When Armies Divide: The Security of Nuclear Arsenals During Revolts, Coups, and Civil Wars
In this brief volume Jenkins takes a detailed look at the General’s putsch, which was a 1961 coup attempt by a group of retired French Generals against President Charles de Gaulle. However, it is not the putsch itself that attracts Jenkins’ analytical attention, but the chaos surrounding the status of a nuclear device that was [...]
West Africa: Terrorism’s New Front Yard
Introduction There is a new front in the global fight against terrorism and terrorists. Ethnic, religious, and political tensions in West Africa, simmering for the past few years, have boiled over into widespread violence and coordinated military efforts throughout the region. A recent attack at an oil facility in Algeria has highlighted the wealth of [...]
Adam Lanza and Dangerous Minds
We asked Chris Flaherty, author of the recent OODA sponsored monograph entitled “Dangerous Minds: The Relationship between Beliefs, Behaviors, and Tactics” for his thoughts regarding the recent Adam Lanza attacks. What follows is his response. “Adam Lanza, has been the subject of much media speculation, however if some of the reporting is to be credited [...]
Terrorism Online: The Web’s Role in Radicalization
Old-fashioned paper propaganda is getting phased out. Taking its place is social media, a relative newcomer that is taking the world by storm. Social media’s open, web-based interactive formats allow for instant communication to an unlimited audience. The use of social media has dramatically risen in the last decade, especially among young adults. The monumental [...]
The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands Crisis
Known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, there isn’t much on these five uninhabited islands between China, Taiwan, and Japan besides goats and strife. Recent disputes over the islands amid rising nationalism and unstable internal politics in both China and Japan, however, have put relations between the two countries in their worst state [...]
Islamism and the Attacks on the US Embassy: A Historical Analysis
The following is an analysis of the whole based off of a single “index.” Here the analysis is indexed off of movements within history. This index explains recent events in terms of connections to the past. There is much truth in this sort of analysis. It is not, however, capable of fully explaining current events. [...]
Haiti: How Much More Can it Fail?
Since the 2004 coup d’etat of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the 2006 installation of René Préval, Haiti underwent profound chaos and political instability coupled with a dire economic climate which left 86 percent of Port-au-Prince residents living in slum conditions. Then, in January 2010, a 7.0 earthquake left 1.5 million people homeless, 220,000 dead, and 10 [...]
The Empire State Building Shootout and Use of Force
On Friday morning, August 24, police shot a man who had murdered a former coworker and drew a gun on them outside of the Empire State Building. The two officers shot the man dead, hitting him 7 to 9 times from fewer than 10 feet, but they also injured 9 bystanders, none fatally. This incident [...]
The Pussy Riot Case Was A Victory for Putin
On Friday, August 17, three members of a Russian feminist punk rock band were sentenced to two years in prison for singing an anti-Putin song at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They were found guilty of hooliganism and religious hatred against the Russian Orthodox Church, though the verdict was transparently a message for other opposition protesters. Since the band’s arrest, [...]
Weaponizing Markets: India’s Naxalite Insurgency
“I have said in the past that left-wing extremism is the single biggest security challenge to the Indian state. It continues to be so.” – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh There is a threat to India’s existence. It has little to do with radical Islam or potential conflict with Pakistan.The once-suppressed Naxalite insurgency is siphoning the flows of globalization and [...]
