“A lot of people come over here thinking they’re going to be Rambo. It’s not like that.” The village had no name. Everyone who had known the name of the village was now dead or had fled. When the Kurdish peshmerga fighters had recaptured the settlement from ISIS that spring, it was so full of…
Category: Guerilla Warfare
Cold War Files: The Cuban Army Abroad; Castro’s Foreign Cold Warriors
“Throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, Castro was only too eager to export revolution to the Third World. Often this support even came in the form of combat troops to lend a hand to various Marxist uprisings.” AMERICA WAS STILL REELING from its humiliation in Vietnam in 1976 when hawks within the administration of President Gerald Ford were pushing for the United…
Military History: Marine Corp General James Mattis, “Nothing New Under the Sun…”
In 2013 General James N. Mattis retired after a 41-year Marine Corps career that included field commands in the Persian Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. In the theater of combat the hard-charging general was known by the call sign “Chaos.” But it was his respect for history and studious commitment to training in strategy and…
Mean Streets: The Clash of Technology and Terrain and Urban Warfare
In urban environments, the playing field is levelled between the conventional armies and insurgents BE IT ALEPPO or Damascus, Mosul or Ramadi, or even Eastern Ukraine, combatants in today’s conflicts are frequently fighting in and over urban areas. The decision to wage war in cities is driven in part by modern military technology. Frequently,…
These are the Wars that will Rage in Africa in 2016
By Peter Dorrie With the exception of Syria, African countries currently get the worst rep when it comes to violence and conflict. Virtually every story coming out of the continent seems to showcase one atrocity or another. This narrative is both true and false. In 2014, Africa experienced more than half of worldwide conflict…
Regimes and Revolt: Authoritarian Ways of Counterinsurgency
Editor’s Note: This article is adapted from the author’s article in the Journal of Strategic Studies, “‘The People are Revolting’: An Anatomy of Authoritarian Counterinsurgency.” Scores of dead civilians, smoldering wastelands where villages used to be, a cowering people, and a regime thriving on tyranny and fear — these are the images evoked by the mention…
Wingate’s Way: Leadership Lessons from Britain’s Maverick General
I highly recommend Anglin’s book Orde Wingate: Unconventional Warrior for those of you who have an interest in learning about Counter-Insurgency Warfare and it’s timeless principles.-SF “Orde Wingate’s experiences from World War Two offer lessons for 21st Century military planners, particularly in the areas of counter-insurgency, covert and special operations and proxy wars.” By Dr. Simon Anglin MAJOR GENERAL Orde…
Killing Anwar: Targeting Jihadi Propagandist is Only Part of the Solution
Like dozens of others, the husband and wife team who shot up a San Bernardino community center were inspired by U.S. born al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in Yemen by a drone strike in September 2011. The San Bernardino shooting should serve as a reminder that killing propagandists can be an important tactical…
ISIS vs Al-Qaeda: The War Within the Jihadist Movement
Understanding your enemy and more importantly your enemies weaknesses is key to dismantling their infrastructure and eventually their organization and then plnating them in the ground where they belong.-SF The post-Arab Spring period has seen extraordinary growth in the global jihadist movement. In addition to theIslamic State seizing a vast swathe of territory spanning Syria…
Military History: What if the Kuomingtang Had Won the Chinese Civil War?
This is the first in a four-part mini-series of articles focused on key counter-factuals in the Asia-Pacific. What would China’s history look like if Chiang Kai-shek had ignored George C. Marshall’s request in 1946? History, paraphrased by the British historian Niall Fergusson in Civilization, can be taught in many ways. Lamenting the lack of proper…