Dempsey: Does Iraq have a political future?
At the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, General Martin E. Dempsey opened his remarks with a joke: “Some of you in the audience have been kind enough to invite me [to the Aspen Security Forum] four years...
View ArticleCaliphate Redux
The caliphate has been revived — again. But unlike in previous instances over the past several decades when jihadi groups made claims to states or “emirates,” the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s...
View ArticleA Widening Gulf: Impediments to Saudi Rapprochement with Iran
Despite reports to the contrary, Saudi Arabia and Iran are not about to turn a corner in their 35-year-long confrontation. These two oil-producing Middle Eastern heavyweights are diametrically opposed...
View ArticleWEEKEND READING: AUGUST 15
Happy Friday, War on the Rockers! Here is our weekly round up of the best articles and analysis on current affairs this week to get you ready for the weekend. Remembering Robin Williams. Dan Lamothe...
View ArticlePeace and War: The Space Between
President Obama’s commitment to reducing America’s reliance on the military instrument of power is well-known. It has been a constant theme of his presidency – from his first presidential campaign...
View Article(Air) Striking the Right Balance in Iraq
As the forces of the Islamic State (IS) have solidified their gains after declaring the establishment of a new caliphate and are now conducting spectacular attacks in Baghdad, threatening Kurdish...
View ArticleDon’t BS the American People About Iraq, Syria, and ISIL
The apparent beheading of American journalist James Foley by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a stark reminder of the group’s terrible brutality and the seriousness required to...
View ArticleIraq, Syria, and ISIL: Americans don’t want BS, but do they want leadership?
Brian Fishman’s new article, “Don’t BS The American People about Iraq, Syria, and ISIL” has set my Twitter feed alight today, garnering a great deal of praise. And while there is some insightful...
View ArticleNew Memoir Captures What Soldiers Never Say
At times it seems like every junior officer in the British army has written his or her Afghan War memoirs. Where Leo Docherty (Desert of Death) and Patrick Hennessy (The Junior Officer’s Reading Club)...
View ArticleObama Shouldn’t Lose His Cool Over the Islamic State
The beheadings of American journalists and the non-stop media coverage it spawned overshadowed a very important event that took place on August 22nd, one that will be repeated in the future. Militants...
View ArticleSunni Autonomy to Defeat the Islamic State
The Islamic State’s continuing march across large parts of Syria and Iraq, and two barbaric, high-profile murders of American journalists, are forcing policymakers to face a difficult ultimatum:...
View ArticleTo Defeat ISIL, Empower Sunni Iraqis and Syrians
Thirteen years after 9/11, Islamic militants have seized a state-sized territory in the heart of the Middle East, and the United States is struggling to determine how to respond. The two main...
View ArticleWeekend Reading: September 12
Hello, War on the Rockers. It’s been an eventful week, as we marked another anniversary of September 11 and saw momentum build for the next war. Now that the weekend is here, we’ve gathered another...
View ArticleWhy You Need to Check Out the Invictus Games
The Invictus Games — an athletic competition for wounded servicemembers — began yesterday in London. And they’re amazing. We should all appreciate the effort that went into organizing them. I...
View ArticleTo Defeat ISIS, Keep it Simple
An ages-old military dictum known as the “KISS” principle warns wartime planners to “Keep it Simple, Stupid.” Complexity is all too often the enemy of success. When too many uncertainties mix together...
View ArticleNo Escape from Baghdad: America’s Bipartisan Project in Iraq
The United States has essentially been at war in Iraq for 24 straight years. It began with Operation Desert Shield on August 7, 1990, with the first American fatality occurring just five days later....
View ArticleThe “No Boots on the Ground” Mantra is Strategic Foolishness
President Barack Obama is fond of publicly declaring that there will be “no boots on the ground” when commenting on the Syria, Iraq, and Islamic State crises. Key national security lieutenants in his...
View ArticleThe Islamic State’s Vulnerability
As the U.S. military joins with its allies and temporarily-aligned enemies to fulfill President Obama’s promise to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the self-proclaimed caliphate that spans portions of...
View ArticleISIL Is Contained And That Should Be Good Enough
You wouldn’t know it from the threat inflation (see here and here) by U.S. senior officials and politicians concerning the Islamic State — aka ISIL, ISIS, ISI, and AQI — but this terrorist threat is...
View ArticleNo, containing ISIL is not “good enough”
Is the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) contained? And would that be good enough? Dr. Christopher Bolan of the U.S. Army War College seems to think so. He argued as much recently here at War...
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