Blogs to Watch

[Jedburgh]

Standing Well Back

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.

[bourbon]

The XX Committee - intelligence, strategy, and security in a dangerous world

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

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

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/...read.php?t=246

[bourbon]

Dangerous Magazine

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, by Will Grant

Quadrotor Tactics, by Will Grant

Inside Burma’s Dirty War, Part I, by Robert Young Pelton

Inside Burma’s Dirty War, Part II, by Robert Young Pelton