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 Conrad Orr | Sun, 01/22/2017 - 2:32pm | 0 comments

A valuable and deeply researched source that provides a rarely-so-comprehensive comparative analysis of civil-military relations across four distinct nations; Canada, Russia, Germany, and the U.S.

by William Reno | Sat, 01/21/2017 - 8:07pm | 23 comments

President Trump's words and those of most of his team indicate a hodgepodge understanding of America’s role in maintaining an international order the world requires for stability.

by David Smethurst | Fri, 01/20/2017 - 7:12pm | 1 comment

In 1800, the US was threatened by the Barbary States of Morocco, Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis. Here are some interesting and little known facts about the First Barbary War.

by Daniel Urchick | Fri, 01/20/2017 - 11:21am | 0 comments

The SCS is developing at an extraordinarily rate and the events that transpire in the region in the next two to three years will be some of the most significant geopolitical events in the world.

by Richard Best | Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:07am | 0 comments

The DNI and the ODNI have legitimate work to be done and a major effort to rewire the Intelligence Community is not now called for.

by Masoud Kazemzadeh | Wed, 01/18/2017 - 6:32am | 1 comment

The death of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Rafsanjani on January 8 will dramatically change Iranian politics.  He was one of the handful of the architects of the fundamentalist system in Iran.

by Ehsan M. Ahrari | Tue, 01/17/2017 - 4:05am | 3 comments

The sixth anniversary of The Arab Spring has come and gone, but not many people noticed. One of the main reasons was its utter failure to create either a stable, democratic, or secular Arab world.

by Chris Budihas, by Kyle Trottier, by Steve Deuble | Tue, 01/17/2017 - 3:26am | 23 comments

The Army will remain the only organization in our nation’s national security arsenal that enables the competent projection of national power to directly influence human activity.

by Dennis P. Chapman | Sun, 01/15/2017 - 4:06pm | 0 comments

The cause of Iraq’s troubles - the single event without which the hideous mutilation of today would never have occurred - was a 1958 coup d’état.

by Joss Meakins | Fri, 01/13/2017 - 7:40am | 4 comments

Western scholars have seemed reluctant to engage with Chechnya as a COIN success. Such hesitancy may be partly due to the extreme unpalatability of Russian tactics.

by Octavian Manea | Thu, 01/12/2017 - 1:36pm | 1 comment

SWJ discussion with Daniel R. Green and William F. Mullen III, the authors of "Fallujah Redux: The Anbar Awakening and the Struggle with al-Qaeda".

by Sam Wilkins | Wed, 01/11/2017 - 3:18pm | 0 comments

Doran offers a persuasive and riveting revisionist history of President Eisenhower’s foreign policy approach to the Middle East.

by Andrew Kenealy | Wed, 01/11/2017 - 12:51pm | 2 comments

Soft power is an expansive concept, and every one of Mr. Trump’s immature tweets stands to lessen U.S. credibility as the example of a moral force.

by Sadcom via Happycom | Wed, 01/04/2017 - 11:58am | 8 comments

Part Four of Four of “What’s Wrong with SOCOM?”

by Gary Anderson | Mon, 01/02/2017 - 11:10am | 4 comments

The Mabus priorities have been making the naval services more caring, inclusive, and environmentally protective.

by SWJ Editors | Sun, 01/01/2017 - 8:10pm | 1 comment

Have received some great entries so far - soliciting more for the SWJ-MWG writing contest. Continue on for all the details.

by Sadcom via Happycom | Sat, 12/31/2016 - 7:50am | 3 comments

Part III of IV of “What’s Wrong with SOCOM?”

by Sadcom via Happycom | Tue, 12/27/2016 - 10:59am | 0 comments

Part II of IV of “What’s Wrong With SOCOM?”

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 12/26/2016 - 6:39pm | 0 comments

Just under three weeks left - continue on for all the details.

by J. “Zhanna” Malekos Smith | Sun, 12/25/2016 - 7:48pm | 0 comments

As the threat and effect of psychological warfare becomes more pronounced in cyberspace, policymakers must address this burgeoning security threat.

by Sadcom via Happycom | Sun, 12/25/2016 - 3:28pm | 5 comments

Part I: JSOC Winning the War Against White SOF and the Problems Massive Bureaucracy Gets You in the Conduct of Irregular Warfare

by Gordon Richmond | Fri, 12/23/2016 - 4:06pm | 9 comments

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.

by A.W. Sanders | Fri, 12/23/2016 - 1:57pm | 2 comments

Japan’s defeat at Guadalcanal was led by its “closed systems,” the military culture of Gekukojo, and a military strategy dismissive of operational art.

by Charles Staab | Thu, 12/22/2016 - 11:47am | 1 comment

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.

by Norman Ricklefs | Thu, 12/22/2016 - 1:10am | 1 comment

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.

by Michael Peck | Wed, 12/21/2016 - 5:15am | 2 comments

Operation Whirlwind: A paper simulation of the Soviet assault on Budapest designed by prolific wargame designer Brian Train.

by Tim Huening | Tue, 12/20/2016 - 11:04am | 0 comments

Human factors in military operations must become a central consideration in Joint Force campaign planning and execution.

by A. Sparkes | Mon, 12/19/2016 - 12:07pm | 2 comments

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.

by Adam Twardowski | Mon, 12/19/2016 - 1:10am | 2 comments

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.

by Christopher Cedros | Sun, 12/18/2016 - 11:23am | 0 comments

SOUTHCOM’s diplomatic actions are effective because it can operate at both ends of the spectrum within the realm of coercive diplomacy.

by Clark Johnson | Sat, 12/17/2016 - 11:49am | 0 comments

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.

by Nathan P. Jones | Thu, 12/15/2016 - 1:09am | 0 comments

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.

by Jeff Goodson | Wed, 12/14/2016 - 2:01am | 0 comments

Ambassador Jonathan S. Addleton: The Dust of Kandahar: A Diplomat Among Warriors in Afghanistan.  Naval Institute Press, Annapolis.

by Alexander Velez-Green | Tue, 12/13/2016 - 2:23pm | 90 comments

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.

by Vincent A. Dueñas | Mon, 12/12/2016 - 12:12pm | 4 comments

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’.

by Nam-young Kim, by Kyle Larish, by Dan Spengler, by Adam E. MacAllister | Mon, 12/12/2016 - 11:06am | 0 comments

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.

by Lance A. Wilkins | Sun, 12/11/2016 - 12:44pm | 1 comment

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.

by Gregory H. Murry | Sat, 12/10/2016 - 6:06pm | 0 comments

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.

by Lincoln Ward | Fri, 12/09/2016 - 4:36pm | 0 comments

This essay focuses on noteworthy contributions that are essential for the operational artist to “better understand the problem or problems at hand.”

by Malcolm Nance | Fri, 12/09/2016 - 4:46am | 0 comments

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.

by Sadi S. Sadyev, by Daniel H. McCauley | Thu, 12/08/2016 - 6:19am | 0 comments

While frustrating to some, the United States’ increasing inability to dictate preferred outcomes should come as no surprise.

by Douglas Farah | Thu, 12/08/2016 - 4:20am | 0 comments

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.

by Robert Bunker, by John P. Sullivan | Tue, 12/06/2016 - 3:17pm | 0 comments

Three nations in Central America’s Northern Triangle have implemented an integrated, multinational task force to combat the threat from gangs.

by Nicholas Hermberg | Tue, 12/06/2016 - 10:54am | 0 comments

The United States has failed to appropriately respond to the gray zone so far, so what should the new administration strive for?

by Roger J. Chin | Tue, 12/06/2016 - 7:05am | 1 comment

Are successful international companies and drug cartels so different after all? Apparently not.

by Paul Rexton Kan | Mon, 12/05/2016 - 9:49am | 0 comments

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.

by David S. Maxwell | Sat, 11/26/2016 - 12:23am | 14 comments

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?

by Rod Korba | Fri, 11/25/2016 - 12:05pm | 0 comments

Military regulation and creativity are strange bedfellows. This is the second part of a three part series.

by U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command | Tue, 11/22/2016 - 2:50pm | 7 comments

Continue on for more information. The topic is "warfare in 2030-2050". Submission deadline is 15 February.

by Rod Korba | Tue, 11/22/2016 - 7:48am | 2 comments

Military regulation and creativity are strange bedfellows. This is the first part of a three part series.