Category: Expert Analysis

Putin has ordered a resumption of a Cold War favorite. In the past few days there has been a marked increase of Russian bombers sniffing around the edges of U.S. airspace.

It’s with a fair amount of trepidation, but not a great deal of surprise that we learned about the return of U.S. forces in active combat roles in Iraq today. It was just a few years ago, the end of 2011, that we ostensibly washed our hands of the fruitless mission of trying to keep […]

On August 7, President Obama announced from the White House that, in light of the plight of the Yezidi refugees on Sinjar Mountain, and the advance of ISIS onto the Ninewa Plain toward Erbil, he has authorized American airstrikes specifically in support of humanitarian relief operations for the Yezidi refugees, and to protect American personnel […]

“We’re going to bring everybody back.” How often have you heard a commander say that? How often have you heard comparisons of casualty counts between OEF/OIF and Vietnam? In about the same timeframe, we’ve suffered 5,312 combat deaths and 1,434 non-combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, as compared to 58,300 combat and non-combat deaths […]

The bomb was prepared by local terrorists aided by Hezbollah and Iran, whose diplomatic group left Argentina a few hours later. This is why I joined the IDF…

In the wake of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17 and the subsequent intensifying insurgency in Eastern Ukraine, the world leaders and policy professionals have begun to re-assesses the state of burgeoning conflict between the globe’s preeminent powers: the United States/European community and Russia. Policymakers, politicians and leaders in international organizations have begun the process […]

The following was sent in by Larry Grimm, one of our readers and a former Corpsman with 1st Recon Bn in Vietnam. -Peter Nealen Recent reports of ISIS capturing uranium from a university have raised some alarms in the civilian community about the risk of a dirty bomb. The subject seems to come up every […]

War or not war? You might ask yourself that when watching what is happening in Ukraine. If it isn’t the war then why are planes over Ukraine being shot down? If it is a war, then who is fighting whom? On one side we have Ukraine, for sure, but what about the other side? Media […]

This subject has been touched on before, many times, but with recent news about heat problems and onboard fires involving the massively delayed and over-budget F-35, and the news that DoD is now contracting Hollywood special effects artists to attempt to design the 400-lb TALOS “Iron Man” Suit, it bears repeating. The common belief in […]

In the aftermath of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine, influential personalities in the United States have begun confidently inserting themselves into the debate on American foreign policy. Specifically, the aforementioned have been speaking with forthrightness on the territorial battles in Eastern Europe. Politicians, public intellectuals, academics, and policy wonks have been commenting publicly on an increasingly confrontational […]

As the world dissects the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, we need to prepare for what’s next. What’s the potential regional and international impact over the downing of Flight 17? Utilizing an approach taught me while in uniform, I’ll outline what I believe are the “most dangerous” and “most likely” courses of action. Most […]

According to recent reporting from Business Insider, the world’s top thirty-five militaries have been identified through a series of analytical and data collection means.  Using data compiled from Global Firepower and The Center For Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Business Insider created a useful infographic that visually displays the results of their analysis. We wanted to identify the […]