Journal

The possibility of Mexican drug cartels establishing close ties to Islamic terrorist groups and the transformation of criminal organizations into terrorist groups, and vice versa.

We should be careful not to confuse sympathy for the victims of the Kunduz hospital incident with an assumption that the attack was in violation of international law.

I argue that there is direct relationship between liberty and democracy. In order to have democracy, a state must value individual liberty and subscribe to liberal values.

Most stakeholders fail to appreciate that Afghanistan is fighting a parallel, and far less visible, battle that is likely to have a profound effect on the fate of the country.

A great man is not necessarily good or popular. Vladimir Putin may be such a man. The American president is not.

This paper examines threat insights as they pertain to each of the Long-Range Investment Requirements Analysis investment categories.

To mitigate potential consequences on children, military families need to understand and proactively address potential traumatic effects separation can have on dependents.

The author attempts to summarize the important facets of the entanglement between U.S. strategy and emerging technologies.

Written and directed by Matthew Heineman, “Cartel Land”, also available in Spanish as “Tierra de carteles,” is a timely and graphic documentary.

Tactics, techniques and procedures for the successful application of Decision Point Tactics while conducting Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield in a decisive action training environment.

When everything is strategic, nothing is strategic.

Single-point solutions developed by government experts have failed to account for dynamic and volatile global conditions highly resistant to predetermined resolution.

Each nation brings unique capabilities to the team and learning how to maximize the effectiveness of these capabilities requires consistent training among the different militaries.

The US strategy of selecting reliable proxies against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria based on their ideological leanings is proving to be disastrous.

The ISIS’ caliphate and the security challenges it portends. These problems have been poorly addressed by the Administration’s low cost/minimum risk containment policy.

SWJ interview with William McCants on The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State (St. Martin’s Press, September 2015).

The creation of operational level of war between strategy and tactics in U.S. doctrine resulted from a misunderstanding of the operational art and its relationship to both strategy and tactics.

We remain quiet because it’s good to be hard and professional, cloaked in the comfort of our own delusion.

Much of the debate over whether to allow women into ground combat specialties has revolved around what information we should actually use and what that information actually tells us.

This article is designed to broaden your knowledge on the Decisive Action Training Environment, helping you understand what it is, what it isn’t, and how it serves Soldiers and leaders.

The military is not a brotherhood. It's not a sisterhood.  We are all comrades in arms. Let's hope the Marines can help set the conditions for future success for all who serve.

Analysts who frame their debate in terms of the present application of drones are often bypassed by technological development.

Operations in Ukraine and several countries in the ME have reinforced the role of strategic approaches that do not fall neatly into conventional analysis of conflict.

Our nation’s leaders, the crafters of policy, need to get clear in their mind what they intend to achieve before they ask strategists to get it done.

The current situation in Ukraine and, to some extent in neighboring former Soviet republics (primarily Baltic States), highlights the application of nonlinear war.

The reason the term complex may have gained its current ascendancy in the lexicon is that it expiates semantically the frustration strategists and policy makers feel toward pesky conflicts.

This SWJ report assesses the nature of U.S. assistance to the Mexican government's recent efforts to combat organized crime.

The United States and its partner nations in the battle against Islamic Extremist terrorists must discover new and improved courses of action.

Good pilots make me sick with envy.  They guide their craft with the skill and subtle controls of a mounted rodeo champion or classic violinist.

Viewing success as merely lethal action against the enemy presents an inaccurate measure for victory in military operations.

This essay focuses on analyzing the different human security threats present in the region followed by an analysis of the traditional policy approach followed by the government.

I made my hajj to Korea and served there for three years.  The "land of the morning calm" presents historical, professional, and lifestyle opportunities you will find nowhere else.

Words matter. Alas, neologisms come into the language all the time. Ironically, polemicists on the Right and Left abhor words like “Islamism.”

Interview with Jim Thomas (CSBA) conducted by Octavian Manea.

Drone or RPA pilots are leaving the USAF faster than they can be replaced.  Even more pay doesn't seem to slow the hemorrhaging down much.

The rise of vigilante citizen militias in the western Mexican state of Michoacán has been a key component in the narrative of the government’s failure to secure its citizenry.

Single point failures, military or otherwise, can be beneficial, an opportunity to learn. Serial failure, however, is often the slippery slope of cultural decay.

ADRP 3-0 is and wrong and incorrectly merges operational art and the operational level of war. The former is a creative process, the latter, is a location.

There is no one panacea to counter the violence and instability in Jalisco, and it will take time for the Operation to make an impact.

In light of the growing strength of the Sinai Province after swearing allegiance to the Islamic State, what counter actions can General Sisi and Egypt’s leaders take.

The tolerance for traditional military conflict towards achieving state interests has greatly diminished. Thus, SOF are now incorporated into a “Whole of Government” approach.

We must move into a multi-dimensional understanding of information, connectivity, and signatures in order to turn the requisite data on its axis.

History offers lessons that, if properly understood within context, elucidate continuous themes and creates options, fostering adaptability through broadening.

As the Army continues to draw down, the reality of an uncertain and complex future environment prevents the traditional post-war reset from occurring.

It is interesting to note that in a time of a political crisis the governments of modern democracies will often act in defiance of their usually liberal agendas to impose acts of self-preservation.

While this article provides an overview of Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s HUMINT, it is important to acknowledge that there are many different types of intelligence.

The fundamental problem at the heart of the Doctrine 2015 effort was this attempt to rebuild within a few years what had previously taken generations to assemble.

Leadership and ideology seem to be practically immune to drone strikes; hence making them a "super bug" that is not deterred by threats of strikes or undermined by actual kinetic strikes.

Despite criticism from pundits, President Santos has pragmatically led Colombia through a difficult era, and currently has it poised to reach a lasting internal peace.

An AAR can do more than simply identify simplistic lessons learned in training or on the battlefield - it is an opportunity to develop a more cohesive team.