Good ideas should not have rank, they should have influence.
Journal
Journal Articles are typically longer works with more more analysis than the news and short commentary in the SWJ Blog.
We accept contributed content from serious voices across the small wars community, then publish it here as quickly as we can, per our Editorial Policy, to help fuel timely, thoughtful, and unvarnished discussion of the diverse and complex issues inherent in small wars.
As one of the oldest civilizations in human history, China maintains a level of subconscious devotion to its history and culture. This paper explores one of these devotions—the steppe.
The events surrounding the “siege of Sidney Street” raised a series of issues that echo many current concerns regarding terrorism and migrants.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: The rise of super-intelligent information technologies fueled with robotics, smart munitions, ubiquitous sensing, and extreme networking.
Despite targeting AQ for the past sixteen years and killing bin Laden, the U.S. and its allies have been unable to destroy what was once considered the most dangerous terrorist group in the world.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: Exploring the art of the possible in future infantry combat.
History falls under the realms of highly contested narratives and the Sino-Indian border war is no exception.
The political context of future conflicts will have a far greater impact on the conduct of war than current U.S. military modernization efforts reflect.
NATO member Estonia has become; along with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland; NATO`s eastern bulwark against Putin´s increasing aggressiveness.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: Leveraging robotics and autonomous systems to penetrate high-risk areas and to provide support in contested environments.
No big deal. Go here. See what you can find. Platoon is not what the book says. Small is not necessarily good. Serious bad guy country.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: New Concepts in Warfare Between 2030 and 2050
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: The MI battalion of 2025 needs electronic attack, as well as protection, collection, and surveillance aspects of EW.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: Time dominates descriptions of the MDB concept which emphasizes the rapid and transitory nature of opportunities on the future battlefield.
This prison riot and resulting massacre is one of the most serious disturbances in a Mexican prison since February 2016.
It comes as a paradox of sorts that both Daesh, with its nihilistic worldview, and Salafyo Costa, with its conciliatory approach, can manage to find a place under the umbrella of Salafism.
"Preparing for War" combines collective biography, military anthropology, and military history to illuminate the uneven tapestry of how military professions change.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: Multi-Domain Entropy - creating uncertainty within enemy domains in order to disadvantage their ability to win.
Current and prospective investors are fearful of how the situation in the DRC could develop. Instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become the norm rather than the exception.
Estonia moved under NATO’s collective protection too quickly by ignoring a quarter of their population who are Russian speakers, most of whom are disenfranchised.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: The integration of computational analytic tools is a necessity to visualize and understand complexity.
ABC's ‘analysis’ boils down to little more than innuendo and cheap shots against a community that is not in a position to publicly defend itself.
The challenge of fighting today's war while preparing to win the next war.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: Data will be the most coveted weapon and the greatest tool.
Considered the “Islamic Fringe” by Muslim coreligionists, S.E. Asian Muslims embraced secular pursuits and have shunned the radical variants of Islam common in the Middle East.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: In this world of flux and constant pursuit of competitive advantage, the most disruptive technologies will be tactical level electromagnetic pulse weapons.
The U.S. Army places great emphasis on the importance of judgment, but does little to explain the concept.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: Megacities - or more generally Dense Urban Areas - will emerge at the epicenter of future events necessitating military intervention.
SWJ interview with Thomas Wright, author of “All Measures Short of War: The Contest For The 21st Century & The Future Of American Power”.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: The intent of this paper is to present a sample of emerging human enhancement technologies that may contribute to soldier resilience.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: Besides the physical properties of urban terrain, the density of pervasive, networked sensors creates opportunities and challenges for military operations.
These new urban residences of a transnational plutonomy began to be completed in 2014 and are now spreading to key nodal global city hubs.
The history of this iconic American weapon, from its inception in 1959 to the present day.
The U.S. Army places great emphasis on the importance of judgment, but does little to explain the concept.
While many rejoice the arrival of spring, Afghans know that this season ushers in a considerable increase in fighting. Or at least it used to.
ISIS’s cyber efforts have paid off; the FBI told Congress in July 2016 that “the message of radicalization spreads faster than we imagined just a few years ago.
What are some of the most pressing transborder crime issues facing LatAm with regards to armed conflict; how does corruption sustain domestic and transnational organizations and groups?
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: The cyberspace domain of the future will most forcefully assert itself in urban areas.
TRADOC Mad Scientist Project: Urban and global trends present a variety of critical factors contributing to center of gravity analysis and resilience assessments.
"Al-Qaeda’s Revenge" is a thoroughly researched and well-presented case study on the evolution of the 3/11 network.
Maneuver in the sense recommended in this article involves only two fundamental elements: the application of capabilities to gain advantage with respect to one or more mission-relevant parties.
A narcotrafficking technique first used in Mexico now expands to other countries in Central and South America.
While the sunset provision is highly unlikely to become law, it is a significant development in the debate over a possible AUMF specific to the fight against the Islamic State.
An illusion persists where people seem somehow convinced that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to kill is somehow safer or better than available alternatives.
The purpose of a national security strategy is to protect and promote national values, which, in turn, must be developed into tangible national interests and objectives.
The world has a history of repeating themes, such as the collapse of states and global unrest, about every twenty years.
To succeed in complex environments, military leaders must change their leadership from a leader-centric to a more follower-centric model.
Though newly arrived in Army doctrine, the concept of operational design finds precedent in American military history.
The cemetery at Omaha Beach is a lodestone for the human soul. Its vast and manicured marble garden is an attractant that no pheromone can match.
Mirroring the structure of the book, this review highlights some oddities in acknowledgements and abbreviations before discussing Moghadam’s model of terrorist cooperation.