It is foolish to claim that Afghanistan is going well, for us or for them. But there is still reason to hope, and the U.S. has important interests in seeing progress.
Barnett Rubin’s Theses on Peacemaking in Afghanistan: A Manifesto
Royalist and republican, Khalqi and Parchami, Soviet Union and the West, communist and Islamist, mujahid and Talib, Hanafi and takfiri, al Qaeda and America, warlord and technocrat, Pashtun and non-Pashtun, Islamic Emirate and Islamic State, KGB, ISI, and CIA – all have for decades carried on an uninterrupted struggle in Afghanistan. Attempts to end the war have but established new antagonisms, new conditions of conflict, new forms of warfare. The conflict generates these antagonisms rather than the reverse, forcing us to face the real origins of violence: Afghanistan’s relations to the state system from which it emerged. These theses delineate the ever-changing conflict’s constant causes, which any effort at peacemaking in Afghanistan must address.
The Norms of Proxy War: Guidelines for the Resort to Unconventional Warfare
In previous posts on this blog, we have described the use of proxy forces to impose costs on a shared adversary (AKA, unconventional warfare). But perhaps the most difficult aspect of unconventional warfare is not in its planning or execution, but in knowing when it is an appropriate approach at all. A recent article from
Almost Diplomatic: EP11 – Space Pt 2: Revenge of the Satellites – Anti-Satellite Systems and the Commercial Space Sector
Join the Almost Diplomatic crew to discuss geopolitics, national security and nonsense over a couple beers. Episode Eleven we return to space with a special guest to make us look better. We focus on Anti-Satellite Systems (ASAT) and their dynamics along with the future of the commercial sector of space in relation to international policy. Follow
Afghan Air Force Makes Headway as Tactical Air Controllers Get More Extensive Training
An article in Military Times describes the strides made in recent operations by Afghanistan’s own tactical air controllers: During recent operations around Marjah, Afghan troops used small ScanEagle drones to identify targets, which were then destroyed by Afghan A-29 Super Tucano turboprop aircraft, said Marine Maj. Kendra Motz, a spokeswoman for Task Force Southwest. The
Almost Diplomatic EP10: You’re Fake News – US Foreign Policy in the Trump Era
Join Almost Diplomatic to discuss geopolitics, national security and nonsense over a couple beers. Episode ten we discuss among other things, the dramatic foreign policy shift of the United States to an "American First" stance, beginning with a discussion of the new National Security Strategy. How does the document square with Trump's own priorities? How is the Trump administration's foreign policy shaking out?
1st Security Force Assistance Brigade is headed for Afghanistan
According to Army Times, the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, based out of Fort Benning, Georgia, will be making its inaugural deployment to Afghanistan in early 2018, following predeployment training at Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, in January. Astonishingly, this comes less than one year after the Army unveiled the new concept of Security Force Assistance Brigades, which are specifically designed and mandated to train foreign conventional infantry, artillery and other troops, also known as security force assistance. But The advent of SFABs has not been without controversy.
Almost Diplomatic: EP09 – The Gulf Between Us – The competition for regional hegemony in the Middle East
Join the Almost Diplomatic crew to discuss geopolitics, national security and nonsense over a couple beers. Episode Nine has us discussing the competition for regional hegemony in the Middle East between Iran and Saudi Arabia. We talk about purges, missiles and proxy forces, all the fun things. Follow us on Twitter: @AlmostDiplo Disclaimer: The comments
Almost Diplomatic: EP06 – Ballots & Breakups – Kurdistan and Catalonia Referendums
Join the Almost Diplomatic crew to discuss geopolitics, national security and nonsense over a couple beers. Episode Six we talk about the referendums going on in Kurdistan and Catalonia with a touch of Russian Bots, Bavarian Nationalism and bashing Brexit, again.
Special Operators are Everywhere – Why it shouldn’t be a surprise that U.S. Special Operations Forces were operating in Niger
In the wake of the deaths of four soldiers in Niger on October 4th, many politicians, pundits, and commentators expressed surprise that the US had special operations forces in Niger. But none of them should have. At the risk of hyperbole, U.S. Special Operations Forces are everywhere. This is partly the result of the Global