Authors:ZFTWARNING Abstract: SWJ Book Review – Islamic State’s Online Propaganda: A Comparative AnalysisZFTWARNINGWed, 03/10/2021 - 9:54pm Review of Miron Lakomy's comparative analysis of Islamic State (IS) propaganda: "Islamic State's Online propaganda: A Comparative Analysis." Read more about SWJ Book Review – Islamic State’s Online Propaganda: A Comparative AnalysisLog in or register to post comments
Authors:Dave Maxwell Abstract: Agora, Anarchy, Action! A New Approach to Unconventional WarfareDave MaxwellWed, 03/03/2021 - 8:21pm With the return to Great Power Conflict and the Department of Defense’s renewed focus on Unconventional Warfare (UW), the next few years should welcome a conversation on legacy UW doctrine and find what to keep and what to discard. Just as importantly, DOD needs to find new means to engage in UW that are beyond the classic model of a Special Force Team infiltrating the Third World to assist a resistance. The following will argue that Agorism should be considered as one new UW strategy as it is more able to operate within a complex and open system. This essay provides a brief history of the movement, strategies of Agorism, and potential drawbacks. Read more about Agora, Anarchy, Action! A New Approach to Unconventional WarfareLog in or register to post comments
Authors:Dave Maxwell Abstract: The Deterrence Trap: The cost of the US military’s overwhelming conventional superiorityDave MaxwellWed, 03/03/2021 - 8:13pm The overwhelming conventional military superiority of the US has succeeded in deterring the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from directly using its military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), to achieve its strategic objectives to return to great power status by expanding political and economic influence, taking back “lost territories,” eroding and ultimately displacing the US as the leader of the international system, and creating a world safe for PRC authoritarian interests. However, this same qualitative over-match has revealed new and more complex problems as it has driven the PRC and other revisionist powers such as Russia, to pursue more asymmetric, or Gray Zone, methods to change the status quo in their favor. And they are succeeding. Despite this, some still believe that doubling-down on more of these same conventional “deterrence” capabilities and activities is all that is needed to deter the PRC from pursuing their interests and preserving ours. We are taking the wrong actions, albeit for the right reasons. Read more about The Deterrence Trap: The cost of the US military’s overwhelming conventional superiorityLog in or register to post comments
Authors:ZFTWARNING Abstract: COVID-19 is reconfiguring organized crime in Latin America and the CaribbeanZFTWARNINGTue, 03/02/2021 - 3:59pm Latin America and the Caribbean are suffering from the twin epidemics of COVID-19 and organized crime and violence. On the one hand, a third of all the world’s COVID-19 related fatalities occurred in the region's sprawling unequal cities, especially its most vulnerable neighborhoods. On the other, the region clocks over a third of all global homicides despite registering less than a tenth of the global population. Some 43 of the 50 most violent cities on the planet (with populations over 250,000 people) are located there. Read more about COVID-19 is reconfiguring organized crime in Latin America and the CaribbeanLog in or register to post comments
Authors:Dave Maxwell Abstract: A House Divided: A Look at SOF ValuesDave MaxwellThu, 02/25/2021 - 9:45pm In the wake of the recent analysis on SOF misconduct, a bumper sticker has emerged that claims SOF doesn’t have an ethics problem, it has a leadership problem. While this is partially true – the strain on the force created by rapid, frequent deployment has stretched SOF leadership’s ability to build and maintain discipline – the slogan doesn’t tell the whole story. SOF does have an ethics problem, and it stems from a dissonance the community breeds into its operators. SOF operators are selected for a willingness and aptitude to conduct traditionally immoral acts, trained to be proficient at the conduct of those acts, but then expected to refrain from those acts outside of approved operational circumstances. Read more about A House Divided: A Look at SOF Values1 commentLog in or register to post comments
Authors:ZFTWARNING Abstract: SWJ El Centro Book Review – In the Vortex of Violence: Lynching, Extralegal Justice, and the State in Post-Revolutionary MexicoZFTWARNINGThu, 02/25/2021 - 3:53pm Review of Gema Kloppe-Santamaría, "In the Vortex of Violence: Lynching, Extralegal Justice, and the State in Post-Revolutionary Mexico" by Daniel Weisz. Read more about SWJ El Centro Book Review – In the Vortex of Violence: Lynching, Extralegal Justice, and the State in Post-Revolutionary MexicoLog in or register to post comments
Authors:Dave Maxwell Abstract: Review - Eagle Down: The Last Special Forces Fighting the Forever WarDave MaxwellTue, 02/23/2021 - 3:23pm Book Review: Ms. Donati follows several different Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alphas (ODAs) from 2015, when President Obama announced the end of the combat mission in Afghanistan, throughout the presidency of Donald Trump. Unlike most books of this type Donati does not focus solely on the tactical fight. She instead shifts focus from members of an individual team, to their families at home, to the generals overseeing operations, to the policy makers in Washington DC directing strategy. This interconnected narrative attempts to give the reader an understanding of how decisions made in the Pentagon and the White House touch an individual family through the actions required of their loved ones in the fight. Read more about Review - Eagle Down: The Last Special Forces Fighting the Forever WarLog in or register to post comments
Authors:Dave Maxwell Abstract: Who Should Lead Paramilitary Operations' – Picking the Right FightDave MaxwellMon, 02/22/2021 - 5:11pm Small Wars Journal is always seeking original material to communicate to a broad community of interest. Supporting crucial conversations and adding to the body of knowledge is our aim, it’s especially rewarding when we get readers who not only want to contribute to discussion but sharpen each other and the community. The following paper is in response to a Small Wars Journal article published in September, 2019 "Passing the Paramilitary Torch". In this paper, the author provides an opposing view to the original article’s stance that paramilitary operations would be better executed by USSOCOM as opposed to the CIA. But this author doesn’t stop there, he goes on to present what he asserts is the real issue as to why either the CIA or USSOCOM paramilitary or clandestine missions, respectively, don’t produce the desired outcome: whether or not the original policy aims were correct or attainable. This is especially timely as a new administration has begun and intense policy reviews are under way. Read more about Who Should Lead Paramilitary Operations' – Picking the Right FightLog in or register to post comments
Authors:Dave Maxwell Abstract: Jihadist Perceptions of a Rising Superpower: Troubles Along China’s Belt and RoadDave MaxwellSun, 02/21/2021 - 6:30pm China’s domestic security policy and its growing international influence are fuelling jihadist animosity throughout Asia and beyond. Beijing’s crackdown in Xinjiang is the most commonly cited China-related grievance within global jihadist discourse and has gained traction in recent years, but there are additional narratives emerging about China’s foreign policy and its increasing presence in the Islamic world. Beijing is becoming markedly more assertive in pursuing its geopolitical ambitions and in securing its growing international interests. Read more about Jihadist Perceptions of a Rising Superpower: Troubles Along China’s Belt and RoadLog in or register to post comments
Authors:ZFTWARNING Abstract: Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 35: Mara Salvatrucha Training Camp Dismantled by Honduran PoliceZFTWARNINGSat, 02/20/2021 - 9:38pm Honduran police investigators dismantled a Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) operations center on Friday, 19 February 2021. MS-13 members were arrested in the compound, which also included a narcolaboratorio (drug laboratory). The camp was located in a mountainous region on the highway from Tegulcigalpa to Olancho, Honduras. Drugs and small arms were seized during the raid—Operación DeI Impacto (Operation Impact). Read more about Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 35: Mara Salvatrucha Training Camp Dismantled by Honduran PoliceLog in or register to post comments
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