Category: Expert Analysis

Having a passion for books and an eight-month-old baby that’s feverishly growing a mouthful of teeth makes for some difficult evenings. You think she’s finally drifted off to sleep for the night and you make your way into your office with firm intent. I’m going to spend an hour reading before I get back to […]

According to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Peshmerga, the United States will be assisting in the inclusion of two new Peshmerga brigades this year; they will be providing weapons, training, and vehicles. The Ministry’s secretary general, Lieutenant General Jabar Yawar, told local Kurdish media that, “Many times, due to disclosing the type and amount […]

Many have siphoned their wartime experiences into their literature later on in life, even in fiction. Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Walt Whitman, J.D. Salinger, T.S. Eliot — be it on the civilian side or the military, it has been a creative outlet for many who wish to express those feelings in a manner more […]

Knives are excellent backup weapons if you’re carrying a pistol. They also make good primary weapons for an everyday carry if you are unable to carry a pistol. Often when traveling abroad, I have found it exponentially easier to obtain a good knife than a reliable (or affordable) pistol. They are usually cheaper and easier […]

In recent years, it’s begun to seem like cyber attacks from national level opponents are just a way of life. Reports of Russian efforts to gain access to the U.S. electrical grid or Chinese operatives seeking technical data on the U.S. defense apparatus have become so familiar that the stories themselves no longer draw a […]

On Monday, U.S. president Donald Trump met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in a long-touted meeting that both leaders claimed was in the interest of de-escalating tensions between the two nations. After their scheduled 90-minute meeting ran long, the two moved to podiums where they delivered prepared addresses to the media regarding the subjects they […]

You see them pop up from time to time: images of civilian vehicles modified for use in combat, adorned in patinated metal armor with beefy tires crammed into stock wheel wells and soldiers, rebels, or some other kind of combatant standing proudly alongside the vehicle like a shot from behind the scenes in a new […]

Admitting to insecurity isn’t really the sort of thing most internet tough guys are willing to do — by acknowledging that your capital-letter laden confidence waivers in the physical realm, people worry that their words will somehow carry less weight when arguing with strangers on the internet. So allow me to clear something up: we’re […]

Transitioning out of the military and into the private sector is the subject of a great deal of study and analysis for good reason. Many tend to think having military service on your resume will help you get a job, but in my experience, longstanding misconceptions about the military often conspire against you when walking […]

With a rapidly developing military drone industry growing in prominence the world over, and heavyweight defense contractors like Northrop Grumman devoting a large portion of their overall R&D programs to unmanned aerial vehicles, it’s easy to see that the future of military aviation will be largely unmanned. The benefits of such a transition are extensive, […]

Propaganda has existed in countless forms throughout history, as those in positions of power have tended to try to sway the public opinion one way or another in order to achieve certain goals. This facet of human nature has not changed much in the last few thousand years, only their methods. People tend to argue […]

Peshawar — A suicide bomb ripped through a political rally in Pakistan on Tuesday night. 20 people were killed, and approximately 63 were wounded. Among the dead was the politician Haroon Bilour, 47, of the Awami National Party. The Taliban in Pakistan (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP) have claimed responsibility for the attack. The Pakistan general […]