War on the Rocks
A platform for analysis, commentary, debate and multimedia content on foreign policy and national security issues through a realist lens.
U.S. Troops in Syria Are Critical For Multiple Missions: Keep Them On
Mar 8, 2024 · The Middle East has long been defined by complex conflicts, yet pride of place is likely Syria since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. U.S. forces, operating there since 2014, officially against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), are involved in one of the more perplexing elements of that conflict.
Behind Iran’s Surging Military Budget - War on the Rocks
On Nov. 8, 2024, Iran announced its proposed military budget for the year 1404 (March 2025–March 2026). In response to both internal priorities and external pressures, Iran plans to increase its military budget by 200 percent.
American Defense Planning in the Shadow of Protracted War
Nov 18, 2024 · The Decisive Battle Bias. As most U.S. observers agree, China is the rightful pacing challenge for the United States due to its economic growth, military strength, and revisionist ambitions. Despite skepticism in some quarters, there is also an informal consensus that intervening to defeat an invasion of Taiwan should be the pacing scenario for Department of Defense planning given the island ...
What Would Be Japan’s Role in a New Korean War?
Oct 3, 2024 · Japan in the Korean War. Shortly after North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel on the morning of June 25, 1950, they employed their version of Blitzkrieg, forcing South Korean forces to retreat all the way to Pusan in the southeastern part of the peninsula. Although President Harry S. Truman announced on June 27, 1950 that U.S. forces would intervene under the auspices of a U.N ...
Setting the Record Straight on Attrition - War on the Rocks
Jan 30, 2024 · Amos C. Fox is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Reading. Additionally, Amos is the chief human resources officer for the Irregular Warfare Initiative, and he hosts the Revolution in Military Affairs podcast.. Image: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James R. Smith
After Prigozhin, the Wagner Group’s Enduring Impact
Oct 9, 2024 · In 2023, a dramatic series of events led Western observers to declare the imminent demise of the Wagner Group, Russia’s infamous paramilitary force. First, there was Wagner’s costly assault on Bakhmut in the spring, where the organization was estimated to have lost up to 20,000 fighters, many of them convicts drawn from Russian prisons.Then there was the anticlimax of the June mutiny led ...
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Human Geography Is Mission-Critical - War on the Rocks
Oct 15, 2024 · More than 10 years ago, former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno, former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, and former Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Adm. William McRaven observed that “conflict and competition are about people.” As a result “influencing these people—be they heads of state, tribal elders, and militaries and their leaders, or even an entire ...
Will Iran Withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?
Nov 1, 2024 · The State of Affairs. In April 2024, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel from its territory in response to Israeli assassinations of high-level Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and strikes on Iran’s Damascus consulate. Israel’s retaliation to the missile attack was measured, in the form of a strike against an air defense system in Esfahan.