Blogs to Watch

[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) 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) 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 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-m...ragile-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/resource...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...t-the-alliance
http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/str...dealing-trump/
http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/sha...ng-time-trump/