Small Wars Journal

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.

by Joe Royo | Wed, 07/11/2012 - 5:50am | 2 comments

Naiveté clouded the lens through which they viewed military power.

by Shawn Russell | Tue, 07/10/2012 - 5:26am | 1 comment

A Maoist approach may have produced a more politically meaningful victory with less brutality in the First Congo Civil War.

by Thaddeus L. Jankowski | Mon, 07/09/2012 - 5:47am | 5 comments

How the Pentagon resisted change and needed disruption to enact life-saving programs in the face of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

by Ben Zweibelson | Mon, 07/09/2012 - 5:44am | 28 comments

How "Design" was used in shaping a the way ahead in Afghanistan.

by Dan McCauley | Fri, 07/06/2012 - 5:30am | 21 comments

To understand and address the tensions between “winning the present and winning the future” a joint force capable of “deep thinking” is required.

by Youssef Aboul-Enein | Fri, 07/06/2012 - 5:28am | 1 comment

A look back at al Qaeda after 10 years of war.

by J. Edward Conway | Thu, 07/05/2012 - 1:54am | 18 comments

Key bureaucratic and analytical challenges for the deployed threat finance analyst and the larger community of deployed all-source intelligence analysts

by Justin Peele | Tue, 07/03/2012 - 12:23pm | 0 comments

Will Mexico’s admittance into the Trans-Pacific Partnership create an even more empowered global criminal network?

by Daniel R. DePetris | Tue, 07/03/2012 - 9:05am | 0 comments

Without a more unified and coercive strategy from the international community, Assad will likely remain in power for the immediate future. 

by Peter J. Munson | Mon, 07/02/2012 - 5:28am | 11 comments

Stemming from his must-read book, an important discussion about Helmand, Kandahar, and America's flawed attempt to save Afghanistan.

by Alex Verschoor-Kirss | Fri, 06/29/2012 - 5:28am | 7 comments

A Foucauldian approach to military history exposes 4GW as a crock.

by Octavian Manea, by Robert W. Schaefer | Thu, 06/28/2012 - 5:30am | 1 comment

An interview with Lieutenant Colonel Robert W. Schaefer, the author of  “The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad.”

by F. Stephen Larrabee, by Robert Tollast | Wed, 06/27/2012 - 5:28am | 0 comments

When it comes to their old strategy of “zero problems with neighbors,” Turkey’s worst foreign policy headache might not be Syria...

by Robert Kemp | Tue, 06/26/2012 - 5:42am | 2 comments

Holding and building in pop-centric COIN.

by George Hodge | Fri, 06/22/2012 - 5:19am | 2 comments

The doctrine for wargaming during COA analysis falls short for small wars.

by Dan McCauley | Thu, 06/21/2012 - 5:17am | 6 comments

To implement mission command successfully, a shared understanding of the environment, problem, and strategic intent must exist with echelons above and below.

by EM Burlingame | Wed, 06/20/2012 - 11:11am | 7 comments

Harnessing the Disruptive Mind of the entrepreneur and investor with
the System Mind of the military and government at the tactical and
strategic level of special operations.

by Scott Kesterson | Wed, 06/20/2012 - 6:33am | 2 comments

Using visual media to disrupt insurgent formation.

by Brenda Bi Hui Ong | Mon, 06/18/2012 - 6:36am | 0 comments

China's struggle with the Uyghur minority.

by Octavian Manea, by Robert M. Cassidy | Fri, 06/15/2012 - 6:05am | 1 comment

COIN, organizational culture, and leadership - how they have interplayed in Afghanistan over the past several decades.

by Dan Cox | Thu, 06/14/2012 - 5:48am | 14 comments

The Army is globally engaged and regionally responsive; it is an indispensible partner and provider of a full range of capabilities to Combatant Commanders in a Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multi-national (

by Richard J. Allain | Wed, 06/13/2012 - 5:48am | 3 comments

We have no more real control over conflict (or the universe) than anyone else, in fact, sometimes we now have less.  If we cannot control, we must adapt.

by Sónia Rodrigues | Tue, 06/12/2012 - 5:41am | 11 comments

R2P, its historical roots, applications, and its confrontation with the "wicked" problems in Libya and Syria.

by Carlos Nash Licona | Tue, 06/12/2012 - 5:39am | 0 comments

Mexico’s war against their drug cartels is a war they cannot win by themselves. Must we take some responsibility?

by Reidar Visser, by Robert Tollast | Mon, 06/11/2012 - 6:02am | 3 comments

As sanctions bite and pressure mounts on Assad, Iran steps up its involvement in Iraqi affairs. But how extensive is their influence?

by Andrew B. Nocks | Fri, 06/08/2012 - 5:59am | 11 comments

The Army is a learning organization, but it must avoid learning mumbo-jumbo.

by Youssef Aboul-Enein | Thu, 06/07/2012 - 5:42am | 1 comment

The inside story of 9/11 and the war against al Qaida.

by Alexander Frank | Wed, 06/06/2012 - 5:52am | 8 comments

Afghans generally haven't seen the latest episode of How I Met Your Mother, but they would love to talk to you about the great things their male relatives are doing, their crops, how their goats are doing, the weather, and their favorite decorations on their jingle truck.

by Ben Zweibelson | Mon, 06/04/2012 - 5:28am | 63 comments

How operational planners applied military design to a wicked problem set in Afghanistan.

by Daniel Jacquier | Mon, 06/04/2012 - 5:26am | 0 comments

A worthwhile read on Pakistan from the Washington Post's Pamela Constable.

by Robert Sharp, by Sterling Jensen | Fri, 06/01/2012 - 5:48am | 4 comments

The Lebanese Armed Forces are the strongest institution for national unity.  We should assist them to grow stronger in this mission.

by Matteo B. Scianna | Thu, 05/31/2012 - 5:46am | 3 comments

A direct action case study from World War II.

by Sergio Miller | Wed, 05/30/2012 - 5:49am | 8 comments

Pop-centric COIN - where from and where to?

by Sandra Warmoth | Tue, 05/29/2012 - 6:40am | 11 comments

In the first of several installments, we take a look at Iranian and Hizballah activities in Latin America.

by Keith Nightingale | Mon, 05/28/2012 - 5:54pm | 0 comments

On Memorial Day, read a tale of significant sacrifice.

by Robert Sharp | Fri, 05/25/2012 - 6:56am | 0 comments

Haste makes waste - or how not to push Yemen over the cliff.

by Brian Platt | Fri, 05/25/2012 - 6:53am | 1 comment

Wells?!  No its all ball bearings and aquifer storage and recovery systems now!

by Dan Ward | Thu, 05/24/2012 - 6:52am | 7 comments

Dan Ward asserts that acquisitions take too long.  But no one knows if he is right.

by F. Gregory Gause III, by Robert Tollast | Wed, 05/23/2012 - 6:34am | 0 comments

The first part in a series of interviews of leading lights on Iraq and its environs.

by Al Mauroni | Tue, 05/22/2012 - 7:56am | 2 comments

Back to the basics of deterrence, diplomacy, and defense to address potential nation-state employment of unconventional weapons?

by Youssef Aboul-Enein | Mon, 05/21/2012 - 7:01am | 0 comments

CDR Aboul-Enein reviews Martin Evans' book.

by David James | Mon, 05/21/2012 - 6:48am | 24 comments

Should we focus more on creating ink spots and less on defeating the Taliban?

by Ramin Shirzay | Fri, 05/18/2012 - 5:49am | 6 comments

The perhaps-unsurprising second- and third-order effects of VSO and ALP.

by Colin Jones | Thu, 05/17/2012 - 3:47pm | 2 comments

A look at the issues behind the use of private security contractors.

by Andrew G. Attar, Jr. | Thu, 05/17/2012 - 5:44am | 3 comments

Andrew Attar adds to his March article on the operational approach to stability operations.

by Asher Berman | Wed, 05/16/2012 - 5:46am | 0 comments

Criminalization is as much or more of a concern than radicalization in the Syrian conflict.

by Judd C. Floris | Tue, 05/15/2012 - 5:52am | 7 comments

Clausewitz and non-state actors - a combination that surely won't produce any disagreements, will it?

by EM Burlingame | Mon, 05/14/2012 - 5:42am | 148 comments

Capturing the investor's mindset in special operations.

by Octavian Manea, by Daniel R. Green | Fri, 05/11/2012 - 7:05am | 20 comments

An interview with Daniel R. Green, who served at the PRT in Uruzgan in 2005-2006 and in Kabul from 2009-2010.