Category: Expert Analysis

Turkey is re-emerging to the Middle Eastern scene playing an actual role in the coming solutions. Whether or not those work for the best and persist is anyone’s guess. The Ottoman Empire comprised most of the areas that are in turmoil in the Middle East, today. One thing can’t be denied – they ruled an […]

It’s easy to overlook security in a time where people often grade a location’s suitability on the availability of free Wi-Fi. I know I’ve been guilty of jumping on the nearest airport hotspot to check an email or make a quick download. It may not seem like a major risk, but with the growing amount of […]

According to a study conducted in the past year by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the oft quoted “twenty-two veteran suicides per day” figure isn’t quite accurate.  The actual figure is twenty, which is objectively no less concerning.  The real horrifying figure in that study, however, was that roughly sixty percent of the veterans that […]

First and foremost, if you’ve spent more than a decade in service, you have a certain amount of street cred with me. Officer or enlisted, odds are very good that you have been around and at least seen the ramifications of good leadership, bad leadership, and the effects of combat. I’m not saying you’ve been […]

The Islamic State relies on religious precedence to absolve responsibility for the individual and group. As such, they’re finding authority to run from the battle. Nearly everything that the Islamic State does, in their view, has some kind of canonical precedent. They wish to create their own currency, based on the Quranic meaning of currency, […]

Recent coverage around the OSS award has become widespread. The Washington Post repoted that the “Bill that would honor World War II’s secret commandos can’t seem to pass in Congress.” A great many are outraged, unsure, and making assumptions as to why. However, the reasons are more pragmatic and less vindictive. People aren’t entirely sure […]

We have a second chance to do right in Iraq, both in the fight for Mosul and the political and societal strife sure to follow in its wake. The Iranian client state formerly known as Iraq might be confused about its loyalties right now. But that doesn’t mean we ought to be. We’ve done so […]

This weekend I spent the better part of the day running around the web looking for something interesting to write about. With the continued tensions across the Middle East, the 2016 presidential election which some consider the most important election cycle since the Civil War and let’s not forget the miracle of the millennium, the […]

SOFREP reached out to several sources on the ground near Mosul, including a Kurdish intelligence officer involved in the battle against ISIS for Iraq’s second largest city. Predominately a Sunni city, Mosul was the home to about a million residents, after nearly half a million fled when ISIS took over in 2014. During Operation Iraqi […]

Russia’s cyber attacks against the United States have run their course. Their ultimate miscalculation might be in their attempt to influence U.S. politics. In a recent interview, Vice President Joe Biden stated that the United States was going to retaliate to the recent onslaught of Russian cyber aggression. He mentioned it would be done at […]

Taking Mosul from the Islamic State is a critical event that must transpire.  Mosul is one of the Islamic State’s most important strongholds. If not done in the best way possible – this fight could drag on. For the Islamic State, they know they’re out-gunned and so, creating humanitarian crisis to test the will of the […]

Ever since the beginning, the United States Army has relied on the skills of individuals to help steer the course of the conflict toward a more favorable outcome. General George Washington used a network of spies and informants to keep tabs on the British forces in order to know when and where to strike when […]