Journal

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.

As we pause to celebrate, it seems appropriate to consider the vital role played by the American military in the creation and growth of our nation and its impact on our world.

A critical analysis of the contributions of the DOD and USNORTHCOM can make towards defeating transnational terror organizations with a domestic U.S. presence.

Concerning the sorry performance of the Afghan National Army since 2012, the military and Pentagon planners need to ask themselves some hard questions.

The crisis, if addressed wisely, presents a unique opportunity to advance the fight against extremist terrorist groups backed not only by Qatar, but by other countries as well.

Development of COIN methods and application has ebbed and flowed in its effectiveness. Though many studies have been initiated, the role and impact of the peasantry has been largely overlooked.

ISIL’s notion of a Caliphate is aligned with the concept of a community rather than of a state and strategic focus is on psychological rather than territorial control.

A Small Wars Journal and Military Writers Guild Writing Contest Finalist Article

Continue on for a SWJ book review of “Dog Company: A True Story of American Soldiers Abandoned by Their High Command”.

The OEs of today and the future will be marked by instability.  This instability will manifest itself in evolving geopolitics, resurgent nationalism, changing demographics, and unease.

This article conducts COG analysis on the Taliban sub-system and Pashtun tribal system using revised joint doctrine and non-linear dynamical systems analysis.

This book is not an academic, historical, or scholarly work, although it does contain his personal accounts of his involvement in the 2012 attacks on the US Special Mission in Benghazi.

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 22: Spiritual Appropriation of San Judas Tadeo and Santo Niño de Atocha—Criminal Petitions and Santo Niño Huachicolero.

It is necessary to develop and deliver strategic design education, in order to bridge the gap between operational and strategic design and between SOF and civilian partners.

The ability to generate global influence by maneuvering one civilian population against another to produce catastrophic physical effects is a significant transformational change for warfare.

An insurgency concerns itself with legitimacy as the opposing sides are not only competing for domination of terrain, but for the support of the populace as well.

This paper demonstrates some of the proven and potential options to optimize interagency and multi-sector collaboration in support of U.S. policy.

Organizing elements of national power along the Threat Network Function lines of effort will best serve a joint force commander searching for an effective approach to counter threat networks.

One and the other, leftist ploys and rising Islamism, make use of each side for their intended manipulations, exploitations, and decisive similarities.

‘Hybrid defence’ frequently can mean almost anything, and even everything-to-nothing (nothing still being something), to different participants and observers.

The threat coming from Western militants in Kurdish groups fighting the Islamic State has been overlooked.

A continuation of SWJ article “Treating Islamic Violent Extremism as a Pandemic Super-infection”.

One of the most essential, neglected elements of our national power remains untouched.

8 May 1986 address by General Volney F. Warner at Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire. Posted here with the kind permission of General Warner.

SOCAFRICA must understand and operate in the space between war and peace in a complex, volatile, uncertain and ambiguous environment - an environment of adversarial competition.

The US must be capable of operating within an irregular war against hybrid forces, including in support of large-scale humanitarian operations to relieve suffering and prevent more refugee crises.

Perhaps after hard-hitting briefings from Mattis and McMaster, Trump finally realized Obama’s decision to remain in Afghanistan was both realistic and necessary.

Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 4: Brigands, Bank Robbery, and Brazilian Gang Evolution at Ciudad del Este and the Triple Frontier

This paper updates and expands upon an essay published in Small Wars Journal in 2014. Some of the text from the 2014 essay has been left intact as still operative.

Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 21: Quantifying Conflict in Mexico - Armed Conflict, Hyper-Violent Criminality or Both?

The invasion began with subtle sounds and vibrations on cat’s paws growing to crescendo.  We remember and depict the crescendos but forget the subtlety of sounds that brought it all together.