Part I: JSOC Winning the War Against White SOF and the Problems Massive Bureaucracy Gets You in the Conduct of Irregular Warfare
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.
The new career course model is ultimately detrimental to the Special Forces Regiment. It deprives SF captains of some of the best training the Army has to offer.
Japan’s defeat at Guadalcanal was led by its “closed systems,” the military culture of Gekukojo, and a military strategy dismissive of operational art.
The United States should petition a reclassification of perfidy from the United Nations to ensure the legal protections and force protection of SOF while conducting clandestine operations.
As the Mosul operation grinds forward, it is vitally important for the US and its allies to double down on their commitment to supporting the Iraqi Army and the Counter Terrorism Service.
Operation Whirlwind: A paper simulation of the Soviet assault on Budapest designed by prolific wargame designer Brian Train.
Human factors in military operations must become a central consideration in Joint Force campaign planning and execution.
Scales on War exposes the reader to the ground truths and mortal realities of the politically unfavoured means and the un-pretty practice of dismounted close combat and intimate killing.
Trump's election has already forced the United States’ European allies to contemplate a future where the United States might no longer underwrite Europe’s security.
SOUTHCOM’s diplomatic actions are effective because it can operate at both ends of the spectrum within the realm of coercive diplomacy.
This paper was prepared in early 2010, when it might still have been possible to advance an agenda for a diversified private sector in Iraq. We missed our opportunity.
This paper assesses maritime drug smuggling by Mexican drug trafficking organizations on the coast of California with an emphasis on the use of panga boats.
Ambassador Jonathan S. Addleton: The Dust of Kandahar: A Diplomat Among Warriors in Afghanistan. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis.
The United States and Russia are already at war. At least, that’s what many in Moscow seem to think - and this war is not fought like past conflicts.
The key thesis of this book is to analyze the theory that it is possible to use irregular warfare as a national military strategy to adopt a ‘professional irregular defense force’.
The potential threat posed by Special Interest Aliens is receiving renewed emphasis, particularly in view of the recent terrorist attacks across Europe and North Africa.
The “info-agile” world is not myth. It is reality, and any institution concerned with advancing truth must deal comprehensively with the manipulative nature of information.
At the end of the Vietnam War the U.S. Army was in disarray. Racial animosities, drug abuse and rebellious attitudes caused CSA Creighton Abrams to reorganize the way the army prepares for war.
This essay focuses on noteworthy contributions that are essential for the operational artist to “better understand the problem or problems at hand.”
Continue on for a short excerpt and a link to this 31 October 2007 SWJ article. It is Small Wars Journal’s most read piece.
While frustrating to some, the United States’ increasing inability to dictate preferred outcomes should come as no surprise.
As past demobilization efforts show, significant segments of non-state armed actors who are supposed to disarm simply move on from ideologically inspired violence to economically driven violence.
Three nations in Central America’s Northern Triangle have implemented an integrated, multinational task force to combat the threat from gangs.
The United States has failed to appropriately respond to the gray zone so far, so what should the new administration strive for?
Are successful international companies and drug cartels so different after all? Apparently not.
The 2015 prison escape of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman demonstrated the degree to which Mexican drug cartels have penetrated a key institution of state control.
On Dr. Simpson’s excellent arguments, there is one that I must take exception to and I ask this question: If a President Trump will not listen to General Mattis to whom will he listen?
Military regulation and creativity are strange bedfellows. This is the second part of a three part series.
Continue on for more information. The topic is "warfare in 2030-2050". Submission deadline is 15 February.
Military regulation and creativity are strange bedfellows. This is the first part of a three part series.
Operationalizing cyber is not about linear thinking and lines of operation.
Presumption comes before the fall in sport and war. Trash talking never won a real fight in the real world. Adult leadership always matters.
Get writing! Generous prizes for three categories of authors. Continue on for the all the details.
If I could recommend one book to the Trump Transition Team it would be Dr. Juliana Geran Pilon’s The Art of Peace: Engaging in Complex World.
Secrets are the knowable unknowns and mysteries are the secrets that might never be known, or at least not until disaster strikes.
An annual SWJ Veterans Day post by the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. First published in 2012.
I still wish I could’ve done more but I did what I could given the time, resources, and understanding (by our leaders) available. I say this in order to share the following.
Interview with Professor Stathis Kalyvas conducted during the Nafplio Olympia Summer Academy, Summer 2016, Greece.
A great source of frustration when reading current US Army doctrine, specifically ADP 3-0 Unified Land Operations, is the lack of a definitive characterization of the theory of war and warfare.
Policymakers would be well-advised to make appropriate preparations and take necessary initiatives rather than wait for another Pearl Harbor or 9/11 to jolt the country into demanding action.
This is not an all-inclusive how-to guide to developing a learning institution, but should serve as a springboard for any leader looking at taking their organization in a positive direction.
Even as coalition forces mass on the suburbs of Mosul and prepare their assault on the last major ISIS stronghold in Iraq, strategic planners are far from declaring victory.
The emergence of gray tactics in cyber operations, their utility as a political instrument, and reasons that twilight zone conflicts are no longer a mere science fiction fantasy.
Contract agreements between the two countries are far-reaching and encompass trade, investment, agriculture, technology, and defense.
Uncertainty has led to a proliferation of definitions for Russian hybrid operations, including such terms as ambiguous warfare, grey warfare, non-conventional warfare, and political warfare.
NATO is one of the bulwarks of strength to avert war, as long as the commitment of its members to honor Article V is believed by any potential threat.
Mad Scientist # 21: This is a first sketch of an initiative that will help to make sure we keep on being those precious few nanoseconds ahead of our opponents.
Can international law meaningfully distinguish between cyberespionage for national security purposes and economic espionage?