Between the wife being extraordinarily busy and trying to get ready for the Holiday Season, I have almost completely unplugged for the last month or so and am trying to get caught back up. Today’s reading list focuses primarily on what you and I (mostly me) may have missed from what I believe are some of the most important online sources in critical thinking and professional military development in the National Security Realm. No theme today, just catching up.
For a deeeep dive on a Taiwan defense strategy I suggest A Large Number of Small Things: A Porcupine Strategy for Taiwan from the Texas National Security Review. This article goes in depth not only on the large number of small things but the small number of large things Taiwan has been buying/building up for their defense. From the article:
As China’s rhetoric about “reunification” with Taiwan and the military’s gray-zone activities intensify, Taiwan should adopt a strategy that includes a large number of small things in order to leverage Taiwan’s geographic and technological advantages, exploit the People’s Liberation Army’s vulnerabilities, and help to deter an attempt to take the island by force.
Taiwan has not always followed this strategy in practice but there are political reasons for them not too as the author describes. Overall, it’s a good read if you want to get in the weeds on what a whole of government approach to defense could look like. One aspect that was only briefly touched on that I hope is happening behind the scenes is a focus on the civilian component of resistance which is better described in this MWI Podcast: On Resistance. Given the proximity of Taiwan to China and the prospect of a quick western response…I think this will be an important aspect of their defense.
If you are looking to get caught up on your podcasts…I suggest starting with Two Sides of the COIN: Good Governance vs. Compellence from the Irregular Warfare Project. Hosts Abigail Gage and Kyle Atwell interview Jacqueline L. Hazelton, an associate professor at the US Naval War College and Anne-Marie Slaughter, the CEO of New America and the Bert G. Kerstetter ’66 university professor emerita of politics and international affairs at Princeton University. In the podcast they, “discuss success in counterinsurgency warfare—more broadly, whether great powers can suppress destabilizing insurgencies and reform corrupt or repressive governments into legitimate ones.” Overall, this was a very good podcast that definitely worth the 40 or so minutes but the money quote for me was: “The United States does not sufficiently recognize the agency of local actors,” and continues with the theme that our idealism, values and interest rarely matches others and and offers the warning: beware of ambitious political objectives.
Changing directions a bit to terrorism, The Modern War Institute’s The Terrorists’ Marketplace: Do More Terrorist Groups Always Mean More Violence? is and interesting for read the question the article poses itself. I had never really thought of a Terrorists’ Marketplace but the concept makes sense as does their conclusion – not always.
To round things out for today, how about the final podcast from the Western Way of War Episode 77: So What Did We Learn, if Anything? If this podcast was intended, as the host states, as more of a conversation starter than answering questions then I think they achieved their goal. The podcast is a retrospective on the project and asks, if there is one, what is the Western way of war? The answer to that question seems to be a bit elusive and is best defined by our adversaries’ perception. They see us as a centralized force that is highly reliant on big ticket items like signals, data, technology, orders and currently defined by the U.S. doctrine of war. The show host was not very optimistic about the current prospects for change given the agreed upon most important aspects of war will remain human centric defined by their adaptability in the face of battle.
These are just a few of the articles/podcasts that I found to be interesting. Anyway, there is plenty more to choose from in Today’s Daily Dump.
Inspired by the Cognitive Raider Initiative, The Cognitive Warrior Project has put together a daily list of diverse articles that can easily be chosen from to play a part in developing a more mentally agile warfighter that embraces the adaptation required for tomorrow’s battlefield. Our intent is to create a space where you can choose one or two articles a day (about 10 minutes) instead of mindlessly scrolling social media.
As a reminder: The Cognitive Warrior Project is a private media site, and it is not affiliated in any way with Special Operation Forces, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. None of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, DoD or Space Force have endorsed, supported, directed, or participated in the creation of the content at this site, or in the creation of the site itself. It’s just a media site that happens to cover the U.S Military, DoD and other National Intelligence Assets.
January 5, 2022
Podcast: Two Sides of the COIN: Good Governance vs. Compellence – Irregular Warfare Podcast
Podcast: Strength in Numbers: The Future of Coalition Building and Irregular Warfare – Irregular Warfare Podcast
Podcast: When Security Force Assistance Works—and When it Doesn’t – MWI Podcast
Podcast: Modern War Year in Review – MWI Podcast
Podcast: The Urban Warfare Project’s Christmas Wish List, 2021 Edition – The Urban Warfare Podcast
Podcast: The Mothers’ Bus Attack and the Yamam – The Urban Warfare Podcast
Podcast: Fire in the Skies Over Baghdad – The Spear
Podcast: Incoming! – The Spear
The Terrorists’ Marketplace: Do More Terrorist Groups Always Mean More Violence? – Modern War Institute
The MWI Top Ten: Our Most Read Articles of 2021 – Modern War Institute
Static Inertia: The Legal Challenges to Making Progress on an Effective Military Information Strategy – Modern War Institute
War Books, Special Edition: Building Your 2022 Reading List – Modern War Institute
Bring Back the Sightseeing Sixth: The Case for an Arctic Division – Modern War Institute
Swarm Talk: Understanding Drone Typology – Modern War Institute
Up In Smoke: DoD, Ineffectiveness, and the Distracting Persistence of Counternarcotics – Modern War Institute
Risky Business: Why America Should Stay Out of the Regime Change Business – Modern War Institute
An Assessment of Taliban Rule at Three Months – Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point
An Unlikely Pair: The Link Between the Uyghur Genocide and 9/11 – Georgetown Security Studies Review
Turkey at the Crossroads: Shaping Strategic Balance in an Era of Complex Interdependence – Georgetown Security Studies Review
TWO THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE U.S.-CHINA COMPETITION – War Room
ON GOOD PENMANSHIP: QUARTERED SAFE OUT HERE (DUSTY SHELVES) – War Room
ANCHORED AT THE TOP: WOMEN IN PEACE AND SECURITY – A Better Peace
#Reviewing Hoarding Memory – The Strategy Bridge
#Reviewing Dodgebomb: Outside the Wire in the Second Iraq War – The Strategy Bridge
#Reviewing Speed: The Life of a Test Pilot and Birth of an American Icon – The Strategy Bridge
The Taliban’s Homemade Counterinsurgency – Royal United Service Institute
How Russia’s Black Sea Fleet Could Change the Equation in Ukraine – Royal United Service Institute
The Afghan Debacle Should Prompt China to Revise its South Asia Policy – Royal United Service Institute
North Korea’s Oil Terminals Come Back to Life as Imports Breach UNSC Cap – Royal United Service Institute
Podcast: Episode 77: So What Did We Learn, if Anything? – Western Way of War
Podcast: Episode 3: It’s Not About Star Wars, It’s About Integration – War in Space
Speaker Series: Russian Grand Strategy: Reality and Rhetoric – NSI
Speaker Series: How to Make Alliances Succeed Across Multiple Dimensions of Power: Atlantic, Indo-Pacific, and Historical Lessons – NSI
If Russia Invaded Ukraine – RAND
Pakistani Taliban emir says his group “is a branch of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” – Long War Journal
Ansaru congratulates the Taliban in Afghanistan, promotes Al Qaeda ties – Long War Journal
Palestinian Factions Launch Military Maneuvers in Gaza – Long War Journal
Ansaru reaffirms its allegiance to al Qaeda – Long War Journal
Gaza Militant Group Raises Funds via Cryptocurrency for Jihad Against Israel – Long War Journal
Podcast: The Inverse Midas Touch: Why America’s Interventions So Often Go Wrong – Horns of Dilemma
Podcast: A Slavish Devotion to Presence?– Net Assessment
Podcast: Gen. David H. Berger on the Marine Corps of the Future – War on the Rocks
Podcast: A Novel Approach to Intelligence – Horns of a Dilemma
Podcast: Talent Management for a Modern Military – Net Assessment
France’s Shifting Relations with China – War on the Rocks
South Korea’s Taiwan Conundrum – War on the Rocks
Are New and Emerging Technologies Game-Changers for Smaller Powers? – War on the Rocks
Strategic Ambiguity and the Risk of War with Russia over Ukraine – War on the Rocks
What’s Behind the Arms Buildup in the Balkans – War on the Rocks
A Large Number of Small Things: A Porcupine Strategy for Taiwan – Texas National Security Review
From Ankara With Implications: Turkish Drones and Alliance Entrapment – War on the Rocks
Stop Undermining Partners with ‘Gifts’ – War on the Rocks
Left of Beep: The United States Needs an Algorithmic Warfare Group – War on the Rocks
Embrace the Arms Race in Asia – War on the Rocks
Australia’s Military Strategic Challenges – Close to Home – The Forge
Three words that conjure dangerous oversimplification – The Forge
Taking Down the Caliphate: The story of an ad-hoc SOF task force that helped turn the tide against the Islamic state – Small Wars Journal
Modern Russian Statecraft: Neither New nor Hybrid, Part One – Small Wars Journal
Changing Hearts and Brains: SOF Must Prepare Now for Neurowarfare – Small Wars Journal
A Vision for Integrated Civil Affairs in the US Marine Corps – The Civil Affairs Association
Two holes in the Rafiqah Wall: Examining the effects of combat on a heritage site through the prisms – The Civil Affairs Association
The Iranian and Houthi War against Saudi Arabia – Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Kremlin Playbook 3 – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Is China Building a New String of Pearls in the Atlantic Ocean? – Center for Strategic and International Studies
China Is Ramping Up Its Electronic Warfare and Communications Capabilities near the South China Sea – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Analysis of the FY 2022 Defense Budget – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Navigating U.S. Foreign Assistance – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Preventing violent extremism in south-eastern Senegal – Institute for Security Studies
Mercenaries and private military security: Africa’s thin grey line – Institute for Security Studies
Sweet deals for Kenya’s sugar smugglers – Institute for Security Studies
The Growing Danger of U.S. Ambiguity on Taiwan – Foreign Affairs
Why the Stalemate in Eastern Ukraine Will Likely Hold – Foreign Affairs
Washington Is Preparing for the Wrong War With China – Foreign Affairs
Arms Control and Strategic Stability with Russia: The View from Europe – CNAS
Is South Korea close to officially ending the Korean War? – FRONTLINE
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