Strategy - Blogs of War

A New Counterintelligence Strategy

The National Counterintelligence and Strategy Center rolled out their roadmap for the next two years and, on paper at least, it looks good.

Covert Contact

Exploring Divergent Options with Phil Walter

Divergent Options is a new effort to build a body of concise analysis (1,000 words or less) on national security topics from a global talent pool. The project was launched by Phil Walter and he joins me on Covert Contact to discuss the effort and the important gap that it is seeking to fill.

Covert Contact

Cutting Through the Hybrid Warfare Hype

The conflict in Ukraine sparked a huge surge in interest in hybrid warfare. Phil Walter joins me in this episode to look at the less helpful aspects of that surge, discuss why the concept still matters, and to propose actions that could put us on better footing to deal with

Covert Contact

Are Ungoverned Spaces Inherently Dangerous?

In episode 40 of the Covert Contact podcast Phil Walter joins me to discuss some of the concepts laid out in his recent post on Blogs of War about ungoverned spaces and how they’re viewed from a national security perspective. Phil challenges some of the lazy assumptions and imprecise

Covert Contact

Understanding and Influencing Enemy Behavior

Phil Walter joins me again to discuss behavior. Why do the actors we seek to influence, friend and foe alike, behave the way that they do? What advantage does a deep understanding of the underlying motivations for their behavior give us? It’s easy to be dismissive of an enemy’

Covert Contact

Why Daesh's Social Media Campaign is a Massive Failure

In episode 7 of the Covert Contact podcast I’m pushing back at the notion that Daesh’s social media use is going to be a significant driver in their long-term success. The group might have mastered trolling and they can shoot and edit passable HD video but are these

Books

Excerpt: Before the First Shots Are Fired by General Tony Zinni and Tony Koltz

General Tony Zinni (retired) was commander-in-chief of CENTCOM and special envoy to the Middle East before retiring as a four-star general. He has appeared on The Daily Show and Meet the Press, among others. He is the author of The Battle for Peace and Leading the Charge. He lives in

Strategy

ASPI suggests: Washington, DC edition (with a Blogs of War shout-out)

Blogs of War got a nice shout-out from Natalie Sambhi at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s blog “The Strategist” today

Books

An Excerpt from Linda Robinson's One Hundred Victories: Special Ops and the Future of American Warfare

Linda Robinson is a senior international policy analyst at RAND. She has been an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Public Policy Scholar at the Wilson Center. Her book about the U.S. Army Special Forces, Masters of Chaos, was a New York Times bestseller; her

Terrorism

Rethinking Insurgency with Dr. Steven Metz

Dr. Steven Metz is Chairman of the Regional Strategy Department, Co-Director of the Future of American Strategy Project, and research professor at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. Dr. Metz has been at the Army War College since 1993, previously serving as Research Professor of National Security