This monograph investigates culture and society in Afghanistan and recommends an operational approach leveraging a blend of formal and traditional institutions, working with the propensity of the Afghan system, and building capacity and legitimacy...
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the militant Islamist threat within the United States, to determine whether the current United States National Counter-Terrorism Structure can prevent the next significant terror attack in the homeland,...
Military officials often utilize the PMESII-PT acronym (Political, Military, Economic, Social, Information, Infrastructure, Physical Environment, and Time) as an analytical start point to assess an operational environment. However, the linear...
American policy in Afghanistan has evolved since the initial engagement of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. It has become increasingly clear that strategic focus must include a plan to concentrate upon and continue development of a stable and secure...
This monograph investigates Khalid Bin Waleed's seventh century (AD 633-634) campaign against the Sassanid Persian Empire in Mesopotamia to trace the evidence that substantiates application of modern characteristics of operational art. The question...
An effective financial system is essential to economic development. US Army doctrine acknowledges that military forces play an important role in supporting economic stabilization and infrastructure development. A specific task is to support the...
The al Ikhwan al Muslimim, the Society of Muslim Brothers or Muslim Brotherhood, (MB) is an international Islamist organization with over fifty national branches. Its motto reflects its Salafi jihadist motives and methods: "Allah is our objective....
After the events of the 11 September 2001 and the advent of the War on Terrorism focused mainly against Al-Qaeda, interest in studying the Islamic groups has increased. Such enquiries can have a huge impact on both the Muslim World as well as the...
With the end of the cold war, India-United States security cooperation underwent a significant positive transformation. This thesis traces the historical context, origins, evolution and the current level of security cooperation between India and...
Since September 11, democracy has come to dominate the discourse as authoritarian Middle East regimes, even if they are friendly to Western interests, are perceived to be at the root of the existing international state of insecurity. Promoting...
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia performs a key role in the war on Islamic extremism and terrorism. The Kingdom maintains the distinction of being the birthplace of Islam and its government is the epitome of Islamic rule in the region. The Kingdom's...
This monograph will explore the origins of the Islamic fundamentalist movement in South Asia that can be traced back to the Islamization program during the Zia ul Haq regime in Pakistan. Since 1947, Pakistan's early political administrations were...
Background Information: Some feel studying military history is a waste of time because history is written from personal viewpoints which may be skewed from reality. Others feel studying military history is essential because understanding the...
Since the end of the Cold War, changing global dynamics have brought about important political, social and economic developments to Southeast Asia. Foreign relations between the Southeast Asian states have also improved, reducing intra-regional...
This paper demonstrates how a better understanding of culture can lend itself to a better understanding of meaning in discourse between two cultures who operate across a linguistic barrier. The paper falls under the tradition of cultural...
In 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini's indirect approach ignited existing socio-economic conditions during the Iranian Revolution to topple the Shah. A similar indirect approach using psychological operations to target audiences through key vulnerabilities...
In the first half of the twenty-first century, China represents perhaps the most critical and complex factor affecting the national security interests of the United States. China’s rapidly rising economic and military power coupled with its...
The majority of the literature on maneuver warfare begins with an examination of German "stormtrooper" tactics of World War One or the German blitzkrieg campaigns of World War Two. Soviet deep maneuver campaigns and Israeli campaigns of the last...
Following the fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in late 2001, members of the former regime and Al-Qaeda found refuge in Waziristan. Waziristan is a tribal area in Pakistan located along the border with Afghanistan whose majority ethnic...
This newsletter provides information on the basics of the Afghan culture and how Soldiers should apply this information while living and working
with the Afghans. The key points covered in this newsletter are: 1.) Effects of Afghan culture on...