Counterinsurgency
America Can’t Turn Away From Counterinsurgency in Africa
Terrorism is once again increasing, with Islamic extremists inching ever closer to their goal of establishing a caliphate in Africa. The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Pentagon analysis institute,...
The Deeper Meaning of the Iran Nuclear Talks: ISIS, the Middle East and Beyond
It’s in Washington’s interest to separate the nuclear talks from other regional crises; it’s not in Iran’s. But that’s only as far as the nuclear negotiations are concerned. The region...
Think ISIS Militants Are Scary? Wait Until Their Kids Grow Up.
The Islamic State takes pride in training children to become jihadists, suicide bombers and beheaders. While morally despicable, this is not a discussion about the ethics of training children to...
Ebola on the Rise, F-35 on the Decline and ISIS on the Move?
The National Interest’s Managing Editor, Harry J. Kazianis, spoke with Dustin Walker, the Editor of RealClearDefense. Editor’s Note: Please see below an excerpt from Mr. Walker’s recent piece in TNI:...
Bombs Away: Time to Escalate the Air Campaign against ISIL
The air campaign part of President Obama’s strategy to degrade and destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been going on more than two months in...
The Big Cost of Success: The Rise and Ultimate Fall of ISIS
In the last year, ISIS has expanded its influence in Syria and Iraq with shocking ferocity and speed. In its rampage, the organization has wrested town after town from a...
America’s Fatal Blunder in the War against ISIS
U.S. and Western officials like to portray the campaign to defeat ISIS as a struggle between the civilized world and a monstrous terrorist organization. As with most wartime narratives throughout...
Turkey’s Crucial Role in America’s Campaign against ISIL
Two months ago, a medium-sized Yazidi village in Iraq called Sinjar was in desperate need of help. Surrounded and besieged by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the...
Will America Defeat the Islamic State?
How will the success or failure of the Allied campaign against Islamic State (IS) be judged, whenever our involvement in the fighting finally ends? This depends on the criteria of...
How ISIS Could Soon Control Close to Half of the Syrian Border with Turkey
The end appears very near in Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) in northern Syria as ISIS closes in on the city from three sides. For the past two weeks, Kurdish fighters of...
Algeria: North Africa’s Reluctant Policeman
The inner workings of Algeria’s opaque state structures are a mystery for many foreign observers. Since the country gained independence in 1962, Algeria’s inward-looking regime has jealously guarded its ability...
Breaking Down America’s Air War over Syria
After weeks of questions from the White House and Pentagon press corps and uncertainty from nearly everyone in Washington as to when kinetic activity above Syria would begin, the United...