A radical Islamic insurgency named Alshabab has appeared in Somalia in recent years. African Union forces, with the support of the international community are actively engaged to defeat this movement. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM),...
Bangladesh is a developing country of South Asia which earned its independence from Pakistan in 1971. With a majority Muslim populace, it enjoys a reputation as a moderate Muslim country where its people are traditionally more Bengali than Muslim....
Tactical level nuances between COIN by an external and an internal actor are barely distinguishable. The successful COIN practices for an external actor listed in FM 3-24 COIN manual of US Army include maintaining a constant, forward presence with...
It is evident that women are increasingly playing a role in terrorism. The war on terror has restricted freedom of action within the security environment for terrorist organizations, making it more advantageous for terrorist organizations to use...
The Niger Delta region is the nerve of the Nigerian economy. The region has witnessed series of conflicts largely due to the oil resources therein. Violent militancy in the Niger Delta assumed a new dimension in the mid nineties as the residents...
This paper aims to analyze the impediments involved in integration of the FATA in the national mainstream of Pakistan with a view to make suitable recommendations. This paper briefly discusses the historical background and provides a short overview...
The United States' democratization strategy since World War II demonstrates an estimated success rate of less than 3%. America currently uses a counterinsurgency / line of effort approach in democratization. This approach seeks to shape an...
Due to its haphazard partition from British Colonial India and a series of internal and external destabilizing events throughout the last six decades, Pakistan has been plagued with varying degrees of instability that leave it today on the edge of...
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...
Insurgency is a time-honored form of warfare that allows a weaker opponent to subvert the power of a stronger foe. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Spanish guerrillas waged an effective insurgency against the premier army of the...
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...
This monograph will explore the origins of the Islamic fundamentalist movement in South Asia that can be traced back to the Islamization program during the Zia ul Haq regime in Pakistan. Since 1947, Pakistan's early political administrations were...
With the U.S. high domestic consumption of illicit drugs, a relationship has formed between transnational gangs and powerful Latin American drug cartels. The ineffectiveness of the war on drugs, along with the high cost of such a program, begs the...
The military is increasingly using and relying on the term "narrative" in its lexicon. United States strategic guidance documents generally implore commanders to "shape the narrative," doctrinal publications recommend commanders to "exploit a...
Al Qaeda is a significant threat to the national security of the United States and its allies. This makes it important for individuals in these countries, both military and civilian, to understand the evolution of this threat. This thesis analyzes...
In June 1999, the international community, represented by KFOR and UNMIK entered Kosovo, and started one of the most costly peace-building operations ever. In March 2004 a part of the Albanian majority in Kosovo carried out riots that primarily...
The relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia has been a tenuous one following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The research question investigates what type of threat Iran poses to Saudi Arabia and how the Saudi's will respond. This threat is not...
The age of reductionism is over, new laws of physics are being discovered, and the old theoretical constructs are being replaced with new understanding. The modern operating environment in common with the world of physics has changed. This change,...
Islamist violent extremists (VE) and violent extremist organizations (VEO) require a broad range of material, social, and financial support to organize, train, conduct operations, and sustain their ideologies and terrorist/insurgent endeavors....
In the words of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, "The United States, our allies, and our partners face a spectrum of challenges' We must balance strategic risk across the responses, making the best use of the tools at hand within the U.S....