Travis Allen

About the author

is a former US Army Infantry Officer. While a Platoon Leader in Afghanistan, he was part of a joint Special Forces/Infantry team conducting Village Stability Operations in Kandahar Province. Travis graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 2010.

United Nations set to ban all nuclear weapons

The United Nations is rolling out a treaty to ban all nuclear weapons on Friday, despite opposition from the world’s nuclear powers and others. The treaty, called the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, has been negotiated for weeks, and is expected to be signed by 129 member-nations. The effort has been led by […]

Germany: At least 160 police injured by G20 protesters

As expected, protests surrounding the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, turned violent last night as thousands of protesters descended on the city to disrupt the international meeting of world leaders. 160 German police officers are reported to have been injured last night, as militant activists threw bottles, lit fires, and destroyed vehicles in the streets. […]

‘Come at me bro,’ or how China and India are avoiding war

How does one affirm claims of territorial sovereignty through a show of force while simultaneously avoiding a nuclear war? A lot of chest bumping, apparently. A long-standing territorial dispute that has flared up into a minor confrontation between India and China is now in its third week, as both countries continue to pump troops into […]

Trump warns Russia ahead of first meeting with Putin

Shortly before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Russia that it should stop supporting hostile regimes and destabilizing Ukraine. The warning was given against the backdrop of Trump’s first visit to Poland in the run-up to the G20 summit in Germany. Trump was greeted with strong support from […]

U.S., Poland sign agreement for sale of Patriot Missile System

The United States is set to sell an unknown number of Patriot Missile Defense Systems to Poland, following an agreement reached and announced this week. The timing of the announcement is politically significant, as missile defense systems in Poland were once a critical and contentious diplomatic issue between the U.S. and Russia. Poland’s Defense Minister […]

Smartphone apps in Brazil track firefights in the streets

In response to the increasing levels of gun violence racking Brazil, smartphone apps have been released in that country which tell users where gunshots have been reported or where active firefights are ongoing. Two apps, “Fogo Cruzado” or Cross Fire, and “Onde Tem Tiroteio” Where are the Firefights, have been developed in conjunction with aid […]

Poll: Majority of Americans support Trump travel ban

A recent Politico/Morning Consult poll shows that a majority of Americans support President Donald Trump’s travel ban on individuals from six Muslim-majority countries. The result of the survey shows that a full 60% of American voters support the ban in its current form, a relatively strong level of support for a President that has had […]

Iran shells Kurdish villages along Iraq-Iran border

Iranian military forces shelled a Kurdish village in northern Iraq on Monday, leaving three wounded and displacing hundreds of villagers in the area, the Voice of America reports. The Iranians were targeting Kurdish rebel groups which lie closely along the border between Iraq and Iran. Kurdish sources said that one villager and two rebels were […]

Former Gitmo prisoner to receive apology, millions from Canada

Omar Khadr, a Canadian-born man who killed an American Special Forces soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15 while fighting for Al Qaeda, will receive an apology and $8 million from the Canadian government. The decision was made this week following years of political controversy in Canada over the plight of a man who had […]

G20 Summit in Germany promises to be entertaining, if nothing else

Before today’s news broke that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet privately with Russian President Vladimir Putin and sent the press into a feeding frenzy, the G20 summit slated for next week in Hamburg, Germany was already shaping up to be a spectacle. With Germany as this year’s host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had […]

U.S. envoy visits Syria to talk post-Raqqa plans

The U.S. special envoy to the coalition against the Islamic State on Wednesday met with leaders of a council consisting of members from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who plan on administering the Syrian city of Raqqa following the eventual collapse of the ISIS stronghold. Brett McGurk, who was appointed by the State Department has […]

National Security Advisor McMaster weighs in on international threat environment

National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster has kept mostly out of the headlines since assuming his position earlier this year, which is unfortunate, as he is uniquely capable among his peers in the administration of communicating foreign policy positions in a palatable, and perhaps less abrasive way than the president himself. Speaking before the annual meeting […]