Blogs to Watch

[SWJED]

Moderator Adds

I have today, 9th March 2016, merged in fifty-three threads which refer to blogs. I have not merged in many that debate the contents of a particular blog entry.

Since many of the blogs date back to 2006 they may no longer be active. Some were Member Blogs, but from memory they have not posted here for a long time.

There was a SWJ Blog Roll, but I cannot locate that now (Ends).


Blogs that have most graciously plugged or linked to us as we started this grand adventure:

The Adventures of Chester (http://www.theadventuresofchester.com)

Caerdoria (http://www.caerdroia.org/blog)

Cox and Forkum (http://www.coxandforkum.com)

HeyDudeWhoa! (http://heydudewhoa.blogspot.com)

Irregular Analyses (http://irregularanalyses.blogspot.com)

Ludovic Monnerat (http://www.ludovicmonnerat.com)

Michelle Malkin (http://www.michellemalkin.com)

Power and Control (http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/)

Prairie Pundit (http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com)

ZenPundit (http://www.zenpundit.blogspot.com)

[Hansmeister]

I got my own blog at http://hansmeister.blogspot.com/.

I only recently restarted it after a long hiatus, I'm focusing it on foreign policy and domestic politics. It still needs some work, but it's a start.

[SWJED]

... have added links on the SWJ page. Thanks.

[SWJED]

Liberals Against Terrorism - Counterinsurgency (http://www.liberalsagainstterrorism.com/drupal/?q=taxonomy/term/66). Stumbled on this while researchng another issue.... Some interesting discussions here at first glance - have not conducted any background research on the site - just throwing it out for our forum members' info.

[zenpundit]

I can't speak about all of the posters on LAT but regarding two of the psuedoanonnymous ones who occasionally visit Zenpundit:

Nadezhda: A very bright, well educated lady. Would seem to have some real background on policy issues. Has another blog Chez Nadezhda

praktike: currently studying Arabic in Cairo and is less active now than formerly. Smart and an effective debater who does not lose his cool. Surfs the net daily with a professional discipline and thoroughness that I find very impressive. Appears connected to liberal organizations in the real world. Guest blogged on high profile sites. Positions on issues are usually "liberal hawk" variety. Going out on a limb, I'd say he is foreign born or son of immigrants to U.S. or Britain.

Always worth the time to read their stuff even if you disagree.

[SWJED]

Crit's Blog (http://www.blueprintforaction.com/blog/) and Thomas P.M. Barnett (http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/).

[GorTex6]

Col. Lang (http://turcopolier.typepad.com/)?

[SWJED]

PrairiePundit (http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com). Very good read for a quick down and dirty of current events and major issues. Maintained by SWC member Merv Benson.

[SWJED]

Democracy Arsenal (http://www.democracyarsenal.org/):


"A blog devoted to opinion, commentary and sparring on U.S. foreign policy and global affairs."

Be sure to check out the 14 November post: Military peace and stability sites...

[SWJED]

...Another Great Letter From Iraq (http://2slick.blogspot.com/2005/11/another-great-letter-from-iraq.html).

[SWJED]

Blog by a Fairbanks Daily-News Miner embed - Reporting from Iraq (http://newsminerextra.com/iraq/blog/considering-another-side_26).


Think about everything you’ve heard about the conditions in Iraq, the role of U.S. forces, the multi-layered complexities of the war.

Then think again.

I’m a journalist. I read the news everyday, from several sources. I have the luxury of reading stuff newspapers don’t always have room to print. I read every tidbit I could on Iraq and the war before coming.

Everything I thought I knew was wrong.

Maybe not wrong, but certainly different than the picture in my head....

More than anything in the last few days I’ve heard from soldiers and commanders that people back home don’t quite get it. They don’t see the real picture. They don’t get the real story. Some of them, like Lt. Col. Gregg Parrish, look seriously pained in the face when he says only a part of the picture is being told; the part of car bombs and explosives and suicide bombers and death. It’s a necessary part of the picture, but not a complete one, he says.

I’ve listened to the soldiers and Parrish about the missing pieces of the puzzles that don’t reach home. My selfish, journalistic drive immediately thinks “Perfect. A story that hasn’t been told. Let me at it.”...

[SWJED]

26 Dec. London Daily Telegraph - Battlefield Blogs Take Iraq War Into Homes of America (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/26/wirq126.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/26/ixnewstop.html).


... In a development that is increasingly worrying US military commanders in Iraq, a growing number of American soldiers - 200 at the last count - have set up their own blogs, or internet diaries, and are updating them from the battlefield.

The phenomenon, facilitated by the provision of internet cafes at almost all US camps to permit soldiers regular contact with home, has for the first time allowed personal reports of the reality of combat to be read as they happen...

A US military spokesman said that failing to maintain some form of control of what soldiers were writing would be tactically naive as it could provide information that could aid the enemy.

"We don't have a problem with most of what they write," he said. "But we don't want them to give away the farm."

[zenpundit]

Geitner Simmons, Editorial Page editor of The Omaha World Herald and blogger at Regions of Mind (http://regionsofmind.blog-city.com/)has a post up featuring an interview with Robert Kaplan (http://regionsofmind.blog-city.com/foreign_policy_directed_by_majors_and_lieutenants. htm), author of Imperial Grunts.

An excerpt:


"TAE: Why do so many reporters, academics, and some everyday Americans think that people who go into the Army or Marines must be folks who didn't have bright prospects in college or the civilian work force?

Kaplan: To be diplomatic, I think it's class prejudice and snobbery. Because most of the people I meet in the lower ranks aren't poor or from the ghetto — they're the solid working class, which does still exist. They're from non-trendy places in between the two coasts, or from working-class urban neighborhoods.

Look, for example, at one of the Special Forces teams I was with in Algeria. The executive officer, a graduate of The Citadel, was from a farming family in Indiana. The master sergeant was from a farming family in New Hampshire. The warrant officer grew up in an Italian section of Queens, New York. That's America. Whites in the barracks get very insulted if you confuse them with so-called white trash, and African Americans in the barracks get tremendously insulted if you confuse them with people in the inner city. With both groups, some of them may have come from the underclass, but they've long since separated themselves from it. They have no class envy."

[Merv Benson]

One of my enduring memories of my time in the Marine Corps is the high quality of the people I encountered. When I went to OCS I was impressed with the intelligence and quality of the other candidates. I had similar experience when I worked with the troops in Vietnam. My observation of our current forces suggest if anything the quality has improved.

[SWJED]

The Officers' Club (http://officersclub.blogspot.com) - Great stuff - check it out.

Small Wars Journal Blog Roll (http://www.smallwarsjournal.com/research.htm#Blogs).

[SWJED]

Check it out - OPFOR (http://www.op-for.com)...

Based on John and Charlie's history with The Officer's Club this should be a great read and resource.

[SWJED]

Best of luck to both outstanding blogs... Here is the news from the sources:

CT Blog to Merge With "Fourth Rail" and Move - New Foundation to Fund Our Efforts (http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2006/04/ct_blog_to_merg.html) - The Counterterrorism Blog

Merging with the Counterterrorism Blog, the Creation of the Counterterrorism Foundation and I'm Heading to Afghanistan (http://billroggio.com/archives/2006/04/merging_with_the_cou.php) - The Fourth Rail

[SWJED]

Quoted in the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web (http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110008363).


... And reader Merv Benson:

The al Qaeda document you reported on described the media strategy as one in which al Qaeda bombs and the media blames the U.S. and Iraqi forces for not stopping it. Sure enough, that is exactly the spin that the Washington Post puts on the Tal Afar story. Shouldn't they at least acknowledge that they are following the enemy's script?

Just to be different, how about discussing the wickedness of fooling noncombatants into thinking they are getting bargain flour so that they can be murdered and be part of a story attacking people not responsible for their murder?...

Merv's Blog can be found here - Prairie Pundit (http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com/).

[SWJED]

Two blogs added to the SWJ blogroll:

Midnight in Iraq (http://midnight.hushedcasket.com/) - US Marine currently deployed to Fallujah, Iraq.

AfghaniDan (http://afghanidan.blogspot.com/) - US Marine currently deployed to Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

[SWJED]

MilBlogs (http://www.mudvillegazette.com/milblogs/) - and a hat tip for the link...

[SWJED]

Yea, I know, it's from the folks at the Federation of American Scientists. But like their old site (which John Pike took with him to Global Security (http://www.globalsecurity.org/)) Secrecy News (http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/) may be a source of intel on intel...

[SWJED]

New Blog added to the SWJ Blogroll - Arms and Influence (http://armsandinfluence.typepad.com/armsandinfluence/) - check out the thread EBO? BFD (http://armsandinfluence.typepad.com/armsandinfluence/2006/05/ebo_bfd.html)...

[zenpundit]

A&I is an excellent addition.

Since the importance of COIN is very high on this board, members will be very interested in the extended " Counterinsurgency" series in the A&I archives.

[SWJED]

From the Midnight in Iraq blog - Arab Life: An Outsider’s View (http://midnight.hushedcasket.com/2006/06/08/arab-life-an-outsider%e2%80%99s-view/).


Since I have had the opportunity to see a few Arab homes, and to observe and interact at some length with the populace here in Falluja, I thought it might be interesting to point out a few of the similarities and differences between the life we know and that of an Iraqi. Hundreds of customs and courtesies surround the Arab culture. Upon my arrival here, I didn’t know what to believe and what to shrug off as nonsense. I quickly realized that most things I had learned from Ustatha Samir during “culture time” in Arabic class held true in the real world. It’s always rather surreal to imagine life drastically different than American culture without actually experiencing it, but after seeing this small part of the Arab world with my own eyes, I know I’ll never forget it...

[SWJED]

Vets for Freedom's (http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/blog/) Wade Zirkle and David Bellavia have returned to Iraq - this time as embeds to report on the training and efficacy of Iraqi Security and Police Forces, and to gauge the morale and combat effectiveness of US forces.

Here are the latest posts:

The Mighty MiTT! (http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/blog/blogitem.aspx?id=51)


OK…I’m back to a computer. I have just spent a few days embedded with Military Transition Team 10. MiT Team 10 is responsible for advising an infantry battalion in the Seventh Iraqi Army Division in Ramadi. This unit is not as experienced as the First Division in which David was embedded. They are a newer, younger unit, but they show great promise. The MiT team is made up of a group of handpicked US Soldiers and Marines that have been selected to be advisors to the Iraqis. The Iraqi to MiTT ratio is about 10:1. The most impressive thing about this Iraqi unit is that they are running their outfit themselves (as opposed to the US running their unit). The Iraqi Company Commander tells the MiT Team when and where they will patrol. Usually, the MiT Team only follows along and offers guidance along the way when necessary...

Ramadi... with the Iraqi Army (http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/blog/blogitem.aspx?id=50)


This is amazing. I have not spoken to wade in three days. And I have to return this laptop to its owner in two mintues... the Iraqi army is taking real estate from the enemy. Seeing these men in action is amazing. The people of Ramadi trust them. THey give them bread and tea. Kids are playing soccer and riding donkeys in the street. THe unit I am with (1st Iraqi division) is the oldest of the Iraqi army units. They have literally fought in every named and unnamed operation in Iraq. From Sadri City, Najaf, Fallujah, Haditha, Baghdad.. you name it. It is unbelievable. This unit has been bloddied... but more impressively they have bloodied the enemy 10 to 1. They drive their own Humvees, conduct their own patrols and plan their invidual movements...

Back in the Saddle (http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/blog/blogitem.aspx?id=49)


I have finally made it to Ramadi. I hopped on a logistics convoy for the final westerly leg of this trip. This was my first ride in a 7-Ton truck since a suicide bomber hit my platoon while I was riding in one on Labor Day of 2004. It was a catastrophic hit that killed 10 men (seven Marines and three Iraqi Special Forces) and wounded five others including myself. The 7-Tons now have upgraded armor systems that make the vehicles a much harder target. The convoy was about 2/3 military trucks and 1/3 KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root) contractor-driven tractor-trailers. There was also a security element of MP Humvees that was intermixed into the column. The same KBR team and the Marine logistics platoon work almost exclusively together and work well as a team. I am amazed at the number of contractors that are working here in-country to help make the maintenance, supply and logistical aspects of this war effort work. To my knowledge this is unprecedented in American warfare. I will have more to write on that when I get back to the states...

[SWJED]

Bruce Kessler at Democracy Project - Veteran Reporters (http://www.democracy-project.com/archives/002682.html#2682).


Thanks to the Internet, major media reporting on Iraq is challenged by milbloggers, and others, with first-person reporting and with facts that don’t fit in the major media, whether for reasons of space, contradiction to anti-war meme, or MSM incompetence.

For an earlier generation of now middle-aged Vietnam servicepeople, whose voices largely went unheard and whose reputations were tarred by major media echoing of Kerryesque fabrications, the rise of the milbloggers is cheered, and many are now getting their voice heard...

At least Military.com’s 8-million online readers, well larger than any national newspaper, will soon start seeing the milbloggers posts there from Milblogging.com....

Much more at the link...

[SWJED]

Ran across this blog (diary) sponsored by FOX News - Soldier's Diary (http://www.foxnews.com/column_archive/0,2976,138,00.html). The link goes to the archive of the blog's posts. The blog is the work of CPT Dan Sukman in Iraq.

[SWJED]

Post by Jim Brown of the Menorah Blog - To Hell and Back (http://switch248-01.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ClipMediaID=209947&ak=63628786). H/T - Power Line (http://www.powerlineblog.com/) blog.


Israeli video journalist Itai Anghel went into Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon with the Nahal Brigade and shot 25 minutes of riveting house-to-house combat footage with a night vision lens. The Hezbollah fighters wore Israeli uniforms.

[jcustis]

Although it's a little long for it, that would be a great attention gainer for any night attack class...I wonder if 42 CDO had to deal with comparable confusion, yelling, and bullhorns:confused: on Mt Harriet.

[bismark17]

That was very interesting. Thanks for posting it!!! I must admit the use of a bullhorn for command and control was rather unique. There didn't seem to be any direction at the NCO level, either. I guess I'm going to have to watch this several times to get a full impression of it. :confused:

[SWJED]

By SWC member Sonny at his FX-Based blog - Random (and Very Personal) Observations and Some Tips for Operating in "Developing" Countries (http://fx-based.blogspot.com/2006/08/random-and-very-personal-observations.html).


I admit the title of this post is awkward. The following observations and some tips are based on recent experience (meaning early 1990s to the present day) traveling in what some might still call the Third World, some call "the Gap", and some call "developing countries". The last thing I want to do is lump all this countries into one big pile. Each country (and each region within each country) is unique. I might narrow down my focus to particular areas in the future, but for now (partly due to OPSEC) I want to stay way from mentioning specific countries. My observations are based on "official business" and vacation trips, informal interviews with colleagues and some perspective that comes from growing up outside of the US. For the most part, these are not hard and fast rules and variations apply depending to where you go. These observations apply to areas where there is no actual combat, but where warfare is never far in terms of time and space...

Check it out...

[bismark17]

Great posting! This is really worth your time!!

[SWJED]

New to the SWJ and SWC Blogrolls - Lightning From the Sky (http://lightning1-2.blogspot.com/)


I'm a Captain in the Marine Corps, on my fourth deployment since January of 2003. I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a deployment aboard ship to the Persian Gulf. I'm an infantry officer by trade, having just completed a 3-year tour in an infantry battalion. In my current billet, I am a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) responsible for requesting and directing close air support in support of friendly ground units...

Good stuff, check it out...

Hat Tip to Rule 308! (http://rule308.blogspot.com/)

[SWJED]

Posted by Colonel Pat Lang (US Army, ret.) at his Sic Semper Tyrannis blog - The Best Defense is... (http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2006/09/the_best_defens.html)


I wrote this article (http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/files/thebestdefense.pdf)(with a friend) thirty years ago just after the Indochina War ended. That was a period of depression and re-assessment in the US Army. The strategy known as the "Active Defense" was in fashion as a method of fighting overwhelming Soviet strength in the event of a European war. This envisioned what amounted to a controlled withdrawal under severe pressure and held out no hope of defeating the Soviets as well as the possibility of a "forced" release of nuclear weapons to prevent the loss of all Europe.

I had seen many NVA units destroy themselves attacking American positions and after thinking over the possibilities in Europe I thought that it might be possible to employ available NATO strength in such a way as to defeat the Soviet Army through attrition of mind and body. The way I thought this might be done was to construct a wide belt of field fortifications in West Germany that would serve as a "grid" of "hard points" on which a mobile defense could be based. The concept is described in the article (downloadable above). The piece was published in the "Military Review," the journal of the Command and General Staff College.

I thought of it recently in the context of the recent Hizbullah defense of southern Lebanon and found it on the website of the magazine. The "internets" are a miracle.

"Medley Global Advisors" (MGA) in New York City is publishing an essay by me online today to their clients bringing this line of thought up to date. Anyone who would like to read that should contact MGA at advisors@medleyadvisors.com

As further background on the Lebanon War I recommend the following article suggested by one of our colleagues and commenters.

Pat Lang

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2330624_1,00.html

[SWJED]

The Adventures of Chester - From Every Mountainside (http://www.theadventuresofchester.com/archives/2006/09/from_every_moun.html).


Tom Ricks’ book FIASCO: The American Military Adventure in Iraq has been climbing the charts of late. Ricks lists the work Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice by David Galula as being very important to understanding the fight in Iraq today. Galula was a French officer who served in Greece, Algeria, and China, and observed various different insurgencies firsthand. His work is peppered with colorful anecdotes such as the things he learned after being captured by the Chinese Communists. Nevertheless, it very much attempts to develop a theory of counterinsurgency warfare that is extremely relevant today, despite the differences between Communist fighters and those of the Islamic ilk...

Vital Perspective - Military Beefing Up Training, Instruction on Counter-Insurgency Techniques (http://vitalperspective.typepad.com/vital_perspective_clarity/2006/09/report_military.html).


Jane's Defence Weekly (subscription) reports that the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are putting the finishing touches on a new counter-insurgency manual that is designed to fill a crucial gap in U.S. military doctrine.

Military leaders describe the new manual as part of a larger cultural shift that will affect the way the services train, equip and fight. The growing emphasis on counter-insurgency will require more language training and cultural awareness, skills traditionally the domain of special operations forces...

More at both blogs...

[SWJED]

by SWC member Merv Benson - Institutional Ignorance of Warfare (http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com/2006/09/institutional-ignorance-of-warfare.html) on his Prairie Pundit blog.


... One of these years, perhaps Wisconsin really will get around to hiring a professor for the Ambrose-Heseltine chair — but right now, for all intents and purposes, military history in Madison is dead. It’s dead at many other top colleges and universities as well. Where it isn’t dead and buried, it’s either dying or under siege. Although military history remains incredibly popular among students who fill lecture halls to learn about Saratoga and Iwo Jima and among readers who buy piles of books on Gettysburg and D-Day, on campus it’s making a last stand against the shock troops of political correctness. “Pretty soon, it may become virtually impossible to find military-history professors who study war with the aim of understanding why one side won and the other side lost,” says Frederick Kagan, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who taught at West Point for ten years. That’s bad news not only for those with direct ties to this academic sub-discipline, but also for Americans generally, who may find that their collective understanding of past military operations falls short of what the war-torn present demands.

The very first histories ever written were military histories. Herodotus described the Greek wars with Persia, and Thucydides chronicled the Peloponnesian War. “It will be enough for me,” wrote Thucydides nearly 25 centuries ago, “if these words of mine are judged useful by those who want to understand clearly the events which happened in the past and which (human nature being what it is) will, at some time or other and in much the same ways, be repeated in the future.” The Marine Corps certainly thinks Thucydides is useful: He appears on a recommended-reading list for officers. One of the most important lessons he teaches is that war is an aspect of human existence that can’t be wished away, no matter how hard the lotus-eaters try...

[SWJED]

9 October edition of National Review - Sounding Taps (http://nrd.nationalreview.com/article/?q=YTdiMDkzZDJjYTYwOWM4YmIyMmE4N2IwODFlNWU0MjE) by John Millier. Hat tip to Prairie Pundit (http://prairiepundit.blogspot.com/).


...Although the keenest students of military history have often been soldiers, the subject isn’t only for them. “I don’t believe it is possible to treat military history as something entirely apart from the general national history,” said Theodore Roosevelt to the American Historical Association in 1912. For most students, that’s how military history was taught — as a key part of a larger narrative. After the Second World War, however, the field boomed as veterans streamed into higher education as both students and professors. A general increase in the size of faculties allowed for new approaches, and the onset of the Cold War kept everybody’s mind focused on the problem of armed conflict.

Then came the Vietnam War and the rise of the tenured radicals. The historians among them saw their field as the academic wing of a “social justice” movement, and they focused their attention on race, sex, and class. “They think you’re supposed to study the kind of social history you want to support, and so women’s history becomes advocacy for ‘women’s rights,’” says Mary Habeck, a military historian at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. “This makes them believe military historians are always advocates of militarism.” Other types of historians also came under attack — especially scholars of diplomatic, intellectual, and maritime history — but perhaps none have suffered so many casualties as the “drums and trumpets” crowd. “Military historians have been hunted into extinction by politically active faculty members who think military history is a subject for right-wing, imperialistic warmongers,” says Robert Bruce, a professor at Sam Houston State University in Texas.

At first glance, military history appears to have maintained beachheads on a lot of campuses. Out of 153 universities that award doctorates in history, 99 of them — almost 65 percent — have at least one professor who claims a research interest in war, according to S. Mike Pavelec, a military historian at Hawaii Pacific University. But this figure masks another problem: Social history has started to infiltrate military history, Trojan Horse–style. Rather than examining battles, leaders, and weapons, it looks at the impact of war upon culture. And so classes that are supposedly about the Second World War blow by the Blitzkrieg, the Bismarck, and the Bulge in order to celebrate the proto-feminism of Rosie the Riveter, condemn the national disgrace of Japanese-American internment, and ask that favorite faculty-lounge head-scratcher: Should the United States have dropped the bomb? “It’s becoming harder and harder to find experts in operational military history,” says Dennis Showalter of Colorado College. “All this social history is like Hamlet without the prince of Denmark.” ...

[selil]

Just have it mentioned you're a veteran and watch tenure evaporate.


Oh, and a suggestion. Tie teaching military history to grant funding...

[Tom Odom]

Interesting that you selected Madison as a case history, Merv. From the Africanist view, Madison was for many years here it was happening in African studies, largely because Crawford Young, the "Dean" of Congo/Zaire related studies was there. I went there to a conference in 1986; I was working on LP #14 on the '64 Congo crisis and the reactions I got ranged fro blase to shocked that I was working on a military history paper invloving "imperialist" interventions in Africa.

Even my alma mater Texas A&M while I was a cadet did not have a military hsitory program. Gratefully Roger Beaumont arrived my senior year and over the next decade or so, A&M started looking at military history. My book as a Class of 1976 Centenial Class member became #100 in the A&M military history series, something was pure circumstance but also meaningful to me.

But before we get too judgemental about civilian academia, the military itself has not done a good job in using military history. The Center for Military History spent decades on the WWII green book series. It did not do an equally good job on either Korea or Vietnam. We (then BG Scales and the Desert Storm Study Group) wrote Certain Victory for 2 basic reasons: A. the Air Force had a project underway and B. CMH was not up to the task. The Military History Institute has been slow to join the 21st century, only recently starting to load documents on the web. The Combat Studies Institute stood up in the early 1980s because senior officers wanted someone to teach and write military history in a meaningful way. It has since undergone too many cuts but perhaps is now coming back with a series of papers that will resurrect its reputation.

Best
Tom

[marct]

Really good post, Merv.

Tom, you mentioned a failure of the military in "selling" military history, and I think you have probably raised a very good point that holds here in Canada as well. I suspect that some of the problem is also related to a general lack of interest in / knowledge of history being taught before university - at least it seems to be that way in Ontario. For example, only one of my students during the summer knew that Canada had over 400,000 troops in World War I.

The anti-military stance, what Merv called the "tenured radicals", has also spilled over into other areas. I am working with one student right now who has an interest in Intelligence analysis (it's part of her day job). Earlier this week, she had to do a presentation in a course on the History of Anthropology where she would take one of the "older" theoretical models and attempt to use it to analyze a current situation. She chose Durkheim's concept of "altruistic suicide" and applied it to studying suicide bombers. Halfway through her presentation, the professor teaching the course stopped her and told her that this was "propaganda". With attitudes like this running rampant, I really have to wonder...

Merv, while I liked your term "tenured radicals", I think that it is past time that the term "radical" itself was taken back from it's currently "occupied" status where it is held under the hegemonic control of krypto-Fascists (yeah, I can sound like a PC academic if I have to). "Radical" derives from the Latin "radix" or "root", and it is more than time enough for us to retrun to that original meaning and examine the roots of human existence. And, for the past 100 centuries, that means that we have to study warfare, religion, economics, technology, politics and the connections between them all. Currently, "radical" seems to be synonymous with "whining about being oppressed while enjoying a tenured position and sipping coctails and discussing either the inevitable revolutuion or the ultimate meaninglessness of life".

While it may be amusing, in a very droll sense, to watch these neo-Thomistic "scholars" argue about how many oppressions can dance on the head of a pin, it is ultimately a betrayal of both the profession of scholarship, of the societies in which we live and, most importantly, it is a betrayal of our species. I refuse to believe that we have spent the past 5+ million years evolving to end up locked in any type of restrictive "theology".

Sorry, I'll just get off my soapbox now...

Marc

[Merv Benson]

Thanks for the kind words, but I was excerpting from Miller's piece on institutional reluctance of many universities to study warfare. I do comment on Miller's article in my original post.

[SWJED]

Thanks for the kind words, but I was excerpting from Miller's piece on institutional reluctance of many universities to study warfare. I do comment on Miller's article in my original post.

Hat tip for bringing this to our attention - good job Merv.

[S-2]

As a former UW grad with a B.A. in Poli Sci/History, my very first class as a "gratefully red" badger was with Edward M. Coffman. A great man and lecturer, he'd (IIRC) served as a young lieutenant in the 1st Cav in Korea towards the end of that conflict.

A paper by me detailing my dad's adventures as a peripheral participant in T.F. Lynch was read in class by Coffman while mentioning me by name-quite an honor in a survey class of about 200 kids! I'm sorry to see he's since retired and that the Ambrose monies have gone unused.

It was a nearly impossible place to attend ROTC during the Vietnam War. Thankfully I didn't until it had become more of a non-issue during the mid-late seventies.

[SWJED]

Josh at The Adventures of Chester - Combination Warfare (http://www.theadventuresofchester.com/archives/2006/09/combination_war.html).


One of the hallmarks of maneuver warfare as it has been conceived in the Marine Corps is the use of combined arms. "Combined arms" refers to the use of various weapons systems in concert, such that each reinforces the weaknesses of the other. The doctrinal definition is this:


Combined arms is the full integration of arms in such a way that to counteract one, the enemy must become more vulnerable to another. We pose the enemy not just with a problem, but with a dilemma -- a no-win situation. [from Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 1, Warfighting]

There's no reason to think that this doctrine couldn't be articulated at the national level as well. Rather than confining it to the realm of military strategy and the use of force, why not include all the elements of national power -- diplomatic, economic, informational, military, etc -- and force them to work in concert toward a common goal? This may be an ideal, but it is one at which the US does not perform so well. The primary reason is the way our foreign policy bureaucracy operates: there is little in the way of the kind of unity of command necessary for an individual decision-maker to muster all elements to work in concert...

Combination warfare, as a title for the collection of powers that constitute the means of the state to fashion its ends, is deceiving, because the use of the term "warfare" could easily be misconstrued to mean a battle of some kind. The same is true of unrestricted warfare. An old-fashioned term, that few use any more, works much better: statecraft. It's better not only because it implies the use of all elements of the state to achieve a goal, but also because "craft" hints that there is much more art than science in the process...


Much more at the link...

[SWJED]

Posted by Mitchell Langbert at the Democracy Project blog - Multicultural World War (http://www.democracy-project.com/archives/002840.html).


Warren Bonesteel has forward me a link to Baron Bodissey's Gates of Vienna (http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2006/10/war-against-what.html) post. Bodissey makes a number of important comments that well fit the concept of fourth generation warfare that William S. Lind and Col Thomas X. Hammes have expounded. Col. Hammes's book The Sling and the Stone (http://www.amazon.com/gp/explorer/0760320594/2/ref=pd_lpo_ase/102-4910846-3812140?) is well worth reading in this regard. Bodissey and his associates point out that the war ought NOT to be viewed as one between Islam and the West, but rather ought to be viewed as a multicultural world war involving Western traditionalists, libertarians, conservatives, leftists, elite liberals, Islamic extremists, Castroite Marxists and so on. Bodissey's associates have "opened a discussion group on Yahoo! (so far known only by its number, “910”, although its members like to refer to it as 'VRWC')"...

[SWJED]

Me in the New Islamic State! (http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2006/10/me-in-new-islamic-state.html) - Iraq the Model Blog
Al-Qaeda Declares Government, Islamic State (http://talismangate.blogspot.com/2006/10/al-qaeda-declares-government-islamic.html) - Talisman Gate
The Islamic State in Iraq! (http://justsooni.blogspot.com/2006/10/islamic-state-in-iraq.html) - Sooni

Iraq the Model:


... There's no going back thirty years to the days of Saddam an there's no going back a thousand yeas to the days of the Caliphs.

It's over…

We have accepted the rough road and the outcome will not be in the benefit of the criminals. The war is tough, painful and hard but I have no doubt of the outcome that will mean the end for the supporters of tyranny and extremism.

Surrendering is much closer to them than it is to us and history will remember with pride those who sacrificed for the freedom of Iraq.

Maybe I will not live long to see that day but my children will certainly see it.

Sorry whiners, losers and pessimists. I only know to accept a challenge when I face one and I recognize only victory as an end...

Talisman Gate:


... This latest declaration is a measure of the jihadist defeat gradually playing out in Iraq: they are getting increasingly frustrated over the outcome of the Iraqi battlefield turning against them. It is a publicity stunt meant to imply that they are expanding rather than contracting. They are most definitely being beaten back as evidenced by the latest fighting in Mosul and Diyala....

Sooni:


... Al-Qaeda's declaration of an "Islamic State" in Iraq came and went unnoticed by most of Iraqis. One of my friends said when I told him about it "what difference would it make? They've been killing people on daily basis so what makes you think they will stop and start taking care of them and act like a responsible government like they claim to be?"

As an Iraqi I know they can't control this "'State" but they chose an area of influence where they can use their "hit and run" tactics to declare a "State" in, moreover, the declaration sounded more like a challenge to the Iraqi Government and the Coalition forces than a real declaration of a state...

[zenpundit]

Kent's Imperative (http://kentsimperative.blogspot.com/)

Specialty blog on the IC, esp. analysis.

[SWJED]

Mark - thanks - added to the SWJ / SWC blogroll...

[SWJED]

Another very interesting post (as always) from John Robb at Global Guerrillas - Stochastic Tinkerers and Warfare (http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/).


I really respect the work of the financier, Nassim Taleb (http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/). His ideas on tinkering networks (the same type of networks that brought us the airplane, the personal computer, and much of the software we use today) provides us useful lessons on the utility of open source warfare (for those new to this, here's an article (http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/robb_opensource_war.htm) from the New York Times to get your started).

Here's how. Warfare in our current complex environment (as opposed to the last century and earlier) is very similar to the areas of science/finance where stochastic processes dominate. Since stochastic dominance implies a high level of randomness in outcomes, tinkering networks (ie. open source insurgencies) tend to generate substantially higher returns on effort than highly planned activities (ie. nation-building). The reason is that if you can't plan outcomes due to randomness, the optimal approach to success is through parallel development efforts using a wide variety of methods in combination with a network that readily embraces unexpected but very useful innovations. In contrast, highly planned efforts tend to limit the number of methods/paths used and are resistant to errant results due to bureaucratic inertia/bias.

Finally, these tinkering networks can occasionally produce black swans, or radical breakthroughs. In the context of warfare this is either an event or improvement in method that changes the course of the war. Question: are we, or can you ever imagine us being, in the business of producing black swans in warfare?

[carl]

In "The U.S. Army and the Counterinsurgency in the Philippine War" one of Linn's explanations for American success was that each Army unit was able to tailor its efforts to the unique circumstances in which it found itself. Because of difficulties in commucations and transport, the garrisons couldn't be closely supervised by a higher headquarters so they were free to "tinker" their way into doing whatever worked best in their area or on their island.

He was also skeptical that this could happen now because it is too easy for the bosses to keep close tabs on events and to visit.

[Smitten Eagle]

This reminds me of something that Galula mentioned his his Counterinsurgency Warfare. Paraphrasing pages 104-106 of his most recent book, he says the Chinese government would enact programs by first sectoring off areas and implimenting different variations of the program, and then experimentally evaluating the results. Later, the more successful variations would be implimented on a wider and larger scale.

There's nothing new under the sun.

[BMT]

Iraq the Model (http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com)


BMT

[SWJED]

Iraq the Model (http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com)


BMT

I often link to Iraq the Model from the SWJ Daily News Links Page. Also, the Wall Street Journal often picks up posts for inclusion in their Op-Ed page.

[tequila]

I'm not sure why these guys are so popular. Perhaps because they write in English for an English-speaking audience, and they tell us what we would want to hear? I think so (the same goes for other popular Iraqi English-language bloggers, like Riverbend and Raed in the Middle for the anti-Iraq War side the political spectrum). I believe these guys ran in the last Iraqi elections, where they managed to secure the votes of their family members and few others --- perhaps accurately reflecting the political popularity of a pro-American secular liberal in Iraq today.

The journey of the Healing Iraq blog, run by an atheist Sunni dentist who eventually fled for New York is instructive --- originally started as a very loud pro-American Iraqi blog, perhaps the first that was so pro-Western in its approach. He then had a cousin forced off a bridge in Samarra by American troops in this nasty little incident (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6793776/), which ended the career of LTC Nathan Sassaman (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/magazine/23sassaman.html?ei=5088&en=71c28f58c567de76&ex=1287720000&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print)and resulted in six months' jail time for one of the soldiers involved, which he posted about in some dismay, at which point most of his prowar American supporters deserted him and whereupon he gained an antiwar American audience.

[tequila]

IWPR (http://www.iwpr.net/)is a good resource for several conflict zones:

Afghanistan (http://www.iwpr.net/?p=arr&s=p&o=-&apc_state=henh)

Africa (http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=p&o=-&apc_state=henh)

Balkans (http://www.iwpr.net/?p=brn&s=p&o=-&apc_state=henptri)

Caucasus (http://www.iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=p&o=-&apc_state=henpbrn)

Central Asia (http://www.iwpr.net/?p=rca&s=p&o=-&apc_state=henpbrn)

Iraq (http://www.iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=p&o=-&apc_state=henpbrn)

It's a program that builds local media resources by training locals as professional journalists.

[zenpundit]

While this may strike some of active duty pros at the SWC as a " People Magazine" version of what they usually read here, WIRED (http://www.wired.com/wired/) magazine has a defense and national security blog Danger Room (http://blog.wired.com/defense/), edited by Noah Schachtman

Fun site. Lots of graphics, videos, short posts, futuristic military technology. That sort of thing.

Hat tip to Younghusband at Coming Anarchy (http://www.cominganarchy.com/).

[bismark17]

Thanks for posting that. I would never have found this one on my own.

[zenpundit]

Aviation Week (http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/) has a new military news and defense technology blog ARES (http://aviationweek.typepad.com/ares/), edited by Sean Meade who is also the webmaster for former Pentagon strategist Thomas Barnett.

Here's a sample of Sean's work:


"Speaking of video, Multi-National Force - Iraq is also posting and pushing video.

DefenseLink today reports that, not only does MNF-Iraq have video on its website, it's putting up video on its own YouTube channel as well. "
and


"Air Force Link reports that the first MQ-9 Reaper has flown into Creech AFB, NV.

First impression: What a wicked name!

Second impression: the possibilities for word play and association and 'cute' headlines are endless: Blue Oyster Cult, Will Farrell and Christopher Walken on SNL. I'll give in on this one title and then try to resist ;-)

The Reaper's turboprop engine is able to run at 250 knots, can fly up to 40,000 feet and is able to stay in the air for more than 20 hours.

"One of the big differences between the Reaper and the Predator is the Predator can only carry about 200 pounds (of ordnance). The Reaper however, can carry one and a half tons, and on top of carrying Hellfire missiles, can carry multiple GBU-12 laser-guided bombs," said Capt. Michael Lewis, 42nd ATKS flight scheduler."

[Stan]

zenpundit,

Thanks for the link !
Very interesting articles and some great pictures and videos !

I especially like the 'Hollywood joins the war effort'


"I wouldn't have thought it possible to have two references to the movie 300 on this blog in a single week, but when Hollywood gets accused of waging psychological operations against Iran, how can we not share the information?"


The government spokesman, Gholamhossein Elham, described the film as "cultural intrusion" and an attack on Iran's ancient civilisation. "Such a fabrication of culture and insult to people is not acceptable by any nation or government," he told reporters. "[Iran] considers it as hostile behaviour which is the result of cultural and psychological warfare."

Regards, Stan

[SoiCowboy]

http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com

Usually has good articles. Had a search and didn't see it up.

[Tom Odom]

My second Ambassador in Rwanda, Robert (Bob) E. Gribbin has a blog called, Africa Reflections. (http://rwandakenya.blogspot.com/)He offers fare both heavy and light ranging from the genocide in Rwanda to golfing in Africa. Here is a post as a sample:



Thursday, April 12, 2007
Rwanda - President Bizimungu Freed

Lost in the flurry of reports from Rwanda last weekend commemorating the 1994 genocide was the news that President Paul Kagame pardoned former President Pasteur Bizimungu and released him from prison. Bizimungu had served five years of a fifteen year sentence for treason. Bizimungu was reportedly delighted (who would not be?) with the news. He was cautioned by officials to become a law abiding citizen.

Bizimungu’s initial arrest and conviction were contentious. Although there was probably some corruption mud on him, his troubles really arose from political reasons. As a Hutu, President during the early RPF era (1994 to 2000) and untainted by genocide, Bizimungu was apparently deemed to pose a credible threat to continued insider dominance by Kagame and the clique around him. After falling out with the inner leadership and resigning in 2000, Bizimungu announced his intention to contest for the top post in the upcoming election with his own new party on his own platform. However, fearing a possible return to ethnic politics, the Tutsi element was determined to prevail. Accordingly, a number of measures were adopted to make it impossible (as in Bizimungu’s case) or very difficult as regarding the effort by former Prime Minister Twagiramungu or other Hutus to run. Naturally, little of this was couched overtly in ethnic terms, even though the code was known by all.

I judged at the time that President Kagame had little to fear from an electoral challenger. He had the name recognition, the power of the military and the power of incumbency. He was the savior of Rwanda and its true leader. Given the way that Rwandan society works, his election would almost be automatic. Yet, electoral success was assured by arrest of Bizimungu and intimidation of other candidates. The message as (correctly) read by voters was continuation of Kagame’s rule.

Once won, however, the question arose of what to do with Bizimungu? Charges (even partially trumped up ones) could not be dropped as that would fly in the face of Rwanda’s very determined efforts to institute a rule-of-law regime nationwide, especially in dealing with genocidaires (which Bizimungu was not, but resolving his case prematurely would smack of favoritism). Also, failure to move forward on the Bizimungu case would indicate that the charges against him were more political than real. Finally, stubbornly proud Rwanda did not want to be perceived as caving to international pressure to free the former president. Thus, the legal process had to run its course. This involved a trial, conviction, sentencing and appeals. Only when all the legal maneuverings were complete could exercise of the presidential power of commutation be considered.

To his credit, when the time was propitious President Kagame exercised his power and had his former colleague released. I judge the decision to have been overdue, but it certainly was a mark of political maturity. Pasteur Bizimungu poses no political threat to the regime, yet his release does indicate that old animosities must pass on and that all Rwandans can and ought to live together harmoniously. That is good news. Rhetoric and reality should always match.

[zenpundit]

Very interesting IO/PSOPS focused milblog, Swedish Meatballs Confidential.

"Blogs and Military Information Strategy (http://swedemeat.blogspot.com/2007/07/blogs-and-military-information-strategy.html)"

Eye catching visuals to boot, though maybe "Not Work Safe".

[SWJED]

Swedish Meatballs Confidential (http://swedemeat.blogspot.com/)- I only read it for the articles :D.


"Best I.O.-Related Blog Ever"
[...with significant caveats, of course.]
-Michael Tanji (a darn fine sport! -M1)

"I'm reaching out to Swedish Meatballs. Who are you? Inquiring, and confidential, minds want to know."
-Mountain Runner

"We are not quite sure what to think of the rather interesting but not entirely worksafe blog. On the one hand, we find some of the pieces quite excellent but we dislike attempts to play insider baseball with Beltway politics (especially writ large.) We find such discussions border too often on conspiracy theory. But when they focus on information operations and military matters, they prove worth reading. (We also rather like the manner in which they characterized our link - "Kent's Something of Import".... clearly an artifact of translation software, but it carries with it a flavour of the Victorian...)"
-Imperatating Kent(s?)

"He's pretty smart. Plus, his, um, artwork, evades the filter on my DoD computer...
Nice"
-A testy guy named Isaac (testy is good, too)

"Bizarre site, no? I don't know who he/she is, but I'm afraid to link to him/her for risk of being dragged in by the lewd patrol."
- Armchair Generalist

"Swedish Meatballs Confidential focuses on unwrapping programs of propaganda, PSYOPS and "perception management" from across the spectrum of media outlets. It's saucy, too. This group knows what the #### is going on. Read it, and you will too."
-Anything They Say

"Swedish Meatballs has learned how to dress up a web page about information operations, diplomacy, foreign affairs and related matters to make them more understandable."
-Main & Central

"Very interesting IO/PSOPS focused milblog.
Eye catching visuals to boot, though maybe not `Work Safe´"
-Small Wars Journal council member Zen Pundit

"...it's a hoot"
[...criminally recontextualized. -M1]
-Pundita

[SWJED]

... sorry Zen - just saw you already posted a link.

[Rockbridge]

Swedish Meatballs Confidential (http://swedemeat.blogspot.com/)- I only read it for the articles :D.

Guess that depends on where you work .... Some interesting graphics, and equally interesting articles, but a bit heavy on the conspiracy theory stuff. If we were really able to successfully run operations as complex as the conspiracy theorists believe, we wouldn't have as many problems as we do now.

[Anthony Hoh]

Should have used the same visual approach to 3-24...might actually get a few more Soldiers to read it. :o

[St. Christopher]

From the author of How to Fight the War of Ideas Like a Real War and the editor of the forthcoming Public Diplomacy Reader, Mike Waller maintains a blog at politicalwarfare.org (http://political warfare.org). Not only is this a good place to learn more about getting offensive in the Info War, but Dr. Waller uses it from time to time to expose anti-American propagandists, sloppy journalism, and stubborn members of the government who refuse to "wake up" to the new realities of irregular and political warfare.

Mike also teaches courses at the Institute of World Politics in DC. Anyone looking for continuing education or even a pro class on propaganda should definitely check it out.

Du4

[bismark17]

I'm not getting the link to work. Hopefully the server isn't getting killed by all of the readers of this site. I would be willing to bet there is far greater readership of the smallwarsjournal.com site than the conventional metrics would suggest. I suggested this site to a DEA specialist at Quantico while attending a course a few years back and found he was already going to it so the word is out there.

[St. Christopher]

I'm not getting the link to work. Hopefully the server isn't getting killed by all of the readers of this site. I would be willing to bet there is far greater readership of the smallwarsjournal.com site than the conventional metrics would suggest. I suggested this site to a DEA specialist at Quantico while attending a course a few years back and found he was already going to it so the word is out there.

Apologies, looks like the routing link is broken... try this one:

http://jmw.typepad.com/political_warfare/

[Jedburgh]

Conflict Early Warning and Early Response Blog (http://earlywarning.wordpress.com/), linked to Carleton University's Country Indicators for Foreign Policy (http://www.carleton.ca/cifp/) site.

This is the Blogosphere’s first blog on the theory and practice of conflict early warning and response. The purpose of this blog is to openly share how our thinking on early warning has changed and continues to change as we seek to maximize the impact of our work in operational conflict prevention. What works? What no longer works? What’s next?

[Chris Albon]

Very interesting. Conflict prediction has always been a fascinating topic, especially with advances in data mining.

[bourbon]

New blog by Dr Mark Galeotti: In Moscow's Shadows (http://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/)

This blog's author, Dr Mark Galeotti has been researching Russian security issues since the late 1980s. Educated at Cambridge University and the LSE, he is currently head of the History department at Keele University in the UK as well as director of its Organised Russian & Eurasian Crime Research Unit. From January 2009, he will be Clinical Associate Professor of Global Affairs at New York University. His books include the edited collections 'Russian & Soviet Organized Crime' (Ashgate) and 'Global Crime Today' (Routledge) and he is a regular contributor to Jane's Intelligence Review, Oxford Analytica and many other outlets.

For good measure lets add Johnson's Russia List (http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/default.cfm) to this thread.

[bourbon]

The great Steve Coll (Ghost Wars, The Bin Ladens) has started a blog at The New Yorker called Think Tank (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/stevecoll/). SWJ is sitting pretty on the blogroll already. Coll joins George Packer and his Interesting Times (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/) blog at the NYer.

[sullygoarmy]

Thanks...some interesting reading there. Two great authors of some must read books.

[zenpundit]

On both counts. Nice job !

[bourbon]

War and Peace - by Mark Urban (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/markurban/), BBC News Night diplomatic and defense editor. Urban authored Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the secret struggle against the IRA, which I imagine many here have read.

IS IT SAFE?, by Sam Fadis (http://www.hometownannapolis.com/blog_cfaddis.html), former CIA officer runs a blog discussing terrorism and homeland security for The Capital of Annapolis, Md. Fadis is the author of Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War Inside Iraq which was just published.

[bourbon]

Eeben Barlow's Military and Security Blog (http://eebenbarlowsmilitaryandsecurityblog.blogspot.com/)

About Me
Eeben Barlow
I founded the Private Military Company (PMC) Executive Outcomes (EO) in 1989. The company operated primarily in Africa helping African governments that had been abandoned by the West. EO also operated in South America and the Far East. I have lectured, and still lecture, to military colleges and universities on security and defence issues in several countries. I believe that only Africans can truly solve Africa’s problems. I currently consult to a USA-based company.

[h/t: Feral Jundi (http://feraljundi.com/2008/12/03/industry-talk-eeben-barlows-military-and-security-blog/)]

[bourbon]

National Journal Expert Blogs: National Security (http://security.nationaljournal.com/)


Contributors:
Richard Aboulafia, Gordon Adams, Norman R. Augustine, Andrew Bacevich, Milt Bearden, Courtney Banks, Michael Brown, Daniel Byman, Vincent Cannistraro, James Jay Carafano, Col. Joseph J. Collins, Wolfgang H. Demisch, Lt. Gen. Jay M. Garner, Daniel Gouré, Lee Hamilton, Kathleen Hicks, Bruce Hoffman, Michael Jackson, Brian Michael Jenkins, Col. Robert Killebrew, Rachel Kleinfeld, Steven Kosiak, Andy Krepinevich, Dick Kohn, Larry Korb, Col. W. Patrick Lang, Hillary Mann Leverett, Col. Douglas Macgregor, Ron Marks, Stewart Patrick, Jim Phillips, Paul R. Pillar, Norman Polmar, Richard Hart Sinnreich, Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, Kori Schake, Michael F. Scheuer, Michael Schiffer, Chris Seiple, Daniel Serwer, Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., Loren Thompson, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, Stewart Verdery, Bing West, Winslow T. Wheeler, Wayne White, Sam Worthington, Dov S. Zakheim, Amy Zegart, Gen. Anthony C. Zinni

[Rob Thornton]

Nice find - I like the format too. It reminds me of some of the panel discussions you see at experiments and working groups.
Best, Rob

[bourbon]

Foreign Policy magazine has augmented their blog section (http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/10708). New features include:


Meanwhile, Passport will be joined by a host of new blogs. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and Fiasco author Tom Ricks will comment on military matters at The Best Defense (http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/). Harvard's Stephen Walt (http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/), coauthor of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, will inject a dose of realism into the online political debate. Superclass author David Rothkopf (http://rothkopf.foreignpolicy.com/) will give readers an inside look at the global powerbrokers who really run the world. FP senior editor Carolyn O'Hara and a crack team of Clinton-watchers will be obsessively following all things Hillary at Madam Secretary (http://hillary.foreignpolicy.com/). And a coterie of conservative foreign-policy heavyweights, including Peter Feaver, Philip Zelikow, and FP's newest editor -- and Condoleeza Rice's longtime speechwriter -- Christian Brose, will be on hand to critique the Obama presidency at Shadow Government: Notes from the loyal opposition (http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/).

Some blogging veterans are also adding their names to our digital masthead. Daniel Drezner (http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/)'s readers already know that he has brought his must-read blog on foreign policy, international economics (and occasionally the Red Sox) over to FP. Marc Lynch (http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/)'s essential Middle East politics blog Abu Aardvark has also come aboard. And investigative journalist Laura Rozen will be writing The Cable (http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/), featuring original coverage, scoops, and behind-the-scenes reporting about the making of Washington's foreign policy in the age of Obama.

We'll also feature partnerships with the Small Wars Journal and a new column, The Call (http://eurasia.foreignpolicy.com/), with political forecasting by Ian Bremmer and the political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group.

Congrats to SWJ for its continued success, and this new opportunity to reach more readers in it's new partnership with Foreign Policy (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2009/01/swj-partnership-with-the-new-i/).

[Voodoun]

This came up on another forum, maybe many of you are familiar with it, but its the first I'd heard of it

http://www.xeper.org/maquino/nm/MindWar.pdf

and is anyone familiar with the author? seriously, I'm pretty open minded and not religious in the least, but wow. seriously, WOW.

[davidbfpo]

I shall check with a few here in UK PsyOps field to see if they are aware, too late to read now, looks like a good find.

davidbfpo

[bourbon]

Check out Jon Ronson's The Men Who Stare at Goats.

"Mind War" and the Public's Opinion (http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2006/04/mind_war_and_th.html), by Pat Lang. Sic Semper Tyrannis,10 April 2006.

[Voodoun]

I dont know why, I just get the willies when I think of this stuff being written by an avowed Satanist. How bizarre.

[Ken White]

Pat is still at it... :wry:

[jmm99]

As I am one of the thoroughly penetrated subjects of experiments in modern MindWar, the OP article immediaterly caused me to throw off a succession of resonated sets of alpha, beta, theta and delta waves , which led me to this in the OP article:


pp.9-10
...MindWar should take full advantage of such phenomena as ... extremely low frequency waves [footnote 21 tells the tale and how ELF can be used in mind control]

And indeed we find that there is solid proof that mind control via ELF began in my own little Upper Peninsula of Michigan, right here (http://www.templeofsakkara.com/conference_files/2008/conference_08_afterword.pdf):


In 1968, the Hardy family was told to build a pyramid for John Hardy so that we could stop the ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) transmissions that were generated through Sawyer Air Force Base in the Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Sawyer Air Force Base is connected to the grid in such a way that it can pulse different ELF chords. It was originally designed to communicate with the Polaris submarines during the Cold War by pulsing the whole Earth grid. However, experiments were done in Seattle Washington to see how ELF frequency affected the minds of humanity. The antenna systems for the ELF devices are the Space Needles in Seattle, and other towers, like the CNN tower in Canada. These towers are located all over the Earth.

So, yesterday, Sawyer AFB and the UP; today, the World !

But, fear not Voodoun - salvation is found in the Temple of Sakkara (http://www.templeofsakkara.com/). Send your donations to .....


There is some valid scientific content in Aquino's article here (http://www.xeper.org/maquino/nm/StarGate.pdf); and he is aware of the ethical implications of PSYOPS here (http://www.xeper.org/maquino/nm/PSYOPEthics.pdf). I wasn't aware of Aquino's religious beliefs before the OP - did know of him (nothing derogatory) - to each their own in that territory.

PS: Proof positive of the Sawyer ELF mind control grid is found in the very existence of Da Yoopers (http://www.dayoopers.com/) - and the present state of JMM :eek:

Have to bed down now - but first I have to activate the pyramids and the Holy Grail Vortex.

Link to Ronson book is here (http://www.jonronson.com/goats_04.html) - no further comments.

[William F. Owen]

Having just read the paper I am sorry I bothered to print it. I find the whole idea very seriously flawed. Wow, doesn't even come close. Wow covers the fact that someone actually sat down and wrote it.

[Voodoun]

no kidding.

But jmm, to each his own, and all that, sure, and I'm not one for conspiracy theories at all, I just must admit I find it exceedingly bizarre that this fellow founded the Church of Set. I suppose he and General Boykin didn't get along well at all.

[RTK]

http://www.scottmactavish.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/tinfoil-hat.jpg

[Cavguy]

http://www.scottmactavish.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/tinfoil-hat.jpg


Somewhere, COL Gentile has just found the reason for the success of the "surge" narrative and the "COIN Matrix".

:D ;)

[jmm99]

I suppose he and General Boykin didn't get along well at all.

The two may have crossed paths at one point (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_G._Boykin) or the other (http://www.xeper.org/maquino/nm/AquinoVitae.pdf).

Have a friend with whom systematic theology is discussed - I from a Jesuit slant; he from a Watchtower slant. No arguments - we simply witness what we believe. In business-legal matters, our respective religions are checked at the door, but our ethics continue.

I kinda flipped this one off in my post - parts of this are just too funny. But, there is a serious side to what Aquino says in his military articles, which are linked here (http://www.xeper.org/maquino/Site/Index.html) (since his .pdf's seem not to allow cut and paste, I'll really shorten it):


p.3 here (http://www.xeper.org/maquino/nm/MindWar.pdf)
[Speaking of the blowback after Iraq 2003] That is the Achilles heel of MindWar. Invoking as it does the most intense emotions and commitments of its audiences, it must deliver the goods as they are judged by the target audiences. ....

In that respect, the message is very akin to that of COL Jones (Bob's World).

Not everyone is going to buy in to the full package of MindWar. From same page:


Everyone is happy, no one gets hurt or killed, and nothing is destroyed.

Wilf certainly does not; and nothing in my lifetime suggests that is possible (and I believe it is "possible" that the Sun will rise in the West).

----------------------------
RTK and Gavguy - Naw, tinfoil hats are too defensive - L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace !

[Voodoun]

Seems to me anyone who bought into Mind War as a package at all should be asked to explain themselves in a logical and rational manner.

It seems more of a reason as to why we've struggled in this realm than anything else. Although I suspect it was never an influential paper.

[William F. Owen]

Wilf certainly does not; and nothing in my lifetime suggests that is possible (and I believe it is "possible" that the Sun will rise in the West).


I guess I'm an "old testament" military thinker.

ונתתי מופתים בשמים ובארץ דם ואש ותימרות עשן

That means "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke." Book of Joel.

[davidbfpo]

Have read this US-based, Pakistani authored website and suggest regular dipping into: http://watandost.blogspot.com/

Rex had an earlier thread which id'd the authors as: Dr. Hassan Abbas, Research Fellow at the Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom and International Security Program, former government official who served in the administrations of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1995–1996) and President Pervez Musharraf (1999–2000), and author of the blog Watandost on Pakistan-related affairs.

[George L. Singleton]

Interesting.

Seamless, indeed.

Factions of Islam killing each other of who is right among themselves.

[davidbfpo]

Via searching for another item I came across this site: http://www.jihadica.com/ , now being run by a Norwegian team and this is from their 'About Us' page:

Jihadica is a clearinghouse for materials related to militant, transnational Sunni Islamism, commonly known as Jihadism. At the moment, much of this material is diffuse, known only to a few specialists, and inaccessible to the public and policymakers unless they pay a fee. Jihadica provides this material for free and keeps a daily record of its dissemination that can be easily searched and studied. These records are accompanied by the expert commentary of people who have the requisite language training to understand the primary source material and advanced degrees in relevant fields.

davidbfpo

[marct]

Nice catch, David!

[Rex Brynen]

Via searching for another item I came across this site: http://www.jihadica.com/ , now being run by a Norwegian team and this is from their 'About Us' page:

It is an excellent site, and the new Norwegian team is top notch (Brynjar Lia in particular has published some excellent studies on jihadist groups, as well as his previous books on the Palestinian security forces).

[LawVol]

Can anyone recommend a blog discussing national security issues and related topics from central and south America? Many thanks.

[bourbon]

Can anyone recommend a blog discussing national security issues and related topics from central and south America? Many thanks.
Check out Samuel Logan's Security in Latin America (http://samuellogan.blogspot.com/).

[TristanAbbey]

Folks here may be interested in his comments on the media; Somalia; Yemen; and of course Iraq-Afghan-Pakistan.

http://bellum.stanfordreview.org/?p=348

[davidbfpo]

Found via jihadica a new site that comments on events in the Yemen:
http://islamandinsurgencyinyemen.blogspot.com/

Not a place I watch much, so will leave others to judge how useful.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

The blogsite www.afghanistanshrugged.com has been cited before here, but one of their articles has appeared on a South Asian website: http://www.himalmag.com/In-the-shades-of-grey_nw2885.html

The South Asian website (based in Nepal), not seen before, has a review of the Taliban by a NWFP journalist, different: http://www.himalmag.com/In-the-shades-of-grey_nw2885.html

davidbfpo

[bourbon]

http://borderviolenceanalysis.typepad.com/
"Mexico's Drug War - An ongoing analysis of southwest border violence issues by an experienced intelligence professional."

http://intelligencenews.wordpress.com/

This project is a joint effort by two intelligence experts, Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis and Ian Allen. Both specialists in the field of espionage and intelligence, Fitsanakis and Allen filter through the melodrama and sensationalism of the daily news to bring to the surface intelligence-related developments that rarely make news headlines. They then elaborate on these developments by posting occasional, carefully researched and crafted commentaries and analyses, which bring together the various news items relating to a particular story or subject.

http://spybusters.blogspot.com/ - Kevin's Security Scapbook

[Cavguy]

I would be remiss if I didn't highlight the COIN Center blog (http://usacac.army.mil/BLOG/blogs/coin/default.aspx) and the Combined Arms Center's family of blogs (http://usacac.leavenworth.army.mil/BLOG/). :D

[rborum]

I started a new site/blog focused on applying social and behavioral science research - with a particular focus on criminology - to preserve global security and to understand, prevent, and mitigate armed conflict and violent extremism.

If you're interested, you can find it HERE (http://globalcrim.blogspot.com).

[slapout9]

Thanks for the tip....I have read your stuff man. Bryan V. (cain't ever spell his last name) helped me a problem once or twice too.

[rborum]

Bryan Vossekuil ... a great friend and extraordinary thinker on risk related issues.

[davidbfpo]

Thanks for posting the thread and link - which I have quickly scanned. Plus one of the links: http://redteamjournal.com/ which may interest readers.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

hat tip to Entropy: http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/ A quick look suggests not Small Wars, may provide context for crisis - like NKorean A-bomb test.

davidbfpo

[bourbon]

Modern Day Pirate Tales (http://piratebook.blogspot.com/) - "Notes on the world of piracy from journalist Daniel Sekulich."

[davidbfpo]

Came across this via a UK academic conference: http://legalift.wordpress.com/ or Legal Issues in the Fight against Terrorism.

What makes it interesting, hopefully not only to JMM, is that it is the website of the Finnish lawyer, Martin Schenin, the UN Rapporteur on the Protection of Human Rights whilst countering terrorism (UN site: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/terrorism/rapporteur/srchr.htm )

davidbfpo

[jmm99]

Weblink page (http://www.iue.it/LAW/People/Faculty/CVs/Scheinin.shtml), CV (http://web.abo.fi/instut/imr/research/martin_scheinin_cv.htm) and a 2008 course (http://www.iue.it/LAW/ResearchTeaching/Seminars20082009-I/ActionAgainstTerrorism.shtml), which covered what we discuss here:


Legal Issues in National, European and International Action against Terrorism
....
23 October 2008
Is the fight against terrorism a war? The applicability and interaction of international humanitarian law and of human rights law in the fight against terrorism.

If I knew him (and I don't), I'd invite him over.

[tommas]

I've been following a blog about maritime piracy: http://piracy-watch.blogspot.com, it's amazing how the attacks around the Indian ocean have increased over the last 12 months.

[jmm99]

your interest in piracy (shared by many here) is admirable. Please introduce yourself. Thank you.

[The Cuyahoga Kid]

http://warisboring.com/ is a good site, its run by freelance journalist David Axe and provides some interesting insights into low intensity and irregular conflict from an extremely engaging perspective. Axe tends to stray from the beaten path and has taken personal trips to locations such as Chad, Sudan, Darfur, Kenya, and Somalia. Axe has also reported from Iraq, Israel, Lebanon and has a trip planned to Afghanistan quite soon.

Also for anybody interested in the Navy's role in COIN and "soft power" operations Axe and his contributors have quite a few articles about recent soft power operations undertaken by the US Navy in both South America and East Africa.

[davidbfpo]

Found this Canadian human security site, which focusses on Afghanistan: http://www.afghanconflictmonitor.org/ . Nothing spectacular in the press 'Monitor', but has interesting factual links.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Richard Dowden, the Director of the Royal African Society, has started an online blog on the RAS homepage. This week Richard writes on China's recent $950 million 'aid' to Zimbabwe. Next week Richard will write from Ghana, on President Obama's first trip to Africa as President. Please visit www.royalafricansociety.org

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

A previously unheard of academic centre at LSE, London devoted to studying states in crisis: http://www.crisisstates.com/ An interesting range of papers and a focus on places SWJ will like in particular Dr Antonio Giustozzi: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/researchAndExpertise/Experts/profile.aspx?KeyValue=a.Giustozzi@lse.ac.uk

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Within a posting today in SWJ Blog and put here to help: http://davidmansfield.org/index.php

Lots of reports on eradication and other counter-narcotic policies (mainly in Afghanistan) on a quick visit.

davidbfpo

[bourbon]

http://jarretbrachman.net/ (http://www.jarretbrachman.net/)

About

DR JARRET BRACHMAN is an internationally recognized al-Qa`ida specialist. The Associated Press has called him an “information warrior.” Al-Qaida’s supporters have called him the “excrement from Satan’s butt.” Even Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy director of al-Qaida, has cursed him by name on multiple occassions.

Brachman routinely advises local, state and federal law enforcement, intelligence, military agencies and the private sector on al-Qa`ida. Brachman has testified before the House Armed Services Committee and the British House of Lords and his research is regularly covered in the press. After spending four years as the Director of Research of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, Brachman returned to the Midwest where he directs NDSU’s Center for Transportation Security (UGPTI) and advises clients on terrorism challenges.

Jarret’s recent book, Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice, is now available through Routledge Press.

[bourbon]

Ink Spots (http://www.tachesdhuile.blogspot.com/)

Ink Spots is a blog dedicated to the discussion of counterinsurgency, stability operations, post-conflict environments, and whatever other security issues we deem worthy of comment. Our contributors are security professionals - from think tanks, government, consulting, and nonprofit work. We hope this site will be not merely a soap box for the five of us, but a forum for discussion and debate on those issues that matter to us all.

[davidbfpo]

Found just: http://san-pips.com/index.php and they are:


The Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) is an independent, not-for-profit non governmental research and advocacy think-tank. An initiative of leading Pakistani scholars, researchers and journalists, PIPS conducts wide-ranging research and analysis of political, social and religious conflicts that have a direct bearing on both national and international security.

Not read any product yet.

davidbfpo

[Cavguy]

Below are my defense related subscriptions in Google Reader. I don't have time to read all the blogs out there, so I have tried to concentrate on ones that a) Break new thoughts (SWJ), b) give me thought provoking insights (Abu M, Walt, Ricks, Packer), c) keep me up to date in the defense community (Danger Room, Attackerman, Defense Tech) or d) provide news I can't find elsewhere (Free Range International, Long War Journal). The list below provides about 100 posts a day, and usually link to my non subscribed 2d tier blogs when they have good posts.

Abu Muqawama http://www.cnas.org/blogs/abumuqawama
Everyone knows Abu M. 'Nuff Said.

ATTACKERMAN http://attackerman.firedoglake.com
I guestblogged for Spencer, opinionated yet often relevant insights into defense politics

Free Range International http://blog.freerangeinternational.com/
Pithy yet excellent Afghanistan insight you won't find elsewhere

Information Dissemination http://informationdissemination.blogspot.com
Navy blog I like a lot, good thoughts

Interesting Times (George Packer) http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/
Interesting, but sparse postings

Stephen M. Walt http://walt.foreignpolicy.com
Love him or hate him, he always gets me thinking

Danger Room http://www.wired.com/dangerroom
Noah does an awesome job keeping up with DoD for WIRED

Defense Tech http://www.defensetech.org
Same as above

USA and USMC Counterinsurgency Center Blog http://usacac.army.mil/BLOG/blogs/coin/
Hey, it's my old blog!

The Long War Journal http://www.longwarjournal.org
News I can't find elsewhere on GWOT

The Best Defense (Tom Ricks) http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/
Tom drives a lot of discussion and makes interesting points

And of course: SWJ Blog!

For my non-mil reading I keep up with Lifehacker, Consumerist, The Daily Dish, Ars Technica, and the always hilarious FAIL Blog.

So, which high payoff blogs am I missing?

[davidbfpo]

www.cimicweb.org came to light in this thread by a new SWC member explains this NATO facility (in the USA): http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=7947

If your focus is Afghanistan and / or the Horn of Africa worth a visit - on my quick skim.

davidbfpo

[Schmedlap]

I don't have time to read all the blogs out there, so I have tried to concentrate on ones that... b) give me thought provoking insights (Abu M, Walt, Ricks, Packer)
This probably sounds like I'm being a wiseguy - I'm not. What "thought provoking insights" have you ever gotten from Tom Ricks? Just recently, I'm thinking of his flimsy criticisms of 2-503 at Wanat and his recommendation to shut down West Point. I'm sure he has a lot of insights derived from hanging around with influential folks, but I have never seen any conveyed on his blog. Again - not being a wiseguy - I'm just curious.

Below is a copy and paste of my bookmarks (which is a work-in-progress). I omitted those that I already saw mentioned on this thread. I do not necessarily agree with most of what is written at all of these. Rather, they seem like a good cross-section of views and/or good selection of news that I am not likely to see in the newspaper.

-All Things Pakistan (http://pakistaniat.com/)
-The Arabist (http://arabist.net/)
-Counterterrorism Blog (http://counterterrorismblog.org/)
-Iran in the Gulf (http://irangcc.wordpress.com/)
-Michael J. Totten (http://www.michaeltotten.com/)
-Middle East Perspectives (http://francona.blogspot.com/)
-Middle East Strategy at Harvard (http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/)
-Oil and Glory (http://oilandglory.com/)
-Russia Blog (http://www.russiablog.org/)
-Registan (http://www.registan.net/)
-Sandbox (http://www.martinkramer.org/sandbox.html)
-Syria Comment (http://joshualandis.com/blog/)
-Turkey and the Kurdish Question (http://hevallo.blogspot.com/)
-Uskowi on Iran (http://uskowioniran.blogspot.com/)
-USNI Blog (http://blog.usni.org/)

I would also add a non-blog to the mix: Mosaic - News form the Middle East (http://www.linktv.org/mosaic), which is a daily program from Link TV that provides English translation of Mideast news outlets. 30 minutes a day - good to have in the background while making breakfast.

[Cavguy]

This probably sounds like I'm being a wiseguy - I'm not. What "thought provoking insights" have you ever gotten from Tom Ricks? Just recently, I'm thinking of his flimsy criticisms of 2-503 at Wanat and his recommendation to shut down West Point. I'm sure he has a lot of insights derived from hanging around with influential folks, but I have never seen any conveyed on his blog. Again - not being a wiseguy - I'm just curious.

I like Tom's blog for a number of reasons.

1) He often raises issues we all know but don't/can't talk about in the "family" i.e relief of officers, counterproductive policies.

2) About once a month he breaks something truly interesting I haven't seen before. Like the draft CSI report on Wanat.

3) He's a good barometer of the civilian military pundit community.

Ref Wanat: I actually thought he did a service by airing his AAR, errors and all, because the Army sure hadn't done it in a year and a half since the incident. His posts drive discussion and action at several levels. Love or hate him, agree or disagree, if you don't follow him you'll miss some interesting stuff.

[Red Rat]

Not mentioned so far but ones I keep a watching brief on are:

Afghan NGO Security Organisation (http://www.afgnso.org/) - the situation according to the non-military actors.

UN Assistance Mission Afghanistan (http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1741) - blindingly obvious, but a good source of reports.

International Council on Security and Development (http://icosgroup.net/) - on the ground reporting and looks specifically at the intersections of security, development, counter-narcotics and public health issues.


RR

[Tukhachevskii]

Blog sites I regularly frequent and can highly recommend (for what its worth);

www.dprkstudies.org

blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/ (Middle East Strategy at Harvard)

www.islam-watch.org

www.informationdissemination.net/

www.longwarjournal.org/

http://violenceprehistory.blogspot.com/

counterterrorismblog.org/

www.cominganarchy.com

and last but not least, the excellent

defenceoftherealm.blogspot.com/

[Valin]

A very good blog following international criminal organizations
Friends Of Ours (http://bitterqueen.typepad.com/friends_of_ours/)

[Greyhawk]

http://www.quattozone.com/
Blog by


Tadd Sholtis
An Air Force public affairs officer for 15 years, the views expressed here are my own and (sometimes sadly, sometimes mercifully) not those of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense or Air Force.

Currently in Afghanistan, and much more interesting than a public affairs release.

[Sigaba]

Mark Grimsley, an associate professor of history at The Ohio State University, has a nice blog at Blog Them Out of the Stone Age (http://warhistorian.org/wordpress/). This blog may be particularly useful to those interested in the historiography of war and the teaching of military history in the Ivory Tower.

Journalists for The Economist have blogs here (http://www.economist.com/blogs/).

[davidbfpo]

Formed in Berlin in May 2009 and just id'd (hat tip to 'Red Rat'), The Afghanistan Analysts Network: http://www.aan-afghanistan.org/index.asp?id=1

davidbfpo

[jenniferro10]

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ArmedwithScience.rss

[Schmedlap]

For me, the trick is figuring out not just what to read, but how, and when. Getting the division right between RSS reader, podcasts, radio, blog-browsing, twitter, and email is a work-in-progress.

My breakdown...

Audio Podcasts (at the gym, as well as going to and from, and running)
- The Ethicist
(http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=202983587&uo=4)- Harvard Business Review (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=310907819&uo=4)
- CSIS (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=214886950&uo=4)
- Economist
(http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=151230264&uo=4)- Martin Wolf (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=200922346&uo=4)
- Mars Hill Church (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=179237854&uo=4)
- Walk in the Word (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=74411103&uo=4)
- Insight for Living (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=89603501&uo=4)
- InTouch Broadcast (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=117752146&uo=4)

Video Podcasts (in the kitchen)
- Mosaic: News from the Mideast
(http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=208872059&uo=4)- BusinessWeek - Mandel on Economics
(http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=294623184&uo=4)- Reason.tv (http://www.reason.tv/)
- al-Jazeera (Fault Lines (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=317418719&uo=4), Riz Khan (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=284173682&uo=4))
- Fareed Zakaria (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=285714206&uo=4) (not a fan of his, but he has great guests)

Stitcher (http://stitcher.com/home.php)(iPhone/Blackberry app that plays audio podcasts; usually listen to during commute)
- Economist "The World Next Week" (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=291942390&uo=4)
- Wall Street Journal "What's News" (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=152016440&uo=4)
- Cato Daily Podcast (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=158961219&uo=4) (more political, but not left v right)
- Stratfor Daily Podcast (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=141312289&uo=4)

RSS Reader (whenever - laptop or iPhone)
- The Daily Star (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/rss/reg/politics.xml) (Lebanon)
- The Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/Page/RSS&cid=1123495333498)
- al-Arabiya (http://www.alarabiya.net/rss/en_meast.xml) (Pan-Arab)
- New York Times (http://feeds.nytimes.com/nyt/rss/World)
- Washington Post (http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/rss/world/index_xml)
- Sabah (http://www.sabahenglish.com/index.1.rss) (Turkey)
- Moscow Times (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/rss/top)
- The Australian (http://feeds.news.com.au/public/rss/2.0/aus_defence_832.xml)
- Financial Times (http://www.ft.com/rss/world)
- UK Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/rss)
- Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/xml/rss/3_7085.xml)

Email lists (usually read on iPhone while in the slower-than-death elevator in my apartment building and other random moments of waiting for stuff)
- Af-Pak channel (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/afpak)
- FP Morning Brief (http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/Morning_Brief)
- Stratfor (https://www.stratfor.com/join/free?source=FreeWeekly)
- Gulf in the Media (http://www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.html?)

Random browsing
- Stuff in my blogroll (already listed elsewhere in this thread)

- Twitter - I've found that twitter is ideal for following blogs that I read and of very little value for following major news outlets; it's handy to see when a blog or other site is updated (SWJ, Registan, Michael Yon, etc), but I don't need 20 random alerts every day from XYZ newspaper. I also don't understand how anyone can really "follow" hundreds of people on twitter. I follow 24 people on twitter and I still miss stuff.

- Facebook - I'm a newcomer to Facebook; is this purely a social medium or do people use it for news-related stuff?

[Entropy]

I'm sorry I missed it until today (http://allthingsct.wordpress.com/).

I can't wait to read her thesis.

[davidbfpo]

I only recently discovered this Australian lady had a blogsite and then overlooked posting it here. More careful thought than the proliferation of "expertise" elsewhere and worth checking weekly.

davidbfpo

[Schmedlap]

This one just started this month...

http://www.raceforiran.com/

[Schmedlap]

Also may be of interest to some, Twitter just implemented its lists (Beta) function. Here is one that I'm working on...
http://twitter.com/SchmedlapDotCom/thelongwar

[Jedburgh]

Waq al-Waq (http://bigthink.com/blogs/waq-al-waq)

This blog was started for a few reasons. We both have been studying Yemen for years, and as the country has risen in importance, the quality of discussion has declined. We wanted to contradict some other individuals, blogs and commentators who have no experience in Yemen or with Arabic, and who turn the facts to fit their opinions. We feel that presenting a thoughtful and nuanced discussion of Yemeni affairs, based in knowledge of its history and culture is in the best interest of all. That said, this is not an academic blog, and provides a lighter tone than our other publications, and also allows us to indulge our unhealthy interests in medieval swords and mysterious islands that color Yemeni history.
Enjoy.

Copied here from a Yemen thread.

[davidbfpo]

A new blogsite:http://www.pakistanconflictmonitor.org/ and introduction says:
an initiative of the Human Security Report Project at the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University.

Recommended by Steve Coll: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/stevecoll/#Replay

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Thanks to Professor Borum. He has id'd a website monitoring events in Sudan (not just the South): http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/portal/spotlight/sudan/sudan.html and there is a list of other websites.

[Rex Brynen]

Each year the World Bank puts out a book-length publication on an aspect of international development, called the World Development Report (http://wwwr.worldbank.org/wdr/). Recent WDRs have, for example, focused on youth (2007), agricultural development (2008), changing economic geography (2009), and the environment (2010). The 2011 edition will focus on conflict and development:


Violent conflict is a major development challenge: conflict causes human misery, destroys communities and infrastructure, and can cripple economic prospects. Poverty rates in conflict-affected countries are averaging 54 percent, compared with 22 percent for low-income countries as a whole. The goal of this World Development Report is to contribute concrete, practical suggestions to the debate on how to address and overcome violent conflict and fragility.

As part of the process, the 2011 WDR team has set up a blog, which may be of interest to the SWJ community: http://blogs.worldbank.org/conflict/

I'm sure they would welcome input and feedback--especially with regard to where they should best focus their attention. While the WDR is the primary output of the project, there is also scope for other ongoing contributions, products, and outputs.

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to Leah who recommends this experienced UK reporter's Nick Fielding's blogsite:http://circlingthelionsden.blogspot.com/

Some items I'd seen before, others not and would be worth checking for those immersed in things Afghan.

Here is the UK general in charge of MND-South on MG Flynn's report:
What we're dealing with in Afghanistan is not just purely enemy matters. It's what's often called the white picture; it's understanding the politics, the governance dynamics, the tribal dynamics, the anthropological issues. It's those issues which don't strictly come under the definition of intelligence but are none the less the information environment, which if you don't understand it and you don't work out how to corral it you simply won't make the sort of progress we were describing.

In:http://circlingthelionsden.blogspot.com/2010/01/afghan-taliban-more-information-please.html

[davidbfpo]

Re-discovery as another had found this and absorbing what is on offer: http://www.tribalanalysiscenter.com


Traditional anthropological research conducted among tribes inhabiting remote areas where insurgents and criminals operate has become increasingly difficult to implement. Studies carried out among people living in small-scale societies now are nearly impossible due to the physical dangers associated with the civil and religious unrest found in those areas. Swat, for example, has become so dangerous that Frederick Barth’s studies only could be repeated at the risk of the investigator’s life. Similar research is not feasible among Burma’s Rohinga tribes located on both sides of the border with Bangladesh, as well as with the Pashtuns in Afghanistan’s interior and within Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where even Pakistan’s army enters with reluctance.

Given the difficulties of conducting direct fieldwork in conflictive areas, the Tribal Analysis Center utilizes an indirect approach. Using multidisciplinary research, we seek to collect and analyze data obtained from a wide variety of sources, both current and historical. In the absence of new ethnographic fieldwork to update our base of knowledge, the Tribal Analysis Center compiles and summarizes existing research and documents on tribal societies, combining this material with contemporary press reports and articles. We assume that much can be gleaned from well-informed observers who are not anthropologists, ranging from journalists and travelers to government officials.

The focus is on Af-Pak and there are a variety of PPTs available. The 'Who are we' explanation indicates experience, ex-US government analysts.

Judge yourself.

[silas7]

This blog is an extension of the Joint Irregular Warfare Wargamming that is currently underway. All thoughts and input are wanted. Spread the word, the more participation equates to more scholarly driven content.

http://jointirregularwarfare.blogspot.com/

[Fuchs]

This might be of interest:

A list of "Afghanistan Blogs":
http://afghanistan-analyst.org/blogs.aspx

[Red Rat]

- Facebook - I'm a newcomer to Facebook; is this purely a social medium or do people use it for news-related stuff?

Facebook has a RUSI group which posts there, as well as the incomparable 'Doctrine Man' :D

[bourbon]

Future Crimes (http://www.futurecrimes.com/): Anticipating Tomorrow's Crimes Today

About

Future Crimes is a futurist-oriented group dedicated to studying and discussing the effects of scientific and technological progress on crime, policing and the criminal justice system.

Criminals have always been quick to adopt new technologies with the police often trailing behind. The unprecedented rapid rate of scientific progress is creating new opportunities for transnational criminal organizations to exploit these technological advancements for unintended nefarious purposes.

While many are focused on the common cyber crimes of today, this group will adopt a futurist’s approach that looks beyond today’s cyber crimes in anticipation of the next generations of criminality. Initially, the group will have a noted emphasis on virtual world crime, augmented / mixed reality crime, criminal MMORPG’s, robotic crime, nanotechnology crime, artificial intelligence/automated criminality, criminal justice implications of cloud computing and bio/genome related crimes.

Welcome to Future!

[Tom Odom]

A close friend turned me on to this blog several months ago. I recommend it to all. Mr. Wing does a great job in analyzing open source reports, better than many professionals I have known and far better than most think tank denizens.

For an example, see:


Iraqi Officials Claim 80% Or More Of Sons Of Iraq Integrated (http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-06-04T07%3A12%3A00)

In August 2010 two Iraqi officials claimed that 80% or more of the Sons of Iraq (SOI) had been integrated. First, on August 12, Zuhair Chalabi, head of the National Reconciliation Committee, said that 80% of the SOI in Baghdad had been given jobs, with 9,418 joining the Interior Ministry. He stated that around 12,000 in the province still needed to find public employment, and that would happen after security improved. Later in the month, the chief of the Tribal Affairs Department in the Interior Ministry was recorded as saying that 20% of all the SOI had been given jobs in the Interior and Defense Ministries, and 75% were in other government agencies. If these two reports are true, than the Iraqi government would finally be close to its commitment to integrate 20% of the SOI into the security forces, and the other 80% in other government positions.

There are several problems about the officials’ remarks. First, hiring of the SOI has been on hold since the end of 2009 because of arguments over the budget and the security situation. At the end of July, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) noted that only 41,000 out of 94,000 SOI, 45% of the total, had been offered jobs. If now 80-85% of the SOI had been integrated, 75,200-79,900 fighters, than that would mean 34,200-38,900 were given jobs in just one month. That seems far above the capacity of the Iraqi government. It should also be noted that the SIGIR has undermined Baghdad’s previous claims because it found that the Iraqi authorities count offering a job to an SOI as integration, whether they take it or not. Given that track record, its hard to believe what the National Reconciliation and Tribal Affairs chiefs said.

Best,
Tom

[Watcher In The Middle]

Three sites:

- MISH'S
Global Economic Trend Analysis (http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/)
- http://www.zerohedge.com/
- Naked capitalism - Yves Smith (http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/)

Been paying real attention for the last 4-5 weeks (about 3 weeks before MSN picked up on it) over the entire Foreclosure issue(s) affecting foreclosures currently in the pipeline, as well as what may have already occurred.

These guys have really been covering the entire story, as it unfolds.

Now, to say these 3 blogs are all "opinionated" would be a VAST UNDERSTATEMENT, but that's the price one pays when working to obtain differing points of view and a cross-section of both opinion, and information.

[Polarbear]

I'd like to add a few interesting adresses from Europe.

Thomas Schäubli, a graduate from the University of Zurich, Switzerland is blogging on topics concerning international relations (in English):

http://blirg.wordpress.com/


Another interesting blog about Swiss and international security policy is offiziere.ch. Unfortunately most of the articles are in German:

http://offiziere.ch/

And something for those of you who speak French:

http://secretdefense.blogs.liberation.fr/defense/

[Tukhachevskii]

Joseph Bermudez, a SME on North Korea, has finally got his site up and running....

http://www.kpajournal.com/

[SWJ Blog]

Defence IQ: Top 10 Defence Blogs 2011 (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2011/07/post-1/)

Entry Excerpt:


http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/ http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/img/defenceiqtopblog.jpg (http://www.defenceiq.com/air-land-and-sea-defence-services/articles/top-10-defence-blogs-2011/)

Yes, we made the top ten cut (http://www.defenceiq.com/air-land-and-sea-defence-services/articles/top-10-defence-blogs-2011/) at Defence IQ. So did Danger Room (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/), Abu Muqawama (http://www.cnas.org/blogs/abumuqawama), Ares Blog (http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/), Kings of War (http://kingsofwar.org.uk/), Michael Yon (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/), War is Boring (http://www.warisboring.com/), Information Dissemination (http://www.informationdissemination.net/), The Best Defense (http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/), and RAF Airman’s Blog (http://rafairman.wordpress.com/). Congrats to all!

Here's the write-up on SWJ: "There is nothing particularly small about the topics covered by the Small Wars Journal Blog, which is aimed at engaging small wars practitioners. Run by numerous passionate and high profile contributors, Small Wars Journal Blog offers searing analysis on small wars topics from guerrilla warfare in Colombia to counterinsurgency operations in the Middle East. OK, so we admit that there was a bit of friction as to whether SWJ fell into ‘blog’ or ‘journal’ territory. Either way, both are a good read. So add them to your bookmarks."



--------
Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2011/07/post-1/) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

[bourbon]

Paul Pillar has a regular blog at The National Interest:
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar

From his Georgetown faculty bio (http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/prp8/):

Professor Pillar retired in 2005 from a 28-year career in the U.S. intelligence community, in which his last position was National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia. Earlier he served in a variety of analytical and managerial positions, including as chief of analytic units at the CIA covering portions of the Near East, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. Professor Pillar also served in the National Intelligence Council as one of the original members of its Analytic Group. He has been Executive Assistant to CIA's Deputy Director for Intelligence and Executive Assistant to Director of Central Intelligence William Webster. He has also headed the Assessments and Information Group of the DCI Counterterrorist Center, and from 1997 to 1999 was deputy chief of the center. He was a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution in 1999-2000. Professor Pillar is a retired officer in the U.S. Army Reserve and served on active duty in 1971-1973, including a tour of duty in Vietnam.

[SWJ Blog]

Journalist-Soldiers: Blogs, Books, and Freedom on the Battlefield (http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/journalist-soldiers-blogs-books-and-freedom-on-the-battlefield)

Entry Excerpt:



--------
Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/journalist-soldiers-blogs-books-and-freedom-on-the-battlefield) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

[Jedburgh]

Standing Well Back (http://www.standingwellback.com)

This blog is an opportunity to discuss and develop understanding of terrorism around the world and how it is evolving- not from a political perspective but from the perspective of first responders and those with professional interest in counter-terrorism. Terrorism remains a global problem and constantly evolves - there are always lessons to be learnt. I don't intend to enter into specific technical and tactical details of counter-terrorist capabilities which would not be appropriate in this public forum but rather highlight issues that might concern the community.

[Chowing]

I have a blog: Terrorism In Africa (http://www.terrorisminafrica.com)

Terrorism in Africa covers the latest news, commentary and analysis of the breadth of terrorist activity on the continent. We draw from correspondents with major news outlets as well as local twitter reporters on the ground.

I am interested in guest blog posts with a slant that fits the blog.

[davidbfpo]

This is a new, free e-journal following the model of Wilf Owen's 'Infinity Journal'. JOMO is dedicated to military operations as well as tactics; the Editor is Dr. Jim Storr, a.k.a Colonel Storr, author of 'The Human Face of War'. Registration is free: https://www.tjomo.com

The first edition has six articles, the first by SWJ contributor Sergio Miller compares the ARVN and the ANSF. Next to read is one looking at Orde Wingate's paramilitary operations, whose Gideon Force obtained the surrender of 14,000 Italian soldiers - the force being 140 strong!

[Infanteer]

The editorial list is impressive as well. I enjoyed Wilf's article on the redundancy of the operational level of war - it picked up where the discussion on this forum left off.

[Tukhachevskii]

...level of war. No. I agree there. But Wilf, as always, is too eager to throw the bambino out with the bathwater. I do belive that there is something called operational art. I could take or leave the article. I find this (http://www.ndu.edu/press/lib/images/jfq-56/18.pdf) much more enlightening.

[bourbon]

The XX Committee - intelligence, strategy, and security in a dangerous world (http://20committee.com)

Great blog by Prof. John R. Schindler from the Naval War College and a former NSA Balkan hand. His blog bio:


John R. Schindler is professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, where he’s been since 2005, and where he teaches courses on security, strategy, intelligence, terrorism, and occasionally military history. Before joining the NWC faculty, he spent nearly a decade with the National Security Agency as an intelligence analyst and counterintelligence officer. There’s not much he can say about that, except that he worked problems in Eastern Europe and the Middle East with a counterespionage flavor, and he collaborated closely with other government agencies who would probably prefer he didn’t mention them. He’s also served as an officer specializing in cryptology (now called information warfare for no particular reason) in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

He is a senior fellow of the International History Institute at Boston University and is chairman of the Partnership for Peace Consortium‘s Combating Terrorism Working Group, a unique body which brings together scholars and practitioners from more than two dozen countries across Eurasia to tackle problems of terrorism, extremism, and political violence. He has lectured on terrorism and security in over twenty countries.

He is a historian by background, with a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Massachusetts and a Ph.D. from McMaster University. His books deal with topics like the Italian front in World War I, Islamist extremism in the Balkans, and an insider’s look at how Al-Qa’ida thinks and operates. He’s currently writing a couple books on cool stuff.

[davidbfpo]

An observer to the east suggests this worth visiting
Agentura.Ru is an Russian web-site founded in 2000 as internet-community of journalists monitor and write about Russian, American, British, and other Western security and intelligence agencies. Editor of Agentura.Ru is Andrei Soldatov, deputy editor - Irina Borogan.

Link:http://www.agentura.ru/english/press/about/

It does not appear to be regularly updated, but on a quick scan has items that may interest KGB / GRU watchers.

[Fuchs]

http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/



The Strategist is the official blog of The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

The Strategist will provide fresh ideas on Australia’s defence and strategic policy choices as well as encourage and facilitate discussion and debate among interested stakeholders in the online strategy community.

It's partially about Australian security policy, partially about military topics in general.

established July 2012

[Fuchs]

Pakistanis for peace (http://pakistanisforpeace.wordpress.com/)

I looked at it only quickly, but it may be of interest to others here.

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to Bill Moore for this website:
GlobalECCO's mission is to build and strengthen the Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program's (CTFP) global alumni network of Combating Terrorism (CbT) experts and practitioners through innovative and engaging technologies and techniques that both enable and encourage collaborative partnership between individuals, nations, organizations, and cultures.

GlobalECCO enables communication between members who may otherwise be isolated physically, and allows multiple community members to interact, facilitating collaboration and continuing education on critical security issues. It also helps to maintain a network of skilled operators with a wealth of expertise to share and to draw on.

GlobalECCO hosts a variety of innovative, interactive modules, including a progressive multimedia journal (CTX), strategic gaming applications, and an original and ongoing collection of operator archives from those who have fought in the war on terrorism.

Some interesting articles in the journal CTX and SWJ appears in the links given.

Link:https://globalecco.org/home

[bourbon]

Matthew Aid is a intelligence historian, he runs a solid blog on his homepage:

http://www.matthewaid.com (http://www.matthewaid.com/)


Matthew M. Aid is the author of Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror (January 2012) and The Secret Sentry, the definitive history of the National Security Agency. He is a leading intelligence historian and expert on the NSA, and a regular commentator on intelligence matters for the New York Times, the Financial Times, the National Journal, the Associated Press, CBS News, National Public Radio (NPR) and many others. He lives in Washington, DC.

[davidbfpo]

This blog examines China's evolving influence and role in Central Asia.

Written by Raffaello Pantucci, a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Dr. Alexandros Petersen, author of The World Island: Eurasian Geopolitics and the Fate of the West and Sue Anne Tay, a photographer and author of Shanghaistreetstories.com.

Link:http://chinaincentralasia.com/

After studying in China for several years, learning the language, Raffaello Pantucci has taken to travelling through this vast region and some of his earlier posts appear on:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=246

[parvati]

http://www.memrijttm.org/

I rally like this website. Great for white papers etc....

[bourbon]

You are baiting me, bro!

Yes, they have been around awhile; and I am sure they do produce some good material. But they are far from an impartial source, and certainly have an agenda and/or certain incentives driving their work.

[bourbon]

Dangerous Magazine (http://dangerousmagazine.com/)


Dangerous magazine is the latest journey into the places, things, people and ideas that are changing our world.

From Robert Young Pelton, the author of the World’s Most Dangerous Places, The Adventurist, Hunter, Hammer and Heaven, Licensed to Kill and other books, comes the magazine for those who live on the edge. The Dangerous team delivers unique and provocative content too dangerous for normal outlets.

No walls, no barriers, no bull.
New project from Robert Young Pelton. Some interesting stuff so far:

Earning Its Keep: The HK416 Within the US Military (http://dangerousmagazine.com/2013/03/02/earning-its-keep-the-hk416-within-the-us-military/), by Will Grant

Quadrotor Tactics (http://dangerousmagazine.com/2012/12/15/quadrotor-tactics/), by Will Grant

Inside Burma’s Dirty War, Part I (http://dangerousmagazine.com/2012/12/22/inside-burmas-dirty-war/), by Robert Young Pelton

Inside Burma’s Dirty War, Part II (http://dangerousmagazine.com/2012/12/29/inside-burmas-dirty-war-part-ii-2/), by Robert Young Pelton

[bourbon]

The Duffel Blog (http://www.duffelblog.com/)

About Us

A Brief History

Since 1797, The Duffel Blog has been serving the men and women of the American military with insightful commentary and hard-hitting journalism. While other agencies have sometimes run from possibly scandalous stories, TDB has been known to be edgy and ahead of its time, almost as if they could see into the future. After reporting on President John Adams’ $200 per week cocaine habit in March 1799, TDB was named The American Military’s Most-Trusted News Source by the Columbia Journalism Review and the nickname stuck.

The Duffel Blog is sometimes referred to as “The military version of The Onion”, but this is a popular misconception. The misnomer was cleared up in May 2012 when TDB staff successfully conducted an airborne assault on the offices of The Onion News Network so that others would know “The Onion was actually the civilian version of The Duffel Blog.”

The Duffel Blog was nominated for The Pulitzer Prize in 2012 “for continued excellence in journalism”, and has been recognized as a world leader in modern media by other, unworthy news outlets such as The Military Times, NBC News, Gizmodo, USA Today, and Business Insider.

Who We Are

TDB was originally founded by Lance Corporal Alfred Whittingham, a U.S. Marine stationed at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, PA. Whittingham, a prolific binge drinker and avid boxer, served as a recruiter for the-then newly formed Marine Corps. As new recruits came to volunteer, Whittingham would force them to drink shots of whiskey and challenge them to a dueling match before allowing them to sign the enlistment papers — a practice that is still used by Marine recruiters across the United States today.

The role of Editor-in-Chief passed around the military throughout the years, like Private Earl Williams of the U.S. Army (1823-1833) who set the tone with groundbreaking articles such as “I Hate My Sergeant Major And Here’s Why You Should Too”. A particularly dark time fell upon TDB when the duties of editor were passed to Gunnery Sergeant Elias Rodriguez (1987-1990), who wrote most of the articles himself, replacing words such as “the” and “source” with “Oohrah” and “Devil Dog”. Readership plummeted in the following years.

Legal

We are in no way, shape, or form, a real news outlet. Just about everything on this website is satirical in nature. The content of this site is parody. No composition should be regarded as truthful, and no reference of an individual, company, or military unit seeks to inflict malice or emotional harm.

All characters, groups, and military units appearing in these works are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual military units and companies is purely coincidental.
Most are probably already familiar.

[bourbon]

Made the WSJ yesterday. These guys need to do a book.

Prank and File: These Military Reports Are Out of Line - Satirical Website's Fake News Dupes Readers; Tomahawks to Replace Bayonets? (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324345804578426881030734960.html), by Dion Nissenbaum. The Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2013.

"The lads have a well-tuned sense of humor and convincingly imaginative 'reporting' that bode well for a country that could use some laughs," said Marine Gen. James "Mad Dog" Mattis, who just retired as head of U.S. Central Command. "I think the writers know that we need to stop taking ourselves so seriously."

[BayonetBrant]

The best bit at TDB was how viral the Linda Lopez (http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/08/senator-clarifies-remark-telling-troops-to-go-####-themselves-says-quote-taken-out-of-context/) story got...

There was an radio host that went live with the story (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSz2QrpOBQs) before being told it was satire by an on-air caller.

Lopez's opponent in that fall's congressional race tweeted out the story (http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2012/08/23/district-9-congressional-candidate-gets-into-twitterfight-with-satirical-blog) as legit, was called on, and then started an argument with TDB about the fact that they published it at all.

In the online comments, it was pointed out repeatedly that the article was satire, and yet commenters still argued with the people pointing it out, basically asking "how do you know it's satire?"

It was a far, far more amusing to watch the story unfold than to read the article itself.

[gute]

http://warontherocks.com/

New blog seems to have come about June/July 2013. Discusses defense matters, strategy, international relations, etc. Appear to be doing podcasts similar to Commander Salamander blog.

[slapout9]

Link to William S. Lind's new blog site. He is back for sure now.

http://www.traditionalright.com/

[gute]

Link to William S. Lind's new blog site. He is back for sure now.

http://www.traditionalright.com/

Just checked it out and it appears to be my type of thing. The name of the blog alone is down my alley. I need to start my own blog one of these days.

[jcustis]

Lind reads as fairly bitter about a lot of things...and kinda off his rocker.

[gute]

Lind reads as fairly bitter about a lot of things...and kinda off his rocker.

Can you be more specific about how he is off his rocker? I only ask because I've always wondered if the insane know they are nuts and if he is off his rocker do I know if I'm off mine.

Lind to me just calls it as he sees it and I appreciate that.

[jcustis]

Thank goodness for the spammer who drew my eye to this post. I never clicked on this thread when it first came up, but the journal looks like the precise bridge to cover my reading gap I have had for a while.

If the editorial advisory panel member Julian Thompson is THE Julian Thompson of the Falklands fight, this is a great find indeed and will support a ton of research which has stalled the last few years.

[gute]

Thank goodness for the spammer who drew my eye to this post. I never clicked on this thread when it first came up, but the journal looks like the precise bridge to cover my reading gap I have had for a while.

If the editorial advisory panel member Julian Thompson is THE Julian Thompson of the Falklands fight, this is a great find indeed and will support a ton of research which has stalled the last few years.

Better yet the JMO is holding its first MAsterclass this weekend at Cambridge University, UK. I'd give my left nut to be able to go.

Wilf's and Jim Storr's articles on dismounted combat, parachute operations, the IFV are interesting.

[davidbfpo]

A blog from Kings College War Studies, separate from Kings of War, which was only id'd today by a SWJ contributor and their explanation 'What is Strife':
Strife is a student led blog, aimed at anyone in the academic community – from first year undergraduates to professors. Our blog is focused on the theme of ‘conflict’, in all senses of the word. We combine history, literature, and philosophical approaches to politics (among other things) to try to create an informative and entertaining blog to our readers.

Link:http://strifeblog.org/

[Fuchs]

The Strategist (ASPI)
http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/

I criticised it lately, but it's interesting at times.

[davidbfpo]

Found via an email from the BSAP History Circle, a website for those interested in The Great War (WW1)n in Africa:http://gweaa.com/

[AmericanPride]

Hi all,

I'm curious if any of you would recommend any French, German, or Russian blogs on national security or politics. The blogs can be about those countries or originate from those countries, and can be in English, French, German, or Russian. Thanks!

[Fuchs]

Hi all,

I'm curious if any of you would recommend any French, German, or Russian blogs on national security or politics. The blogs can be about those countries or originate from those countries, and can be in English, French, German, or Russian. Thanks!

I wrote a couple lists of German milblogs over time, but many of them don't exist any more.

http://defense-and-freedom.blogspot.de/2009/07/list-of-german-milblogs.html

http://defense-and-freedom.blogspot.de/2010/10/almost-non-existing-german-security.html

http://defense-and-freedom.blogspot.de/2011/04/german-language-security-policy-and.html

A very active British blog nowadays is http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/

A popular one is http://www.airpower.at/

[kaur]

Couple Russian military blogs.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/
http://general-skokov.livejournal.com/
http://gurkhan.blogspot.be/
http://twower.livejournal.com/
http://alexeyvvo.livejournal.com/

[Fuchs]

Couple Russian military blogs.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/
http://general-skokov.livejournal.com/
http://gurkhan.blogspot.be/
http://twower.livejournal.com/
http://alexeyvvo.livejournal.com/

Kaur,, how do

http://russiandefpolicy.wordpress.com/
http://russiamil.wordpress.com/

look relative to Russian milblogs?
Timeliness similar topics of the month, accuracy etc?

[kaur]

Fuchs, I have not followed those two sites you mention.

[AdamG]

Now accepting submissions for 2014 issues!
Stability Operations magazine is seeking 800-1200 word submissions from practitioners, experts, government officials, and leaders in stability and development for our 2014 issues on the following topics:

Refugees: From Syria to CAR - Deadline: 14 February
Stability Game: What Happens After Korean Unification? - Deadline: 15 May
Stability: An Investment in the Future - Deadline: 15 August
Africa's Success Stories & Challenges Ahead - Deadline: 3 November

SO magazine also accepts submissions on other topics pertinent to stability and development, including:

Resilience Programming
Construction & Logistics
ITAR & Export Controls
Donor Trends
Monitoring & Evaluation
Contract Reform

http://www.stability-operations.org/?page=SOmagazine

[SWJ Blog]

7 Military Blogs You Need to Check Out (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/7-military-blogs-you-need-to-check-out)

Entry Excerpt:



--------
Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/7-military-blogs-you-need-to-check-out) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

[SWJ Blog]

7 Underrated Military Blogs That Can’t Get No Respect (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/7-underrated-military-blogs-that-can%E2%80%99t-get-no-respect)

Entry Excerpt:



--------
Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/7-underrated-military-blogs-that-can%E2%80%99t-get-no-respect) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

[davidbfpo]

A number of threads and SWJ Blog notices have been merged into this thread.

Due to age it is possible some blogs shown are no longer working.

[davidbfpo]

Defence-In-Depth is a blog organized by the Defence Studies Department (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/dsd/index.aspx), King’s College London, based at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. The content of the blog reflects the varied research areas of the Department’s members of staff and its research students. Consequently, the content ranges from military history to the most contemporary of world events.

Link:http://defenceindepth.co/about/

Twitter: @DefenceResearch

[Condor]

Link:http://defenceindepth.co/about/

Twitter: @DefenceResearch

So I guess Kings of War went dark? What a shame, was one of my spots I liked to visit.

[davidbfpo]

Condor,

Kings of War appears to be sleeping currently, I shall ask what has happened with a friend @ Kings.

Defence in Depth appears to be the work of those from Kings based at the Defence Academy, which has always had a distinc identity.

Standby.

[davidbfpo]

Condor,

Kings of War has technical issues, it is not deceased.:)

[Condor]

Condor,

Kings of War has technical issues, it is not deceased.:)

Thank you David. Haven't been on much the past two months due to commitments. Was surprised when I couldn't get on there the other day.

[davidbfpo]

From an email to subscribers:
No, we didn’t fall victim to North Korean hackers (http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-of-north-korea-hack-is-thin/), but we’re not quite sure what happened, either. Normal service will resume shortly. For the moment, we’re reading through the results of the latest round of academic league-tabling (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/ref-2014-results-table-of-excellence/2017590.article), and listening to Putin (http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2014/dec/18/vladimir-putin-press-conference-rouble-oil-live) avoid talking about the collapse of the Russian currency (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/980dd146-852c-11e4-ab4e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3MF2fg1F3).

[davidbfpo]

Babatim is Tim Lynch, a former USMC officer who was in Afghanistan as a civilian "outside the wire" and had an excellent blog running till his departure in May 2012, alongside having "issues" to resolve. He has resumed blogging, which is a prelude to book writing. Hat tip to a SWC member for noticing.
Link:http://freerangeinternational.com/blog/?p=5480

In 2009 CavGuy posted this comment:
Pithy yet excellent Afghanistan insight you won't find elsewhere.

Tim's own bio (dated 2008):
I am a retired Marine who spent over seven years in Afghanistan doing security and reconstruction projects. I traveled to every province in the country, rarely used armored vehicles, never lived inside a base or secure compound, and made many great friends during my time in Afghanistan. For the last four years of my adventure I blogged extensively on what I was doing and what I was seeing on the ground. There are some great stories and cool pictures on this blog as well as guest posts from a few truly remarkable people. I am leaving the blog up as a resource for people to visit for a unique perspective into the longest conflict in American history.

[davidbfpo]

A new UK-based group at the Uk Joint Command & Staff College, with a website and a Twitter account:
A Research Group that brings together historians, strategists and political scientists interested in understanding how militaries, past and present, learnt from experience and innovated to meet new challenges.
Link:http://www.militaryinnovation.org/

[Lawrence]

The Dupuy Institute has started a new blog: Mystics & Statistics.

It is at: http://www.dupuyinstitute.org/blog/

It can also be accessed through our website at:
http://www.dupuyinstitute.org/

It is a blog focused on quantitative historical analysis.

[davidbfpo]

A newly discovered blog by David Wells, who explains what it is about:
I’ve spent the best part of the last ten years working for intelligence agencies in the UK and Australia, specialising in counter-terrorism. My Top Secret clearances allowed me to witness the modus operandi of numerous terrorist groups and networks at first hand. I’ve seen how different international intelligence agencies work, and what happens when they don’t. I’m no Edward Snowden. I won’t be revealing classified material or methodology, or comment on the veracity of any of his leaked material.
My blog will however be informed by my personal experience of the strategies employed by intelligence agencies, and how they interact with central government policy. I will not always agree with their approach (and have not in the past), but I understand how they have got there and why.
My aim, wherever possible, will be to use the analytical skills developed during my intelligence career to provide a balanced, apolitical and nuanced view on the War on Terror.
Link:https://counterterrorismmatters.wordpress.com/

[davidbfpo]

I have today, 9th March 2016, merged in fifty-three threads which refer to blogs. I have not merged in many that debate the contents of a particular blog entry. This was prompted by a new thread by Kevin23.

Since many of the blogs date back to 2006 they may no longer be active. Some were Member Blogs, but from memory they have not posted here for a long time.

There was a SWJ Blog Roll, but I cannot locate that now (Ends).

[davidbfpo]

Is a co-production in the UK, between the Changing Character of War Programme @ Oxford University and the UK MOD's Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre.They explain - in part:
The journal aims to acquaint readers with excellent and innovative multi- and inter-disciplinary scholarship in strategic studies that address the pressing concerns of strategic leaders in the fields of defence and security. The journal does not present or reflect UK Ministry of Defence policy, opinions or beliefs: every article independently stands or falls on its intellectual merit.The New Strategist is interested in strategic thinking and thinking about strategy. It aims to combine cutting-edge theoretical advances in defence and security theory with recent findings in empirical and practitioner-focused research.
Link:http://www.ccw.ox.ac.uk/the-new-strategist/


Best of all it is free! The first edition has 111 pgs; six articles, three interviews - all on drones and two book reviews. One snag none of the authors have a bio sketch.

[Granite_State]

http://weaponsman.com/

Great blog by a retired long-serving Army SF Weapons Sergeant. Lots of posts on guns and planes, and tons of good history and SF/UW lore as well. Highly recommended.

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to WoTR for their article, which has many links and in particular commends three:
The first step in using research is simply to know what kinds of topics are being studied and by whom. There are sources to look at for “research translation” — outlets that specialize in producing high-quality research on conflict, poverty, and development and in distilling it for implementer audiences, including:


The Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC) (http://esoc.princeton.edu/) is a consortium of professors who identify, compile, and analyze micro-level conflict data and information on insurgency, civil war, and other sources of politically motivated violence worldwide, often in collaboration with governments.
The Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) (http://povertyactionlab.org/evaluations) is a network of researchers based at MIT who conduct randomized evaluations of anti-poverty programs. They also house a policy team, which produces implementer-oriented summaries of the latest research from their network.
Political Violence at a Glance (https://politicalviolenceataglance.org/) is a blog run by political science professors whose stated goal is to “anticipate the questions you have about violence happening around the world and to offer you simple, straight-forward analysis before anyone else does.”

Link:http://warontherocks.com/2016/06/a-military-guide-to-civilian-knowledge-about-fragile-states/

[davidbfpo]

CREST is a UK academic "think tank", with substantial funding from the security & intelligence agencies and only id'd yesterday. CREST explains itself:
The Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST) is a national hub for understanding, countering and mitigating security threats. CREST brings together the UK’s foremost expertise in understanding the psychological and social drivers of the threat, the skills and technologies that enable its effective investigation, and the protective security measures that help counter the threat in the first place. It does so within a context of significant stakeholder and international researcher engagement, and with a clear plan for sustained and long-term growth.
Link:https://crestresearch.ac.uk/

I noticed several short guides on Islam:https://crestresearch.ac.uk/resources/five-pillars-guide/

[davidbfpo]

An Anglo-Scottish-American project, based @ Glasgow University, Moral Victories and their aim:
Our aim is to bring together scholars and military professionals to consider the ethical issues that arise in relation to how violent armed conflicts are concluded. We are particularly interested in the concept of military victory, and what it may mean in the contemporary security environment.

First, what constitutes military victory in an era when battles are no longer confined to battlefields, but are instead fought remotely and using technologies that negate the need for direct confrontation? Second, how may we recognize victory when it is achieved? That is to say, what are the markers of victory in modern war? Finally, assuming we can indeed discern victory, what rights can the winner in battle leverage by virtue of its victory? Viewed in concert, these timely questions provoke us to re-consider the overlap (and/or tension) between the ethical and strategic dimensions of conflict in the current security environment and the relation that prevails between winning wars and winning the peace.Link:http://moralvictories.gla.ac.uk/

[Compost]

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute is effectively owned by the right wing of the left-leaning Australian Labour Party. So the ASPI blog has to accept a quota of items from would-be luminaries of socialism which sometimes descend from comment into vituperative froth. However under the sensible 2009-2016 chairmanship of a retired ALP senator, such items have been greatly outweighed by the observations and assessments of more objective commentators.

Topical examples of ASPI comment and from its blog are:
https://www.aspi.org.au/opinion/time-to-take-america-seriously-if-we-want-the-alliance
http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/strategic-policy-anzus-dealing-trump/
http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/shaping-hedging-time-trump/

[davidbfpo]

See Post 201 for the full version:
Babatim is Tim Lynch, a former USMC officer who was in Afghanistan as a civilian "outside the wire" and had an excellent blog running till his departure in May 2012, alongside having "issues" to resolve. He has resumed blogging, which is a prelude to book writing. Hat tip to a SWC member for noticing.
Link:http://freerangeinternational.com/blog/?p=5480

Thanks to a watcher there is update from Babatim, who is seeking funding to enable him to return to Helmand with the USMC:http://freerangeinternational.com/blog/?p=6239#comments

[davidbfpo]

Just discovered this blog by a serving British Warrant Officer, whose comments are not on 'small wars' and focus on the problems the British Army face.
Link:https://thewarrantofficer.org/

Those problems? Well this is a taster:
As I have said in my previous blogs, I believe the Army stands at a crossroads; it can either reform or die. The woes of the British Army are manifold: too little money, an enormously expensive wage and pension bill, the weight of almost four hundred years of tradition, the growth of the compliance and assurance model, and a feeling that something is going to give. The reaction to these issues, thus far, has been to adapt the stasis, to make do and mend, to do more with less. This has created an Army with a haunted look, constantly looking in its purse for loose change, trying to afford the clothes of an imperial power on the wages of a middle-manager. This desperation has also manifested itself in a culture of feral innovation, where the ambitious innovate and adapt at an ever-faster rate, their ideas crashing into one another through lack of co-ordination, in an attempt to be seen as part of the solution and not the problem. It doesn’t have to be this way, we could just choose to stop; instead of slicing the salami ever thinner, lets have ham instead. It is my earnest belief that the British Army has to urgently address three question: What is its raison d’etre? How can it best deliver its desired effect? How can it deliver at much reduced cost? The answer to those questions can only be found by wholesale and wide-ranging reform, a reformation where no subject is taboo, and nothing is ring-fenced.
Link:https://thewarrantofficer.org/2017/08/02/the-drums-of-the-fore-and-aft/

His 'About' section:
A serving Warrant Officer in the British Army and shortly to become a PhD student; I hold a MA in Military History from the University of Birmingham, a RAF Chief of the Air Staff’s Fellowship, and am a Henry Probert Bursar of the RAF Historical Society. I am also a Judge on the British Army Military Book of the Year Prize and have recently devised a series of defence studies talks at Prince Consort Library in Aldershot.

The main thread for the British Army is in another arena and is UK military problems & policies
(http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/UK military problems & policies)

[davidbfpo]

I'd forgotten about Tim Lynch's blog until today. He is still commenting on matters Afghan, in his direct, pithy style.
Link:http://freerangeinternational.com/blog/

Here is a classic story, with the British as the fools:
The British decided to establish a patrol base in the house of Haji Gul Ehkitar (the village was named after him) and negotiated a fair rent which was paid to Haji Gul’s nephew Sur Gul, who happened to be a Taliban commander. The only Taliban mahaz (http://www.academia.edu/3989952/The_Taliban_at_War_Inside_the_Helmand_Insurgency_2 004-2012) commander to fight the British was Sher Muhamad’s who had been cut out of the pre-invasion deal making. Haji Gul’s Taliban did not fight but he, reportedly, used the British Army rent money to buy IED’s which he turned against his renters. Haji Kadus, who knew what Haji Gul was up to, said nothing to the Brits. When the foreigners went home Haji Kadus was not going with them so he had to make accommodations that made sense in the long game. A smart Indian doesn’t crap in his own tepee.From:http://freerangeinternational.com/blog/?p=7499

[davidbfpo]

Not exactly a blog, rather a collection of podcast interviews on terrorism and counter-terrorism, offered by the University of East London, the home since 2015 of the Terrorism and Extremism Research Centre (TERC).
Link:https://www.uel.ac.uk/schools/royal-docks/terrorism-and-extremism-research-centre

The website explains:
The aim of this podcast is to provide listeners with the opportunity to hear from some of the best, and most influential, terrorism and counterterrorism researchers from around the world. Each episode will be dedicated to one individual researcher, in conversation with the TERC Director John Morrison. These conversations allow the listener to get an in-depth insight into the some of the best research on terrorism, from the researchers themselves. Within the episodes the guests discuss their own research, as well as the research by others who have influenced them. Links to those projects discussed in each episode can be found within the biographies of our guests. It is our aim that this podcast series will be worthwhile and interesting for a wide ranging audience. From students to professors, practitioners to those with a passing interest in understanding terrorism and counter-terrorism, we believe that there will be something for everyone within each episode. The list of guests below is preliminary, so be sure to check back regularly to see who else we have lined up.

They are available on iTunes and Soundcloud - currently thirty-four and on a quick scan mainly academics, a good number have pooped up here before e.g. Daniel Byman and Cerywn Moore.
Link to the podcasts:https://www.uel.ac.uk/schools/royal-docks/terrorism-and-extremism-research-centre/research-projects/talking-terror

[davidbfpo]

Via Twitter:
Intelligence Studies articles free for download for a week. Topics include intelligence failure, intelligence analysis, intelligence education, intelligence oversight, counterintelligence, covert action, etc

A variety of academic articles from various journals, for example David Betz in 2010 wrote 'Insurgency and Counterinsurgency'.

Link:http://internationalstudies.oxfordre.com/search?btog=chap&isQuickSearch=true&pageSize=10&q=intelligence+studies&sort=relevance&subSite=oreisa

[davidbfpo]

Agile Warrior is a new official UK Army quarterly publication, available online via a UK NGO (so inquiry made with the publisher). OK, not really a blog, but this is the best place for this!:o

The official preface opens with:
Agile Warrior (AW) is the Army’s intellectual examination of current and emerging threat and opportunities for land capability. It generates an evidence base to inform the continual transformation of land forces and force structures across all lines of development.It aims to be both reflective and progressive, challenging current assumptions where necessary.

The second issue has two interesting articles, one by the Anglo-Australian academic Professor Patrick Porter - who is very challenging (copied to another relevant thread) - and the second by the NGO Remote Control Project (part of the Oxford Research Group), on the lessons from contemporary theatres 'Can We Win?'.

Link:https://remotecontrolproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ADR007494_Agile_Warrior_2-1.pdf

[davidbfpo]

An update this international, free on-line journal is moving to a new web address:https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/perspectives-on-terrorism

It can be a useful resource and you can subscribe to get notification of publication.

They explain their role:
Our free and independent scholarly online journal is a publication of the Terrorism Research Initiative (TRI) and the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) of Leiden University's Campus The Hague. Now in its twelfth year, Perspectives on Terrorism has close to 8,000 regular subscribers and many more occasional readers and website visitors worldwide. The Articles of its six annual issues are fully peer reviewed by external referees while its Research and Policy Notes, Special Correspondence and other content are subject to internal editorial quality control. (http://https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/PoT) (http://https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/PoT)

[davidbfpo]

Actually this is not a pointer to a blog, rather a new DC think tank within a university. Their 'About' says:
is an interdisciplinary research hub designed to address the wide-ranging impacts of new technologies and non-traditional threats. Our participants are experts in fields ranging from cyber security, great power conflict, malicious nonstate actors, climate impacts, global health security, data analytics, and technological innovation. The center engages students and professionals in cross-cultural dialogue on the advantages and disadvantages of emerging technologies across the globe. We are committed to a balanced, forward-thinking approach that fosters serious engagement about the future impacts of technology across a broad spectrum of fields.
Link:https://www.american.edu/sis/centers/security-technology/

The founder, Audrey Kurth Cronin explains:https://www.american.edu/sis/centers/security-technology/founders-statement.cfm

They are on:https://www.facebook.com/CSINTAU/ and Twitter CSINT_AU



(https://twitter.com/CSINT_AU)

[davidbfpo]

A pointer to a website not seen before. It is the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) and USA-based. You can select the country of interest. I have looked at just two: Cameroon and Nigeria.
Link:https://www.acleddata.com/2019/02/14/crackdowns-ghost-towns-and-violence-against-civilians-in-anglophone-cameroon/