Category: Expert Analysis

Tensions are running high in America as social and political forces collide, sometimes forcefully, and sometimes in the streets. Political polarization in America has been closely studied over the last several decades and while the large-scale impact of social media, which has only risen to prominence in perhaps the last five years, is still being […]

Here at SOFREP, we do a lot of talking about gear, training, and general preparedness. Pulling from our military, professional, and hobbyist backgrounds with firearms, we do our best to relate our experiences to you in an approachable way, and often, those experiences suggest that training, not equipment, is what will save your life in […]

War is an incredibly complex thing. It’s so complex that, in the many years since we waged our battles with sharpened steel, many have lost sight of the simplicity of the fight itself. War is complicated because of the countless influences, internal variables within warring parties, and long-lasting ramifications of violence — but waging war […]

As we get older, we tend to collect things. Piles of artifacts representing memories both lost and treasured, old receipts we think we may need, and that shirt you know you can’t pull off anymore but just can’t find it in yourself to part with all take their places in our lives and homes like […]

This may be a bit presumptuous of me, but our dependence on technology has made us weaker militarily, in my humble opinion. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be incorporating technology where we can to make us more effective, just that if there are more primitive methods available we should not forget them. Sure, there […]

Knives are an interesting subject. The most primitive tool available to us, they offer a variety of uses and are arguably the most versatile tool at our disposal. Knives today are still just as relevant as they once were. They can be works of art, hardened combat weapons, everyday kitchen utensils or just average box […]

My everyday carry has changed over time, and will most likely continue to change. I hope that by sharing this I can give an idea to people new to the concept on how they may want to set theirs up. I’m going to touch on each individual item and some of the benefits they have […]

The old adage, “there are no atheists in foxholes,” while maybe not universally true, speaks to the level of helplessness that’s inherent to our very being. No matter how hard you work, no matter how prepared you try to be, there comes a time when there’s nothing left to do but succeed or fail. There, […]

For this article, cryptocurrencies will generally be referred to as Bitcoin to avoid confusion. Introduction Bitcoin was supposed to change the world of finance. Created by the reclusive and possibly imaginary Satoshi Nakamoto, it offered a purely digital currency that all of the people loved. Libertarians championed its unregulated free market aspect. Anarchists liked that […]

If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t spoil it here — watch it first, then come back. “Once Upon a Time in the West” is a classic film by Sergio Leone, made in 1968. It stars Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson and Jason Robards. The music is masterfully composed by Ennio Morricone, and the score […]

Although Russia has stood up space oriented branches of their armed forces on no fewer than three separate occasions, some Russian officials don’t seem aware of their nation’s defensive orbital efforts. Viktor Bondarev, the head of the Russian Federation Council’s Defense and Security Committee, responded to President Trump’s recent call for the establishment of a […]

As is so often the case in our modern buzzword culture, the phrase artificial intelligence has grown well beyond the confines of what it is, and is instead often thought of in terms of what it could be. There’s nothing wrong with maintaining a healthy sense of a technology’s potentially dark extremes, but many experts […]