Input on forum organization?

[jcustis]

I think the therm "coalition" tends to have a militaristic cant to it as well. If that's the angle we aim for, then fine, but if not, I think we could use a different one.

[Bill Moore]

Add a section where we can discuss tactics from the insurgent and terrorist point of view. You can call it red cell if you like, but whether they're red or blue depends on the group and who they're fighting. Remember our friends in Afghanistan that were fighting the Soviets?

In all seriousness I think we have excessive discussion of our approach with minimal discussion on Taliban, AQ, anarchists in Italy, etc. approaches.

[Pete]

The revised forum should have an Officers and NCOs Club with a menu something like this!

[jcustis]

Add a section where we can discuss tactics from the insurgent and terrorist point of view. You can call it red cell if you like, but whether they're red or blue depends on the group and who they're fighting. Remember our friends in Afghanistan that were fighting the Soviets?

In all seriousness I think we have excessive discussion of our approach with minimal discussion on Taliban, AQ, anarchists in Italy, etc. approaches.

There are actual threads orienting on this in the Adversary/Threat forum. They aren't always the busiest topics.

[Steve Blair]

Add a section where we can discuss tactics from the insurgent and terrorist point of view. You can call it red cell if you like, but whether they're red or blue depends on the group and who they're fighting. Remember our friends in Afghanistan that were fighting the Soviets?

In all seriousness I think we have excessive discussion of our approach with minimal discussion on Taliban, AQ, anarchists in Italy, etc. approaches.

I agree, but those threads tend to get hijacked pretty quickly.

[Bill Moore]

Posted by Steve Blair,

I agree, but those threads tend to get hijacked pretty quickly.

You got me, but hijacking has a long been a terrorist tactic (now practiced on blogs) worth exploring in more detail.

[Steve Blair]

Posted by Steve Blair,



You got me, but hijacking has a long been a terrorist tactic (now practiced on blogs) worth exploring in more detail.

Good point...

Levity aside, I do think it's a good idea to keep (possibly under a different name) some special area for "red cell"-type discussions.

[Stan]

Good point...

Levity aside, I do think it's a good idea to keep (possibly under a different name) some special area for "red cell"-type discussions.

And we could end up with some Russians and Terrorists as members. That would indeed be interesting !

[SWCAdmin]

Here are some of my thoughts on points raised so far. Far from the last word. Most importantly, in some cases I'm sharing a theory and at issue is how practice has departed from, or will depart, from the theory.

For background on the current macro approach and commentary on things that belong in multiple places -- see this FAQ.

Global Commons --
An important set of topics. It was very much behind the Global Issues & Threats section at the top of the regional conflicts section. Perhaps we could expand the description of the forum. Some of the topics may fit more nicely in some of the participant/stakeholder forums (assuming we keep those).

Red Team --
As mentioned, aligns with the Adversary/Threat forum. Also any real region-specific discussion would make a lot of sense in the regional forum.

Participants & Stakeholders consolidation --
Perhaps. Or may be a key to expansion and better serving a broader audience (see Bill Moore discussion in post #10). I really don't know. The real outliers I see at the moment are the Military Art & Science section which I think could combine some elements into the Participants & Stakeholders section and do away with others.

Conflict Resolution --
Important topic. I'm not sure how that makes sense as a forum that is distinct from a conflict-specific thread in a regions forum (my first reaction); a stakeholder-specific domain or a grand strategy area (TBD?); or a series of forums (not on my short list, but?) re different phases from pre-hostility through resolution and maintaining the peace (or non-war). Would love to hear more.

Coalition Speaks --
I agree with Jedburgh in the sense that everything is or should be coalition and we have perhaps evolved to be less US-centric than we feared, but also with others that there is still plenty of US-dominance in the Council. I do not like the idea of herding non-US perspectives or non-US news into one forum, it belongs everywhere. When formed, the idea of the forum was to provide a spot to remind US to practice what we preach regarding broader perspectives and to discuss US-centricity. It hasn't really emerged that way in practice, for whatever reason.

Region Refresh
Absolutely needed. Especially OIF / OEF weigthing.

IW slicing and dicing
StabOps, UW, CT, COIN, FID, etc. -- I think we've got a heck of a job as a community keeping up with our own terminology and with the utility of applying it in practice. There's a whole theory and doctrine discussion that could backstop any of those terms and make a mixing bowl of all of them. I don't see forum organization along those lines being fruitful. I do, however, think we might make some hay out of cleaning up the theorists & doctrine/TTP sections.

Thinking vs doing
Whatever method there is to our madness (again, see here), we must do a good job of communicating it and still have modest expectations for a) just how understandable it is; b) just how useful it is even when understood.

Pete, if you can figure out how to make room service or take out work for the Kitakidogo Social Club, you will be our next hero.

[HumanCOGRachel]

I still think it would be good to have a separate place to read up on perspectives and news written by foreigners that we here comment on, not US commentaries on foreign efforts where US and foreign people comment, does that make sense? That's why the suggestion International Efforts kind of sums that requirement up....What do you think?

[davidbfpo]

Irregularly forgotten small wars appear, most recently the Estonian nationalist resistance and another which I've forgotten already

Perhaps a thread within History? When I have time I will find the recent references and start a thread. We already have expertise in this area, like Steve Blair and history keeps on catching up with us.

[SWCAdmin]

^ I think a thread within the Historians forum is a great spot for that.