The greatest threat to stability in Africa is the increase in transnational terrorist groups and criminals that occupy the ungoverned spaces. African nations suffer from the inability of the African governments to secure their borders and protect...
Actions taken or not taken by law enforcement agencies, in ungoverned spaces reduce US ability to forestall hostile actions on US soil. The current organization of the United States civil authorities and their limitations to impact "Ungoverned...
Since the end of the Cold War, changing global dynamics have brought about important political, social and economic developments to Southeast Asia. Foreign relations between the Southeast Asian states have also improved, reducing intra-regional...
The 2008 National Defense Strategy identifies promoting security as one of the nation's strategic objectives, using Security Force Assistance (SFA) as a method to build partner capacity. The primary threat addressed is violent extremist...
While Algeria was facing internal security issues with illegal Islamist armed groups in the 1990s, some Sahelian-Saharan states were reducing their institutional presence in their border region with Algeria. Mali was demilitarizing its northern...
The Department of Defense must establish specially trained and selected advisory teams that immerse themselves in the country for 2-3 years, and who work at the regional, country and unit level, provide the cultural understanding and regional...
The Sunni tribal uprising against Al Qaeda in Iraq, known as the Anbar Awakening, was the decisive event in the counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq. To capitalize on discontent between the Sunni population and Al Qaeda, U.S. commanders on the ground...
While it is no secret that Islamic terrorists utilize the internet, the assertion that the internet is a virtual safe haven more important than any geographical safe haven is rarely made. As a result of the expansion of the Internet capabilities...
The present challenge to the nation-state system broadly, and USG specifically, consists of non-state actors operating within the context of weak governance and unofficial economy. This thesis explores USG effectiveness in disrupting terrorist or...
The United States must revise and fully implement its homeland defense strategy, in particular, at the Southwest border. The nation's security strategy and defense doctrine now recognize a broader range of threats not only to the national security...
The ongoing military operations in Afghanistan underscore the importance of regional stability in Central and South Asia. While much of our attention remains focused on Afghanistan, the unstable nature of Pakistan creates a problematic scenario for...
This study investigates the operational aspects of counter-narcotics operations in the maritime domain. Research utilizes design methodology to assess the current and desired operating environments, as well as identify operational gaps. Research...
CJTF-HOA developed a course of action to win the War on Terror in the Horn of Africa. Because of the mission, resources available to the task force, and the nature of the conflict, the command chose a course of action that used Information...
"Presidential Study Directive on Mass Atrocities/PSD-10" and the 2010 National Security Strategy elevated mass atrocities to a core national security interest. This study argues that PSD-10 will be implemented in a world where international borders...
Current conditions in Somalia create difficult challenges for the United States. To address ungoverned spaces in the failed state of Somalia, the United States appears to seek multilateral solutions to piracy in the Gulf of Aden, and displays an...
Learning Counterinsurgency: Observations from Soldering in Iraq Lieutenant General David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army The Army has gained a great deal of experience in Iraq and Afghanistan about COIN operations. Here, one of the Army's most experienced...
While all warfare is an expression of politics, none is more pervasively so than irregular conflict. The irregular side, most probably employing a mixture of guerilla tactics and terrorism, will seek favorable political effect from several courses...
From shortly after its inception, Al Qa’ida has sought sanctuaries from which it could safely operate and provide support to Islamist groups around the world. It found one in Sudan from 1992 to 1996, in Afghanistan from the late 1980s to 2001,...
Hezbollah has emerged as the most dangerous terrorist group in the world. It has about 25,000 active armed members and it can muster a million more in the streets. They are disciplined, highly trained, with incredibly lethal equipment and an...
Presidential Study Directive-10 directed executive agencies to improve efforts in preventing human atrocities. Conflict analysis has identified that internal conflict has significant adverse impacts on civilian populations. Apart from increased...