The outgoing commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), Vice Adm. Kevin M. “Kid” Donegan, accused Iran in a recent interview of providing advanced weapon systems to the Houthi Rebels in Yemen. It is not news that Iran is supporting the Houthis in their rebellion against the central...
Using the Interagency Conflict Assessment Framework to Create a Stable Security Environment in Iraq
Using ICAF to create sustainable stability in Iraq An article over at Small Wars Journal, Preventing OIF III: Using the Interagency Conflict Assessment Framework to Achieve a Sustainable Iraqi Security Force, tackles the tough issue of the long game in Iraq: preventing continued civil war after the fall of...
Unconventional Warfare Fundamentals
“This is another type of war, new in its intensity, ancient in its origins — war by guerrillas, subversives, insurgents, assassins; war by ambush instead of combat; by infiltration instead of aggression, seeking victory by eroding and exhausting the enemy instead of engaging him. It requires — in those...
Iran’s Unconventional Warfare in Yemen
An article by our editor on Iranian unconventional warfare in Yemen appeared this morning on Small Wars Journal. Written from the Iranian point of view, the article analyzes the Iranian conduct of unconventional warfare in Yemen, and addresses the feasibility of the operation, suitability to the strategic position of...
Doing What You Know: The United States and 250 Years of Irregular War
A new study has been released by CSBA, “Doing What You Know: The United States and 250 Years of Irregular War,” which looks at the US’s history in IW over the last 250 years, with recommendations for the future. From the CSBA site: In the study, author David E. Johnson...
Trump ends CIA support to Syrian Rebels – “Putin won in Syria”
The Washington Post reports that President Trump has decided to end the CIA’s covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move likely to empower more radical groups inside Syria and damage the credibility of the United States. WAPO quotes an anonymous...
Understanding Worley’s “United States Political Warfare Policy”
By Marissa Soltoff In January 2015, strategic advisor and military force structure analyst Dr. D. Robert Worley released a draft think piece that delves into how the United States should engage in political warfare in order to successfully ensure stability of countries experiencing subversion. The piece can generally be...
The Jihadist Maritime Strategy: Waging a Guerrilla War at Sea.
A very interesting article was just published by the Middle East Studies program at Marine Corps University, entitled “The Jihadist Maritime Strategy: Waging a Guerrilla War at Sea.” In it, Dr. Norman Cigar reviews the often neglected maritime component of terrorism, with particular attention to al Qaeda and related organizations....
The Lingering Effects of Concrete Barriers in COIN
In counterinsurgency operations, tactical successes can often lead to strategic failure. Thus the oft-repeated admonishment to consider second and third order effects. And one of the reasons for this paradox is the prolonged time-horizons inherent in counterinsurgency, as is aptly demonstrated in an article published by West Point’s Modern...
Bernard Fall and Vietnamese Revolutionary Warfare: A Missed Opportunity for Counterinsurgency Doctrine?
A recent article by Nathaniel Moir in the Small Wars Journal is well worth the read. In it, he argues that “the legacy of the United States’ Counterinsurgency doctrine includes a contentious foundation” and that the work of Bernard Fall “provided a more circumspect corpus of work from which...