In part one of Russia and the West: Beyond Ukraine, I laid out the national priorities and goals of the Russian government in fomenting violent conflict in zones where well-supported insurrectionist movements strive to cultivate an environment of separatism and, ultimately, independence for the separatist regions. In part two, I will examine Russian efforts to dominate the … [Read more...] about Russia and the West: Beyond Ukraine pt. 2 (Regional)
As Russia continues to exacerbate tensions in Eastern Ukraine, openly transporting resources in the form of military supplies to rebel contingents and funneling funding to established proxy regimes and operational commands inside Donbas, an interesting byproduct of the conflict is emerging throughout the rest of the post-Soviet space. In part one of this series, I examine … [Read more...] about Russia and the West: Beyond Ukraine, Pt. 1 (SITREP)
The European community and the United States, frustrated with Turkey’s seemingly uncooperative posture with regard to the West’s battle to contain, degrade, and destroy the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS), have apparently reached a boiling point on the subject. Calls for Turkey’s ouster from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a refugee crisis largely stemming … [Read more...] about Turkey: ISIS, Recalcitrance, and Geopolitical Necessities
As I noted in Al-Qaeda After the Rise of ISIS: India, al-Qaeda has seemingly reconceptualized both the group’s role and its scope of strategic operations in the wake of the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. On September 3, Ayaman al-Zawahiri announced the formation of a new al-Qaeda affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). Comprised of a myriad … [Read more...] about Al-Qaeda After the Rise of ISIS: China
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the former Soviet Republic engaged in a protracted war with neighboring Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh, a region administered by the government in Baku, is fiercely contested by an overwhelming majority Armenian population and the government in Yerevan. Hostilities have recently threatened to spill out of … [Read more...] about Azerbaijan Assesses the Growing Threat of ISIS
The last few generations of military veterans have been fortunate to live in an America that, by and large, respects, appreciates, and admires the service and sacrifice of the United States military in wartime. While the wars have been far from popular in terms of public-opinion polls, the American citizenry remains quite respectful of service in wartime, defense of the … [Read more...] about Veterans Day: My Grandfather and My Fellow Veterans
The public’s focus on the seemingly endless number of human-rights abuses and territorial gains of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has left al-Qaeda somewhat on the margins of the debate over the strategic objectives of the international Islamist movement. This summer, as ISIS surged into Iraq and the conflict in Syria finally boiled over into its neighbor, … [Read more...] about Al-Qaeda After the Rise of ISIS: India
I’ve written a few articles now both here at SOFREP and at Foreign Intrigue on what I identified last year as fracture points. Loosely defined, fracture points represent geographical areas and regions occupying space along important lines of demarcation between the two belligerents and represent geostrategically important terrain straddling the two competing sides of the … [Read more...] about Abkhazia: The Next Crimea?
Since the very beginning of the war against international terrorist elements in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, a confluence of Haqqani Network, Al Qaeda, localized insurgency elements, and Afghan Taliban have carefully cultivated a hub of operations and a substantial haven in southeastern Afghanistan. As many know of Afghanistan's recent history, the domination of the … [Read more...] about Ghazni Province, Afghanistan: Not Defeated
Conflicts in high profile geopolitical hot spots such as Gaza, Hong Kong, and Eastern Ukraine have continued to dominate media headlines and cable television news cycles. As such, many other burgeoning insurrections have begun to languish far below the public’s radar. Separatist movements in Abkhazia and South Ossetia of Georgia, Catalan of Spain, and Scotland of the United … [Read more...] about The Post-Soviet Space: Uzbekistan and the Dilemma of Karakalpakstan
This past week, some interesting reporting regarding the evolution of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) centered around the group's announcement of opening "offices" in Afghanistan. This maneuver reflects a considerable shift in strategic goals for ISIS. Though rhetoric thus far has maintained the group's ultimate pursuit of the establishment of a Caliphate that would … [Read more...] about ISIS, Icarus, and the Value of Strategic Planning
As the American media continues to inexplicably divert its attention from the conflicts and disease ravaging through several countries in Africa in favor of the ongoing violence in Syria and Iraq, a similar situation to that which characterizes Western Africa has re-emerged in the more remote regions of Afghanistan: an outbreak of an infectious and deadly disease. In the … [Read more...] about Polio: The Next Ebola?
