiks inside the United States who are believed to have ties to ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) highlights both the vulnerability of the current open borders of the United States and the persistence of the threat by several international Salafist terror organizations capable of attacking the U.S. homeland.
by Dave Maxwell | Fri, 07/12/2024 - 3:28pm | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by John P. Sullivan | Sun, 07/07/2024 - 3:07pm | 0 comments
On Easter Sunday, 21 April 2019, the Islamic State (IS) ravaged Sri Lanka with multiple, coordinated attacks targeting churches and three international hotels killing at least 290 people and injuring hundreds. The death toll included at least 45 foreign nationals, three police officers, and eight suicide bombers. The anatomy of this deadly sequence is the focus of Professor Rohan Gunaratna’s text "Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre."
by Dan Rice | Wed, 07/03/2024 - 11:35am | 0 comments
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has witnessed a significant shift in Russian tactics, with fighter-bombers now deploying over 100 large "glide bombs" daily against both military and civilian targets. These precision-guided munitions, some weighing up to 3,000 pounds, are causing devastating damage and need to be countered effectively. The immediate provision of MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Ukraine could be a strategic response to this evolving threat.
by Michael Panfil Jr. | Mon, 07/01/2024 - 7:58pm | 0 comments
Who are the ever-elusive U.S. Army Space Cadre? In this article, the Space Cadre force structure is broken down across its categories – FA40As [Space Operations Officers], FA40Cs [U.S. Army Astronauts], and 3Ys [Space Enabler ASI] – and the components of the U.S. Army. Additionally, this article underpins the space capabilities that Space Cadre can provide to the warfighter, as well as contextualizes their formation and utilization in U.S. warfighting operations such as the Gulf War (1990 - 1991) – dubbed as the “First Space War.” Lastly, this article very briefly highlights the future implications of U.S. Army Space Operations. The purpose of this article is to not only inform U.S. Army Commanders of the space professionals in their ranks but to also encourage the growth and maintenance of the U.S. Army Space Cadre as a small, modular force structure capable of bridging institutional gaps relating to space across the Joint Force.
by John Nagl, by Alexander Peris | Sun, 06/30/2024 - 1:15pm | 0 comments
Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine is now in its third year. Ukraine successfully repelled most of Russia’s initial strikes in 2022, and the West rallied to provide enormous support for the battle-hardened Ukrainian people. Yet Ukraine now faces serious challenges on and off the battlefield. Russia is advancing at the same time as international support for Ukraine has been thrown into doubt. The implications stretch far beyond Central and Eastern Europe in what some observers are now calling the opening phases of a renewed Cold War and even a possible World War III.
by John Nagl, by Kelly “Curly” Ihme | Fri, 06/21/2024 - 6:27am | 0 comments
The ”superpower” of the Army War College, as in most professional military education institutions in the United States, is the presence of international officers from allied and partner nations around the globe.   Each year, some 75 countries send their most talented senior officers to spend a year in Carlisle with their families studying, learning, and living among their American peers. This immersion often leads to forming lifelong personal, as well as professional, bonds that reap rewards for the entire international system for years to come
by Paul Burton | Tue, 06/18/2024 - 9:54pm | 0 comments
Irregular Warfare (IW) Campaigning is the art of using available resources by the Department of Defense and other Agencies in a series of linked actions, over an extended period, to eventually gain a marked advantage over your adversary, who will also be referred to as peer competitors. This long-term strategy requires continuity of desired end states through both political administrations and military command rotations. This was done by and large during the Cold War, albeit with course adjustments; the key was that the majority of America never questioned that the Soviet Union was our number one enemy. This basic common focus during the Cold War helped facilitate a unity of purpose and effort from different organizations, if not a unity of command and priority of tasks. So, the question is what agency or headquarters should take the lead in IW campaigning in the present multi-polar complex world?

Blog Posts

by Dave Maxwell | Thu, 07/25/2024 - 8:27am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Wed, 07/24/2024 - 7:36pm | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Tue, 07/23/2024 - 7:04am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Mon, 07/22/2024 - 8:54am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Sun, 07/21/2024 - 11:29am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Sat, 07/20/2024 - 12:32pm | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Fri, 07/19/2024 - 11:15am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Thu, 07/18/2024 - 10:44am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Wed, 07/17/2024 - 11:55am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Tue, 07/16/2024 - 11:11am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Mon, 07/15/2024 - 8:29am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Sun, 07/14/2024 - 10:20am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Sat, 07/13/2024 - 1:37pm | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

by Dave Maxwell | Wed, 07/10/2024 - 8:09am | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content:

1. The Kyiv Children’s Hospital Attack

by Dave Maxwell | Tue, 07/09/2024 - 8:09pm | 0 comments

Access National Security News HERE.

Access Korean News HERE.

National Security News Content: