Aid workers to train and work alongside SEAL Team 6?

Aid workers to train and work alongside SEAL Team 6?

Since the Vietnam War, the United States government has experimented with embedding development workers within military and intelligence teams to advance its work in counterinsurgency (COIN) missions with programs such as Civil Operations and Rural Development Support (CORDS) and Phoenix. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has always led the charge in providing […]

China says US media is lying about why Pacific nations want the F-35

China says US media is lying about why Pacific nations want the F-35

China’s aggressive claims of sovereignty over the vast majority of the South China Sea have put the nation at odds with many of its Pacific neighbors, many of whom have conflicting claims over portions of the waterway. International law permits the navigation of waterways outside of about 12 nautical miles from a nation’s shore and […]

No, the US isn’t abandoning the Kurds in Syria

No, the US isn’t abandoning the Kurds in Syria

“The Kurds have no friend but the mountains,” as the old saying goes. Yet there are few mountains in Northern Syria, where the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) formed a coalition with Arab militias called the Syrian Democratic Forces to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The […]

State Department pulls remaining staff from Venezuela, urges all Americans to leave

State Department pulls remaining staff from Venezuela, urges all Americans to leave

The U.S. State Department announced earlier this week it would be evacuating the remainder of its embassy staff still stationed in Caracas, Venezuela. This latest order comes as the political situation in the country continues to destabilize after a massive blackout crippled several urban areas throughout the South American nation. “Like the January 24 decision […]

Operation Sickle and Hammer: Ukraine prepares to take back Donbass from Russia

Operation Sickle and Hammer: Ukraine prepares to take back Donbass from Russia

Fears continue to mount in eastern Ukraine as the country nears all-out war with Russia. Reports show that Russia has prepared a large strike force on the border of Ukraine. Some would claim this is a frozen war, as all attempts at resolving the conflict with diplomacy have failed. Since the start of this year, […]

North Korea’s Jong-un ramps up missile activity after Trump Hanoi summit collapse

North Korea’s Jong-un ramps up missile activity after Trump Hanoi summit collapse

Just days after the collapse of the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un, there are reports of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) activity on the north side of the Military Demarcation Line. According to information from Reuters and the South Korean press, supply trucks were seen entering […]

The art of plausible deniability: Russian mercenaries supporting Libyan National Army

The art of plausible deniability: Russian mercenaries supporting Libyan National Army

Recent reports have indicated the Russian private military firm Wagner Group has reinforced Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) with 300 personnel in Libya. The report also suggests the mercenary group has delivered artillery, tanks, drones, and ammunition to the LNA. What is the Wagner Group? Wagner Group is an unregistered Russian paramilitary company that […]

Russia releases American nuclear target list, including two bases that have been closed for years

Russia releases American nuclear target list, including two bases that have been closed for years

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a nuclear warning to the United States, saying Russia’s nuclear arsenal would target the U.S. if America decided to deploy any nuclear weapons to the European continent following its formal withdrawal from the INF treaty. Putin’s remarks were reminiscent of a national address the Russian president delivered two […]

US Africa Command denies American casualties in latest al-Shabaab terrorist attack

US Africa Command denies American casualties in latest al-Shabaab terrorist attack

The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) denied that three U.S. soldiers were killed by an al-Shabaab mortar attack. AFRICOM accuses the extremist group of fabricating casualties of U.S. service members at the forward operating base (FOB) of Baledogle–also referred to as “B-dog”–on February 15, 2019. AFRICOM spokesman Christopher P. Karns told Xinhua News Agency, “No […]

Venezuela assembles neo-Axis of Evil to oppose US intervention

Venezuela assembles neo-Axis of Evil to oppose US intervention

The ongoing rift between Nicolas Maduro and Juan Guaido was brought to the international stage at the United Nations earlier this week. The Venezuelan foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, took the stage with representatives from Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, China, and Russia to deliver a speech asking the General Assembly to prevent the United States […]

Analysis: United Nations peace negotiations in Ukraine have stalled, no clear path forward identified

Analysis: United Nations peace negotiations in Ukraine have stalled, no clear path forward identified

The United Nations (U.N.) has announced the peace negotiations focused on implementing the 2014 Minsk Protocol and resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine have stalled. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenca made the comment in a speech before the U.N. Security Council on February 12, at an event marking the fourth anniversary of the accords. Jenca […]