No longer at ease: After over 20 years of losing wars, recruiting for US Army is officially a mess
The tempo of recruitment has always swung back and forth, depending in part on whether the economy is bad or booming. Today, that economy may be a mess, but hiring is still remarkably robust, leaving high school graduates with more choices than just the Army or stocking shelves at Walmart (which, by the way, also offers college tuition assistance).
How some African nations avoided civil war: Sharing of resources, budget between regions did it
To survive this initial vulnerability, a terrorist group needs to be able to mobilise its forces for a more systematic form of warfare. Terrorism doesn’t require mobilisation, but insurgency does. Consequently our research led to four major findings.
How US is hurtling at breakneck speed out of Forever War era and into age of Eternal War
In Ukraine, as each week passes, the United States only seems to ramp up its commitment to war with Russia, moving the slim line of proxy warfare ever closer to a head-to-head confrontation between the planet’s two great military powers.
War in Yemen winds down with complete absence of US role as China parades influence
The war in Yemen looks like it’s coming to an end. US media reported on Thursday that a ceasefire extending through 2023 had been agreed to, but those reports also included Houthi denials. On Friday, Al Mayadeen, a generally pro-Houthi Lebanese news outlet, reported optimism from the Houthi side that...
Trump is back with supercharged battery as his sleazy financial and political past rock America
Whatever attributes Donald Trump may have, a reputation for keeping calm is not something he carries with him. This week, hours after he made a new entry in the book of firsts for an American president when he was charged with 34 felony counts, he returned to the arms of...
Financing violent extremism: How terror groups in Africa prey on local businesses to deliver brutal justice
Moustapha was running out of hope. The Nigerien man had a family to feed but little means to do so. Like scores of people around the continent, he was persuaded to join and fight for a violent extremist organisation. “I joined because I felt frustrated with the conditions of everyday...
Risking democracy: Power-sharing may soon become Kenya’s default mode after every election
Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga and his coalition party, Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya called for mass protests across the country on March 20, marking the beginning of violent expression of disconcert with the government failure or inability to rein in high cost and galloping inflation. Odinga and his team have...
Trump indictment is a reminder of unparalleled criminality and conspiracy that surrounded the US presidential 2016 poll
The literally unprecedented indictment against Donald Trump marks an outright dangerous – and politically fraught – moment for the United States and serves as a reminder of the unparalleled level of criminality and conspiracy that surrounded the 2016 election. It’s easy to look back at the 2016 election as though...
Al Shabaab’s resilience is helped by a regime fraught with clannism that makes it susceptible to infiltration and sabotage – report
In areas where al Shabaab has not been able to penetrate the locality to establish a threat of violence, its extortion practices are less successful. Businessmen operating solely within Baidoa and Kismayo, for example, have reported rebuffing al Shabaab demands for payment without fear of retribution. This has coincided with...
Report: Dismantling Al Shabaab’s revenue generating infrastructure is key to weakening the militant group
Cutting off al Shabaab’s estimated $100 million in extortion-generated annual revenue will require restoring the integrity of Somalia’s compromised financial, judicial and intelligence agencies. Despite setbacks, al Shabaab remains a resilient and destabilising threat in Somalia. In the past year, it was linked to 2,553 violent events and 6,225 fatalities....
