Month: December 2009

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Journal: Weak Signals–Civil War in the USA?

08 Wild Cards, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Law Enforcement

The European Union Times
The European Union Times

Missouri Billboard Warns: “Prepare For War” Against Government (12 December 2009)

A new billboard off of Interstate 70 in Missouri provides a short “citizens guide to REVOLUTION of a corrupt government” and issues a call to “PREPARE FOR WAR.”

This billboard replaces one that warned that the socialist “Obama-Nation” is “coming for you.” It’s unclear who the owner of the billboard is, but the first one was the work of a “Missouri businessman.”

While it’s unclear who owns it, the Lafayette County Republican Central Committee seems to endorse it.

U.S. Forces Plan Direct Action Against American Citizens (11 December 2009)

“There is an event coming in the very near-term future that is going to effect the USA to its very soul,” former Kansas State Trooper Greg Everson of The Heartland USA and former host of Republic Broadcasting “Voices from the Heartland” told host Steve Quayle in a special two hour “Survive 2 Thrive” broadcast Thursday.

Continue reading “Journal: Weak Signals–Civil War in the USA?”

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Worth a Look: Contractors in Stability Operations

10 Security, 10 Transnational Crime, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Worth A Look

Stability Operations for Dummies: The Role of the Prvate Sector in Iraq (YouTube Briefing)

Doug Brooks, founding President of the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA) has a video circulating that offers the soft sales pitch for outsourcing “contingency support.”  It is all positive and completely avoids all of the negatives, such as:

1.  Pillaging and disrupting existing intelligence and special operations ranks by incentivizing early retirement.

2.  Cost 3x to 10X that of a uniformed or civil service source.

3.  Profit motive rather than mission motive.

4.  Pretends contractor mistakes are not politically accountable.

5.  Pretends contractors actually favor low-cost locals (which radically reduces overhead profits)

Continue reading “Worth a Look: Contractors in Stability Operations”

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Reference: History of Al Qaeda by Dr. Laurie Mylroi

DoD

 

History of Al Qaeda Part I

History of Al Qaeda Part II

History of Al Qaeda Part III

Author's Website

Wikipedia Page About Author

Steele 3-Page Review of the Work

Phi Beta Iota: This document, in three parts (over 300 pages, Part I is the Executive Summary and front matter) is dated 1 September 2005 and was prepared for the Office of Net Assessment in the Department of Defense (US).  It has not gotten the visibility it merits.  It is very unusual for a living person to have a Wikipedia page, regardless of whether one agrees with the author on varied points, this marks her as a person of influence whose views must be considered.

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Worth a Look: Engaging the Muslim World Challenges and Opportunities

Worth A Look

USIP Event Home Page (Permanent)

This event took place in October 2009 at the US Institute of Peace.  The archived audio for each speaker is free online.

Keynote Address

Speakers

  • Abiodun Williams, Moderator
    Vice President, Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention, U.S. Institute of Peace
  • Daniel Brumberg
    Director, Muslim World Initiative, U.S. Institute of Peace
    Co-Director, Democracy Studies, Georgetown University
  • Dina Shehata
    Senior Researcher, Al-Ahram Center, Cairo
  • Ömer Taşpınar
    Non-resident Scholar, Saban Center, Brookings Institution
  • Palwasha Hassan
    Jennings Randolph Afghanistan Fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace

Related

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Event: 15 Dec 09 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM Brooking DC Coordinated Counterterrorism Policy: Experiences and Possibilities for Enhancing U.S.-European Cooperation

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Coordinated Counterterrorism Policy: Experiences and Possibilities for Enhancing U.S.-European Cooperation

On December 15, the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings will host a discussion on U.S. and European efforts to coordinate the fight against terrorism featuring remarks from Oliver Rüss, advisor to the European Union counter-terrorism coordinator, and Brookings Senior Fellow Daniel Byman. Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Jonathan Laurence will provide introductory remarks and moderate the discussion.   After the program, panelists will take audience questions

Event Information

When

Tuesday, December 15, 2009
11:00 AM to 12:30 PM

Where

Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Map

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Journal: Europe is Reading….

Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Ethics, Policies
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

Researcher Berto Jongman recommends…..

New Tech in Emergencies and Conflicts

Our latest report — New Technologies in Emergencies and Conflicts: The Role of Information and Social Networks — looks at innovation in the use of technology along the timeline of crisis response, from emergency preparedness and alerts to recovery and rebuilding.

Countering Threats to Security and Stability in a Failing State: Lessons from Colombia By Peter DeShazo, Johanna Mendelson Forman, Phillip McLean Sep 29, 2009     PDF Free Online

Humanitarian Military Intervention: The Conditions for Success and Failure
by Taylor B. Seybolt (Amazon Page)

Guiding Principles for Stabilization and Reconstruction (US Institute for Peace and U.S. Army Peackeeping Institute) Free PDF and also at Amazon

Terrorism in Asymmetrical Conflict: Ideological and Structural Aspects
By Ekaterina Stepanova SIPRI Research Report no. 23  Summary and Free PDF and also at Amazon

Counting the Costs of Somali Piracy (US Institute for Peace)  Free PDF

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Reference: Foreign Policy in Focus–South Asia

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, Articles & Chapters, Media Reports

Strategic Focus: South Asia

bangladesh
Boats in Bangladesh. Photo credit: Ahron de Leeuw.

Home to well over one-fifth of the population, South Asia continues to be a hotbed of conflict and upheaval. Human rights abuses, the war in Afghanistan, and climate change all present critical challenges to the region and to U.S. foreign policy. In our new focus, FPIF contributors examine current obstacles and future solutions in South Asia.

U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan is built on two coups, one in Kabul and the other in Islamabad, writes Shibil Siddiqi in Obama's Surge and Pakistan.

The AfPak Train Wreck: Conn Hallinan says that the president's goals in escalating the war in Afghanistan are deeply flawed. Just ask the Russians.

Adil Shamoo, in Nation-Building in Afghanistan, writes that the United States can learn from the mistakes made in Iraq to craft a new approach for that country.

Robert Naiman, in ‘Legitimacy' in Afghanistan, points out that escalation has just brought more death and destruction. More escalation could close off opportunities for a political solution.

Much of the Afghanistan debate has been centered in the U.S. But what do Afghans think? Gabriela Campos interviews Mariam Nawabi in Underlying Causes of Security in Afghanistan.

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