Category: Expert Analysis

With Russia so frequently dominating the headlines of the American media, one could be forgiven for believing we’re amid a full scale resurgence of the Cold War. While there are certainly parallels between today’s geopolitical climate and the heyday of American/Soviet staring contests, this new Cold War, if you’re so inclined to call it that, […]

There was once a time when writing about video games meant addressing a specifically young demographic. Older folks, marketing analysis told us, simply didn’t waste their time in front of the gaming systems they felt were rotting the brains of America’s youth — and as such, approaching the topic from a serious and analytical perspective […]

For the security conscious, walking into a crowded bar usually isn’t your idea of a good time. Crowds are exceptionally good at concealing threats, and those who have built careers (either legitimate or otherwise) by being a threat know that. These days, I’m a pretty big fella. At six feet tall and around 245 pounds, […]

“No days off,” I grumbled, my breath forming a tiny cloud against the cold winter air. The hangar we’d been using as a gym offered little reprieve from the desert’s early morning chill, but I knew it would just be a few hours before the bitter dark gave way to searing light, and my workspace […]

Before the 9/11 the studies on “terrorism” remained confined among a small group of academics who mostly investigated motives and connections with the superpowers ideology and the Cold War. Already in the 1970s there were few University or private institutes operating in the sector, both at the service of some government or independent, who addressed […]

By now anyone who reads these articles knows that money laundering is the process of taking money from criminal activity and cleaning it up to look like fresh and clean taxable income. Additionally the fact that if a drug dealer or would be terrorist walks into the bank with a suitcase full of cash sets […]

I was invited by the venerable SOFREP Senior Writer Luke Ryan to contribute a measure of an addendum to his series on the on-going crisis in Thailand, the Tham Luang Nang Non (Cave of Our Sleeping Lady) soccer team rescue. The request for a follow-on update, yes, but from the perspective of a military diver. […]

If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t spoil it here — watch it first, then come back. “The Magnificent Seven” by John Sturges is a reimagining of one of my favorite films, “Seven Samurai.” Instead of a tumultuous time in old Japan, “The Magnificent Seven” is set in the Old West, just across the border […]

The technique of using a bayonet is a somewhat lost art out of military circles, probably for the obvious reason that it’s a bit impractical for civilians. That being said, I’m going to teach you anyway because it’s cool and who knows? There could be some cross relevance to it in relation to close quarters […]

When I was on my third deployment, my father sent me a poem. He has done aid work in some pretty dangerous areas of the world, so while our circumstances were quite different, both of us had brushed up against the line of life and death a few times and related to each other’s experiences […]

The digital age has, in many ways, been a revolution in narrative management and the transmission of propaganda, but the fundamental elements of managing perceptions both domestically and internationally have existed as long as there have been nations to exercise the effort. While some dismiss the effect of information and disinformation operations on the global […]

On Saturday, Russia announced their intentions to formally enter the world of fifth generation fighters with the first official order of their advanced Sukhoi Su-57, a platform intended to serve as a challenge for America’s fleets of fifth generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and F-22 Raptors. “The first contract for 12 aircraft has been agreed […]