Articles Published During October, 2011

Article Excerpts

• Understanding Insurgency: The Condition behind the Conflict by Robert C. Jones
  Bob Jones expands on his thoughts on modern insurgency
• An Assessment of Israeli Deterrence against Asymmetric Threats by Varun Vira
  Poor performance erodes deterrence just as surely as good performance creates it
• Deterrence 2.0: How the spirit of a Cold War policy guided the counterstrike against Al Qaeda by Octavian Manea
  Interviews with Eric Schmitt, Thom Shanker, and Matthew Kroenig
• The Arab Spring: Notes on Nation-Building by Lawrence Chickering
  The challenge presented by competing forms of centralization may have become clearer in the wake of the Arab Spring, especially in comparing events in Egypt and Libya. 
• Thoughts on Counterinsurgency and Just War by Sina Kashefipour
  A Critique of Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars
• A Nation at the Periphery: Libyan Regionalism Revisited by Lucas Winter
  Placing the current Libyan conflict in historical perspective by focusing on the dynamics between the country’s two main regions (Tripolitania and Cyrenaica) during key moments of the 20th century.
• Employing the Economic Instrument of National Power in Unstable Areas by Leonard J. DeFrancisci
  If money is a weapon system, then it is imperative to know how to operate the safety less we face fratricide
• Napoleon´s Nightmare: Guerrilla Warfare in Spain (1808-1814) by José de la Pisa
  The French Army´s Failed Counterinsurgency Effort
• Beyond SWEAT: Developing Infrastructure in Stability and COIN Operations by Chad Livingston
  If money is a weapon system, then it must surely be targeted as precisely as any other weapon system. 
• How Corruption Affects National Security of the United States by Eduardo Salcedo-Albaran and Luis Jorge Garay
  How Corruption Affects National Security of the United States: An Explorative Hypothesis on Mexican Transnational Criminal Networks Operating in the United States
• Guía de Prácticas Recomendadas en la Evaluación de Medidas Contrainsurgencias by Dave LaRivee
  Guía de Prácticas Recomendadas en la Evaluación de Medidas Contrainsurgencias (Best Practices Guide for Conducting Assessments in Counterinsurgencies)
• Refining the MDMP for Operational Adaptability by David Walker
  Author argues that the MDMP is burdened by linear procedures that do not reflect natural cognitive processes and proposes an alternative model based on six concurrently developed components derived from...
• Design: Thinking not Process by Dan McCauley
  There is neither a shortcut to knowledge nor a process that forces critical and creative thinking on those individuals incapable of or unprepared for its complexities.          
• What is Your Narrative, and Why? by Ben Zweibelson
  How the Media, the Military, and the World Struggles with Telling the “Real Story” in Afghanistan
• U.S. Naval Basing in Sri Lanka? by David A. Anderson and Anton Wijeyesekera
  With Sri Lanka’s defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009, should the US pursue establishing a naval base in Sri Lanka?
• Realism vs. Liberalism in the Development of Counterterrorism Strategy by Randi L. Buros
  The Obama administration reversed the policies of its predecessor, and established a counterterrorism strategy that appears to exactly mirror the European model.  In a world of economic and security interdependencies...
• Urban Land Use by Illegal Armed Groups in Medellin by Geoffrey Demarest
  Seven proposed categories of illegal slum land use are tested against a recent, complex Latin American case.
• From Unique Needs to Modular Platforms: The Future of Military Robotics by PJ Neal
  Despite the increased use of robots and projected future R&D spending, there is no clearly articulated and agreed upon roadmap for their future growth and development.
• The United States and the Lord’s Resistance Army by Gary K. Busch
  Recent intervention continues fifty years of US military action in Africa with little success
• Counterinsurgency and the Internally Displaced: Aligning Doctrine with Reality by Ali Hayat
  FM 3-24 fails to adequately describe the realities of refugees and the necessary steps required to assist
• Interview with Dayuhan by Jon Custis
  The whole concept of “nation-building” is flawed, because nations aren’t built, nations grow. We can no more build a nation than we can build an oak tree.
• Don’t Break The Bank With COIN by Sean R. Liedman
  Spending an inordinate amount of resources in executing a relatively narrow segment of our national defense interests – COIN – will undermine America’s future national security.
• Protesting War: Comparing Afghanistan to Vietnam by Marty Reynolds
  Why have the post 9/11 wars not had the same degree of protests as Vietnam?
• AirSeaLand Battle: Access Assured, Area Un-Denied by SWJ Editors
  Critique of recent budget cuts
• Afghan Perception & Stagnation in Transformational Changes by Danny Pedersen
  Examining progress in the development of Afghanistan’s infrastructure from an Afghan perspective