The drug war in Mexico is entering its fourth year as of 2011. The level of violence has spread throughout Mexico raising doubts as to Mexico's ability to win and assert its State authority. The violence in the Northern part of Mexico causes...
The majority of the Iraqi and the American public want the U.S. military to reduce its number of combat troops in Iraq. These Soldiers know that we cannot leave until the job is finished. Part of that job is ensuring that Iraq has a stable,...
Public trust and confidence in the military is at an all-time high, and public support for the troops could not greater, despite nearly a decade of persistent conflict. However, recent contracting scandals have put the military in a bad light, with...
Since its inception the United States Army has experienced a plethora of ethical issues during the different periods of combat operations in which it has been engaged. With the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism in September 2001, and a...
Afghan nationals are not using or maintaining USG-funded development projects in two provinces/PRTs critical to U.S. success. As such, this monograph seeks to answer whether USG development projects in Afghanistan are sustainable. To do so, it...
The US military, as with all US government agencies, shares the responsibility for countering proliferation efforts. Although we have identified the types of threat we face, the systems through which it operates are somewhat more difficult to...
Security concerns over the growing capability of Cyber Warfare are in the forefront of national policy and security discussions. In order to enable a realistic discussion of the topic this thesis seeks to analyze demonstrated Cyber Warfare...
Over the past decades, globalization has now become a new world order, which virtually influences everything that comes in our mind. Developing countries like Bangladesh with vulnerable geopolitical locations and weak economies are now looking at...
Treaties and agreements for mutual support and defense link the United States and the Philippines. This relationship traces back to the Manila Bay in 1898. In the years since 1898, the United States' role in the relationship between the two nations...
Narcotics trade is a major funding source for the insurgency in Afghanistan. Afghan law enforcement (LE) units target traffickers, processing labs, and drug caches to minimize this supply chain. These LE units are mentored by US Drug Enforcement...
During a staff meeting at United States European Command (USEUCOM), while General James L. Jones was the USEUCOM commander, he said "Engineers are the maneuver force for Phase Zero operations." In this paper, I will argue why engineers should be...
With combat formations schedule to begin drawing down in July 2011 and the role of US forces in Iraq already shifting away from the lead, the future of these two nations will grow increasingly dependent upon the indigenous security forces and the...
The Arab Spring is an event that has radically shifted the geopolitical landscape in one of the most volatile regions of the world. Many experts and policy makers were caught off guard by the speed and organizational ability of disparate citizens...
The Philippines faces a 39-year old communist insurgency. For years, it tried in vain to solve the problem by kinetic means. Deeply rooted in poverty, resolving this insurgency calls for non-kinetic approaches. This led to the creation of the...
Following the 1994 genocide an estimated two million people fled the country into exile in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The group that fled was comprised of a formidable military force in varying states of combat readiness. Seventeen...
This paper seeks to answer the question, “What role should the militaries of the US and their NATO allies play in the counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan?” This monograph shows the United States (US) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization...
Due to the parallels between Colombia and Afghanistan facing narcotic funded insurgencies, Colombia offers insights into Afghanistan's future. The monograph compares case studies of campaigns in Colombia and Afghanistan. These case studies locate...
The bitter lessons of history have taught West Africa that there are no longer respectable alternatives to democracy after the collapse of communism. Nonetheless, governance in West Africa in the 21st century remains the greatest problem because...
The opium trade is a major funding source for the insurgency in Afghanistan. The Afghan counter-narcotics law enforcement agencies continue to target drug traffickers with counterdrug missions in order to break the funding source of the insurgents....
Drug trafficking has been a menace in most Latin American countries for many decades. We know enough about how the phenomenon works as an economic and social problem and how it affects the continent, but in the last decade, with the attention of...