Sunday, November 22, 2015

Commentary


Need for a "Warrior Statesmen Regiment". Understanding complex wars like Afghanistan requires a flexible military that has diversity in its methodology and processes. One writer believes that the Army's personnel system is flawed and the militarys approaches to warfighting (as in MDMP) is not well suited to complex problems. He recommends the establishment of a course or school (and unit?) that ". . . would cover the human factors necessary to handle complexity . . .". Read more in the article by Alexander Frank, "Complexity, Psychology, and Modern War", Small Wars Journal, November, 17, 2015.

Panel Discussion on U.S. Mission in Afghanistan - Nov 23rd. The Middle East Institute will be hosting a discussion a entitled "Reappraising the U.S. Military Strategy and Mission in Afghanistan" on Monday, November 23rd from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm EST. Panel participants include LTG (R) David Barno of the American University (also senior commander in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005), Ali Jalali - former Interior Minister of Afghanistan and now with NDU, and others.
www.mei.edu/events/us-military-mission-afghanistan-succeeding

Stability Operations Era. Dr. Mark Moyar (author, consultant, and strategist) notes that "the stability operations era was born of the debris of the 9/11 attacks and operationalized with the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq." He also recognizes that one of the lessons from conflicts such as Afghanistan ". . . is that developing competent and committed local forces is often a linchpin of sustainable success." Read "FPI Analysis: The Stability Operations Era", The Foreign Policy Initiative, November 18, 2015.

"Force of the Future". Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has announced a group on initiatives to maintain the DoD's competitive edge in keeping and bringing in top talent to serve in the military. Read an analysis of this new program in "The Force of the Future", by Mark F. Cancian and Todd Harrison, Center for Strategic & International Studies, November 19, 2015.

MC-02 - An Exercise Breaking the Rules. Gary Anderson and Dave Dilegge write on the lessons of Millennium Challenge 02 in "Six Rules for Wargaming", War on the Rocks, November 11, 2015.

Balancing India and Pakistan. Afghanistan is in a difficult position today. Can it walk the line between India and its next door neighbor? Pakistan sees Afghanistan in terms of its strategic fight with India and considers Afghanistan as its strategic rear and a possible second front during a war with India. Therefore its policy of keeping Afghanistan in a state of turmoil with its support of the Afghan Taliban. India sees opportunity for diplomatic and economic advancement - something that Pakistan opposes. Read "On a Tightrope", by Umair Jamal, The Diplomat, November 16, 2015.

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