A Call For Papers from the Civil Affairs Association’s Eunomia Journal: Last year’s Symposium examined how to redefine the role of civil affairs (CA) in large-scale combat operations (LSCO) as a critical economy-of-force capability that preserves combat power and lethality, consolidates gains, and shapes conditions in the human dimension to “secure the victory” – before, during, and after LSCO. CA … Read more
Edited by Juan Garcia, DBA JSOU Report 26-11 June 1, 2026 JSOU provides relevant joint special operations-peculiar education programs that educate joint SOF leaders, enable academic activities, enhance the SOF education ecosystem, and strengthen the SOF enterprise’s impact on the joint force and the Nation. To learn more, visit https://www.jsou.edu. To learn more about the press, visit https://www.jsou.edu/Press. The … Read more
Maria Abi-Habib and Eric Schmitt of the New York Times report in “Guatemala Agrees to Joint Strikes With U.S. Against Drug Gangs” on the recent Guatemala-US agreement to jointly target drug gangs. The agreement represents a meaningful escalation in U.S. counter-drug operations, but raises questions about legality and effectiveness. The Strategic Logic Flanking Mexico through Guatemala and Honduras has historical … Read more
The CTC Sentinel is a monthly, independent publication that leverages the Center’s network of scholars and practitioners to understand and confront contemporary terrorism threats. May 2026 Issue | Volume 19, Issue 5 Authors: Contents Featured Article: Developments in the Sahel: An Interview with Wassim Nasr, Journalist, France24; Senior Research Fellow, Soufan Center by Don Rassler and Kristina Hummel Interview: A View from … Read more
The rapid diffusion of drone warfare in Colombia offers a useful case study in how commercial technology can alter the balance between states and armed groups. Nelson AI, a geopolitical risk analysis platform that uses AI to produce data-driven security assessments, describes in “Drone Warfare in Colombia” how Colombia’s insurgent and criminal organizations have effectively contested the government’s long-standing monopoly … Read more
Introduction The character of war is changing rapidly, but its nature is not. As the US Army and its allies adapt to increasingly capable peer adversaries, initiatives such as Transformation in Contact emphasize new technologies, organizational reform, and accelerated adaptation cycles. These efforts are necessary—but they are not sufficient. Recent conflicts, particularly the Russian war against Ukraine, demonstrate that technological … Read more
Access SOF News HERE. SOF News Weekly Brief – June 1, 2026 June 1, 2026 John Friberg Update 0 Curated news, analysis, and commentary on special operations, intelligence, irregular warfare, national defense, and global conflicts. Photo / Image: AC-130 Gunship DoD Photo. Executive Summary This weekly briefing summarizes developments in special operations forces (SOF), global conflicts, intelligence, and national security from the past … Read more
Abstract This memo argues that the current U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) targeting policy achieves tactical success but lacks strategic alignment, prioritizing rapid kinetic operations over long-term political and operational coherence. It evaluates three policy options and finds that existing frameworks fail to adequately address escalation risks, partner capacity development, and the demands of great-power competition. The memo recommends a … Read more
Editor’s note: This essay is the second part of the author’s response to Colonel (Ret.) Ned Marsh’s two-part series, “The Last A-Team” and “A New Vision for Special Forces Restructuring.” The author’s first response, “Operationally Detached,” made the structural case and offered decentralization as the solution. This essay tackles the deeper problem beneath the debate: the regiment’s continued inability to … Read more
The Weaponisation of Everything: A Field Guide to the New Way of War. By Mark Galeotti. Yale University Press, 2023. ISBN: 978-0300270419. Pp. iv, 239. $18.00 at time of review. Mark Galeotti’s The Weaponisation of Everything offers a wide-ranging and accessible tour of modern conflict’s expanding frontiers. Galeotti argues that the conventional image of war (declared, bounded, fought between uniformed … Read more
I read Ned Marsh’s two recent articles about the serious challenges Special Forces (SF) face in the current and future operating environments with great interest. Much of what he says seems valid, but not all of what he says. Plus, there are some internal inconsistencies in his argument. Still, his ideas are valuable insights for serious consideration. I will not … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. The Traveling Maxim (PhD in a Barfight) 2. Pentagon’s Asia commander seeks funds to deter China on Taiwan 3. The U.S. Has Found a Way to Down a Drone Without Spending $1 Million 4. Remarks by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at the 2026 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore (As Delivered) 5. Hegseth: … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Easier to start, harder to win (wars of course) 2. Hegseth Outlines U.S. Vision For Indo-Pacific at Annual Asia Defense Summit 3. Coercive Maintenance: How Beijing Wages Influence Operations Against the Republic of Korea 4. New White House strategy would boost efforts to combat terrorist propaganda, a role VOA filled … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. AI Has Made Memory Chips More Valuable Than Oil 2. Corporate America Is Starting to Ration AI as Cost Skyrockets 3. Someone Called a Code-Red on LaNeve 4. Opinion | More Money and Competition for U.S. Defense by Senator Wicker 5. Hezbollah’s Drones Have Become a Top Threat to Israel 6. Russian Drone … Read more
Friday’s drone impact on a residential building in Galați, Romania, is an escalation in a pattern that NATO has spent three years carefully managing, per a BBC report by Mircea Barbu and Chris Graham. Since 2022, drone fragments have landed on Romanian territory 47 times. Polish territory has been struck. Baltic states have recorded incursions. The alliance’s consistent posture has … Read more
General David Petraeus and Isaac C. Flanagan responded to the President’s FY27 Budget Request’s massive increase (24,000% y-o-y) in autonomous warfare spending in an opinion piece for The Hill titled “The Pentagon could be about to make a $55 billion mistake.” The Doctrine Gap Petraeus and Flanagan’s central argument is about institutional readiness. The Pentagon’s $54.6 billion commitment to autonomous … Read more
The U.S. Navy crossed an important threshold last fall when unmanned systems executed kinetic strikes that sank a decommissioned warship, reports Defense One’s Lauren Williams in “The Navy used drones to sink a retired warship.” Aerial and surface drones launched from a single littoral combat ship, the Cooperstown, to put the USS Simpson at the bottom of the Atlantic. Three … Read more
WASHINGTON – A new White House strategy paper calls for stepping up efforts to counter terror groups’ propaganda – a role played by Voice of America until President Donald Trump kneecapped the government-run news broadcaster last year. The 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy released May 6 calls for “effective counter-propaganda means to identify and neutralize the media platforms of terror groups and … Read more
Introduction For years, before the fall of the Assad regime and the emergence of Syria’s new government under Ahmed Al-Sharaa, trucks steadily rolled into northern Syria from Turkey into territory controlled by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The Sunni Islamist group, formed from the ex-al-Qaeda branch Al-Nusra Front, was widely designated as a terror organization at the time. These trucks carried … Read more
Editor’s Note: This essay is from the Security & Defence PLuS Emerging Voices Series, which highlights the next generation of scholars and practitioners shaping thinking on strategy, security, and defense. The series brings together perspectives from PhD candidates and early career researchers, grounded in the complex geopolitical realities of the 21st century. The collection explores a “Latticework of Resilience” that connects … Read more