ABSTRACT Given the scale of death and disruption drugs now cause, narcotics increasingly function as a strategic threat rather than a conventional crime problem. This article suggests that America’s modern counter-narcotics campaign reflects a new form of active defense inspired by Clausewitz’s theory that protection can require offensive action. It traces how U.S. policy evolved from the limits of the … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Russia Pummels Kyiv Before Trump-Zelensky Meeting 2. Zelensky to Push Trump on Peace Deal Amid Latest Russian Attacks 3. Opinion | Venezuela and Cuba: What’s Next? 4. The war is not coming, it is already quietly here (Taiwan) 5. The CCP Initiates a New Information Warfare Technique … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: Note: I will be on overseas travel the next 5 days so my message timing will be erratic. 1. U.S. Strikes on Nigeria Targeted Islamic State Camps With Missile Barrage 2. Trump’s Claims About Nigeria Strike Belie a Complex Situation on the Ground 3. Zelensky to Meet Trump … Read more
In The Guardian article “Falling price of cocaine forces drug traffickers to reuse narco-submarines, say Spanish police,” Sam Jones reports on a fundamental shift in transatlantic trafficking logistics driven by collapsing profit margins. Wholesale cocaine prices in Europe have halved to €15,000 per kilo in recent years due to massive production and market saturation, forcing criminal networks to abandon their … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. A short review of something you don’t need to read – “Why the US is Losing the Cognitive Competition.” 2. Trump Discloses Christmas Day Strike Against ISIS in Nigeria 3. U.S. Strikes ISIS in Nigeria After Trump Warned of Attacks on Christians 4. Coast Guard Tracks Down Runaway Oil Tanker … Read more
Forging the Framework: Evolving Law, Policy, and Doctrine for the U.S. Military’s Domestic Response, edited by Jonathan D. Bratten and published by Army University Press, is a timely reminder that domestic military operations are neither an anomaly nor an afterthought, but an essential, yet tenuous, mission woven into American civil-military history. The anthology argues that civil-military tension is no accident: … Read more
Grey Dynamics’ “F3EAD: SOF-Specific Targeting in the Intelligence Cycle” reframes the familiar Find–Fix–Finish–Exploit–Analyze–Disseminate model as more than a relic of the GWOT era, arguing that its real value lies in how it fuses intelligence and operations to generate tempo in ambiguous, human-centric fights. In irregular warfare, F3EAD excels because it treats targets as nodes in networks—social, financial, operational—where exploitation and … Read more
Introduction: The Performance of Progress Step inside any military presentation today, and you’ll encounter a meticulously staged production. The language of the future is everywhere: “transformation,” “disruption,” “innovation.” It’s a well-rehearsed performance, complete with “Shark Tank” committees, gleaming “innovation labs,” and new commands planted in tech-centric hubs like Austin. Tech start-up salesmen, flush with venture capitalist dollars, roam the halls, … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. The Last Gasp of Peace: The Christmas Truce of 1914 and the Modern Profession of Arms 2. Fried Chicken And Family-Xmas In The Ardennes by Keith Nightingale 3. China Developing Options to Threaten Taiwan With ‘Brute Force,’ Pentagon Says 4. Venezuela’s Maduro using U.S. military threat to crack down on dissent … Read more
Fried Chicken And Family-Xmas In The Ardennes Christmas Day 1944, near Trois-Pont, Belgium, was truly a white Christmas. It was also incredibly cold, especially for those 82nd paratroopers that were holding a tenuous thin line against the best combined armed force the German army could muster. Due to the lack of manpower, men were scattered in two-man foxholes across a … Read more
March 23, 2003: A Tornado crew returned from a strike mission over Iraq and never made it home. A Patriot battery – trusted, automated, validated – engaged a friendly aircraft. Flight Lieutenants Kevin Barry Main and David Rhys Williams died. The inquiry found faults in identification logic, procedures, and equipment. Two decades later, the mechanics are different, but the lesson … Read more
Abstract The 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu demonstrates how failures in strategic empathy and cultural understanding can undermine technological superiority, with lessons that remain vital for modern military and policy leaders. This article analyzes the French defeat and its enduring relevance while offering practical recommendations for adapting strategy to asymmetric threats. Introduction The suicide of French artillery commander Colonel … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. Opinion | Trump’s Foreign Policy Is Surprisingly Good for the World 2. Trump’s Tilt Toward Foreign Policy Shows No Sign of Slowing 3. China Is Worried AI Threatens Party Rule—and Is Trying to Tame It 4. As Trump upends US foreign policy, analysts see fresh openings for China 5. Why ‘relative stability’ … Read more
AI Use in Terrorist Plots and Attacks Surges in 2025 By: Clara Broekaert and Lucas Webber for Militant Wire The piece begins as follows: It has been over three years since OpenAI launched ChatGPT, the large language model (LLM), which is now the fastest consumer application to reach 100 million users and has become synonymous with the term “artificial intelligence” (AI). Since then, … Read more
Find the report here. PREFACE: For twenty-five years, Congress has directed the Department of War to provide an annual report on military and security developments relating to the People’s Republic of China. These reports have chronicled the development of China’s military capabilities and strategy. China’s military focus is currently the First Island Chain that runs from the Japanese archipelago to … Read more
“Chinese brokers launder hundreds of millions for global crime groups” is by The Financial Times. This film contains our very own SWJ El Centro fellow, Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown! Chinese money launderers are facilitating the fentanyl epidemic and helping international drug traffickers, like Mexican cartels and the Italian mafia, launder the proceeds of crime. The FT investigates the connection between capital … Read more
From the French Connection to today’s criminal networks, drug trafficking in France has undergone profound transformations, evolving from centralized, predictable structures to decentralized, technologically advanced organizations. This article examines these changes and highlights the need for a comprehensive approach that combines targeted law enforcement, social prevention programs, financial monitoring, and international cooperation. By reflecting on historical experience, policymakers and law … Read more
Each year, an extraordinary volume of illicit money quietly exits the United States, flowing through financial institutions, businesses, charities, trade channels, and digital platforms with remarkable efficiency. Estimates from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime indicate that between 2 and 5 percent of global GDP is laundered annually, amounting to roughly 800 billion to 2 trillion U.S. dollars. … Read more
Access National Security News HERE. Access Korean News HERE. National Security News: 1. The Case for Caution: Why the U.S. Military Shouldn’t Organize Around AI… Yet 2. The Pentagon and A.I. Giants Have a Weakness. Both Need China’s Batteries, Badly. 3. U.S. Bans New China-Made Drones, Sparking Outrage Among Pilots 4. China’s Sprint for Tech Dominance Can’t Hide an Economy Full of Holes 5. ‘Kyiv … Read more
This Department of War press release reports that yesterday, President Trump announced the Navy will develop a new class of battleships—the Trump-class—marking a significant shift in U.S. naval force posture. These 30,000 to 40,000-ton surface combatants will be the largest warships ever built by the United States, with the first vessel, USS Defiant, targeted for construction in the early 2030s. … Read more