Luke Ryan

Luke Ryan is a SOFREP journalist in Tampa, FL. He is a former Team Leader from 3rd Ranger Battalion, having served four deployments to Afghanistan. He grew up overseas, the son of foreign aid workers, and lived in Pakistan for nine years and Thailand for five. He has a degree in English Literature and loves to write on his own as well, working on several personal projects.

In this Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015 photo, a drug addict smokes cigarette at a drop-in center and shelter, south of Tehran, Iran. Anti-narcotics and medical officials say more than 2.2 million of Iran's 80 million citizens already are addicted to illegal drugs, including 1.3 million on registered treatment programs. | AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

Iran’s drug problem

News + Intel Aug 21
In this June 28, 2018, file photo, Rohingya refugees carry construction material through huts built in an extended area of Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh where some refugees living in areas considered at risk of landslides and flooding were relocated to. The monsoon season has arrived in Bangladesh, bringing fresh dangers to the 900,000 Rohingya refugees who live in ramshackle huts on unstable hills. | AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File

Bangladesh to stop labeling refugees ‘forcibly displaced’ due to Myanmar request

Expert Analysis Aug 21
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis talks during a press conference at the Defense Minstry in Buenos Aires, Argentina Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018. Mattis is on a official visit to several South American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia. | AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko

Mattis: US Navy hospital ship to aid Venezuelan migrants

News + Intel Aug 20
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, July 15, 2018. | AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

The growing talks of peace: Taliban agrees to another religious holiday cease-fire

Foreign Policy Aug 20
A man carries a dog and wades through a flooded street in Chennai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. Weeks of torrential rains have forced the airport in the state capital Chennai to close and have cut off several roads and highways, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes, government officials said Wednesday. | AP Photo

Monsoon season around the world

News + Intel Aug 19
Image courtesy of Pixabay

Hollywood and the old man warfighter

Entertainment Aug 18
FILE - In this April 4, 2015 file photo, Iranian and U.S. banknotes are on display at a currency exchange shop in downtown Tehran, Iran. Iran's currency is continuing its downward spiral as increased American sanctions loom, hitting a new low on the thriving black market exchange. The Iranian rial fell to 112,000 to the dollar on Sunday, July 29, 2018, from 98,000 to $1 on Saturday. | AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File

Methods of financing terror: The uses of ‘Hawala’

Finance Aug 17
This June 10, 2017 photo released by the U.S. Marine Corpsshows an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter provides security from above while CH-47 Chinooks drop off supplies to U.S. Soldiers with Task Force Iron at Bost Airfield, Afghanistan. | U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Justin T. Updegraff, Operation Resolute Support via AP

Analysis: US air support takes out over 220 Taliban fighters

Military Aug 17
A man who was injured in a deadly suicide bombing that targeted a training class in a private building in the Shiite neighborhood of Dasht-i Barcha is placed in an ambulance in western Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018. Both the resurgent Taliban and an Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan have targeted Shiites in the past, considering them to be heretics. | AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

Analysis: At least 48 killed in suicide attack in Kabul, likely the Islamic State

Expert Analysis Aug 16
In this Wednesday, April 15, 2015 file photo, Sudanese fishermen sail through river algae while fishing on the Nile River on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan. Egypt's pro-government media is vilifying neighboring Sudan over its expanding ties with Turkey and Qatar, Cairo's regional nemesis, saying the three are conspiring against Egypt. | AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File

22 Sudanese children drown in boat on the way to school

News + Intel Aug 16

Opinion: The root of the problems in the VA

North America Aug 15
Bahraini protesters are seen through a locked gate as they carry pictures of Saudi Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration against his execution by Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Daih, Bahrain. Saudi Arabia announced the execution of al-Nimr on Saturday along with 46 others. Al-Nimr was a central figure in protests by Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority until his arrest in 2012, and his execution drew condemnation from Shiites across the region. | AP Photo/Hasan Jamali

Saudi Arabia’s death penalty

News + Intel Aug 15

Myanmar, the US State Department, and the word ‘Genocide’

Foreign Policy Aug 14

The American Road: Adapt and Overcome

Life Aug 14

The American Road: Purging material things

Life Aug 13

Analysis: 14 dead in attempted Taliban city assault

Expert Analysis Aug 12
Rosilene Alves Ferreira and her husband mourn the death of their 13-year-old daughter Maria, who was killed by a stray bullet during a shootout between police and alleged drug traffickers, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, March 31, 2017, A video showing the confrontation between police and suspect drug traffickers was shared widely on social media and led to protests. In the video, two officers are seen carrying automatic rifles. They both shoot suspects on the ground. One of the men appears to be moving when he is shot. Rio de Janeiro police spokesman Ivan Blaz told reporters on Friday that the two officers have been charged with murder. | AP Photo/Leo Correa

Brazil’s worst recorded year for homicides: 3% increase from previous year

News + Intel Aug 11

A list of Saudi Arabia’s retaliatory measures against Canada (and Saudis who live in Canada)

Foreign Policy Aug 10

US sanctions Moscow over UK nerve agent attack

Foreign Policy Aug 10

What’s going on between Canada and Saudi Arabia?

Foreign Policy Aug 09

In pictures: Everyday Afghanistan

Entertainment Aug 09

Bangladesh: International community condemns handling of student protests

News + Intel Aug 08

Man accused of trafficking over 80 women in Ohio

Expert Analysis Aug 08

Thousands of Rohingya stuck between Myanmar and Bangladesh, armed guards to one side, land mines to the other

Featured Aug 07

Three Czech service members killed in suicide bombing

Foreign Policy Aug 07