Written by: Nils Peterson As the United States completed its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Indo-Pacific began to loom ever larger in American geopolitical strategy. War is a two-sided game, however, and military conflict with terrorist groups like al-Qaeda will not end simply because the United States took its ball and went home from Afghanistan….
Tag: Military
Revisiting Mad Mike Hoarse and the Legacy of Mercenaries in the Congo
Written by: Cooper Stewart Few places in the 20th century have been as unstable and volatile as the Congo region, or what is today known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its troubled history included a period immediately following its independence from Belgium in 1960 to the formation of a dictatorship in 1965 would…
Counterterrorism Plus, or Intervention Under a Different Name: A Look at a Biden Administration’s Middle Eastern Policy
Written by: Cooper Stewart With the 2020 election results virtually finalized, all appears set for former vice president Joe Biden to be sworn into the oval office in January 2021. While many leaders from around the globe expressed “hope” and “relief” with his victory, the reaction from the Middle East was far more mixed regarding…
Trump’s Decision on Syria Could Cause an Adverse Butterfly Effect
Written by: Jadalyn Eagens “Bottom line: Trump tonight after one call with a foreign leader provided a gift to Russia, Iran, and ISIS,” tweeted former presidential ISIS envoy Brett McGurk, speaking of President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement on Sunday, October 6, to withdraw troops from their posts along Syria’s border with Turkey. Trump’s decision came…
“A Stain on the American conscious”: The Consequences of America’s Withdrawal from Syria
Written by: Joe McInerney While Washington has been engulfed in a bitter impeachment battle, a decision by President Donald Trump to pull US troops out of Northern Syria and allow Turkish forces to invade the area has resulted in bipartisan uproar against the President. In the face of mounting pressure, President Trump has indicated that…
Three Key Takeaways From the Fight Against ISIS
Written by: Daniel Yun On March 23rd, 2019, U.S.-backed coalition forces finally captured the last remaining Syrian town, Baghuz, held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). A once mighty caliphate, the terrorist organization has wreaked havoc and terror in the Middle East for the last five years. In response, the United States…
Contentious Partnership: The U.S. Military Withdrawal from Syria
Written by: Ariana King On December 19th, 2018, President Trump announced that the United States would withdraw 2,000 troops from Syria within 30 days, claiming that the Islamic State (IS), an Islamist extremist group, had been defeated and that U.S. troop presence was no longer necessary. This decision was met with significant domestic and international…
Mission Accomplished? Why Trump Cannot Withdraw Troops in Syria
Written by: Daniel Yun On January 16th, 2019 four American troops were killed by an Islamic State suicide bomber in Syria. This incident came weeks after President Donald Trump declared the war against ISIS (ISIL or the Islamic State) won and ordered the withdrawal of American troops. The withdrawal process has already started with American…
Latvia 101: How the Baltic Republic Fits into the Tension Between the Russian Federation and the West
Written by: Jared Lang The Republic of Latvia lies sandwiched between the Baltic Sea and the Russian Federation, and though it is not often discussed when tensions flare in Eastern Europe, it holds a critical position and offers insight into the ongoing frictions between Russia and the United States. In the post-World War II division…
Space: The New Military Frontier
Written by: Jason Geissler “There is no war in space, just as there is no war in cyberspace. There is only war, and war can extend into any domain.” General John Hyten, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command Despite numerous treaties over the last half-century to prevent the militarization of outer space, the world’s superpowers have been…
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