Chuck Spinney: Neo-Imperialism and the Arrogance of Ignorance with Extended Comments and Additional Readings

My latest screed on US pol-mil policy, a shorter version of this appeared on 27 Feb in the Time Battleland Blog here. Chuck Spinney Africa and AFRICOM:Neo-Imperialism and the Arrogance of Ignorance by FRANKLIN C. SPINNEY Counterpunch, WEEKEND EDITION MARCH 1-3, 2013 Most Americans do not realize the extent to which the U.S. is becoming involved …

SchwartzReport: Global Religious Landscape

The Global Religious Landscape A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Major Religious Groups as of 2010 Executive Summary Geographic Distribution Living as Majorities and Minorities Young and Old About the Study Defining the Religious Groups Roadmap to the Report Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group. A comprehensive …

2007 Open Source Intelligence (Strategic) 2.0

Now that everyone is paying attention, this is being posted in full text online in support of a larger M4IS2 / OSE dialog. Document:  Strategic OSINT (Chapter 6 in Strataegic Intelligence Vol 2) 10 MB Links added below throughout, updated where appropriate. See Also: 21st Century Intelligence Core References 2.0 Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Robert …

Review (Guest): Routledge Handbook of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

The Routledge Handbook of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency Edited By: Paul B. Rich and Isabelle Duyvesteyn Routledge, 2012 Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 ‘counterinsurgency’ (COIN) has enjoyed a revival. The perceived failure of counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan has led to a ‘backlash’ principally by advocates of the use of conventional warfare against insurgents, …

Chuck Spinney: Break Syria, Mali, Niger? Do We Really Want to Keep Making a Costly Mess?

NOVEMBER 12, 2012 An Era of Conflicts The New Political Map of the Middle East by PATRICK COCKBURN, Counterpunch http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/12/the-new-political-map-of-the-middle-east/ President Obama is lucky in his opponents, particularly when it comes to explaining why America’s influence is waning in the Middle East. The issue was hardly mentioned in the election, aside from a botched attempt …

GI Wilson: American Thinker on US Arms Smuggling into Syria as Root of Benghazi Attack + Libya / Syria / Video Meta-RECAP

Benghazi Reveals Obama-Islamist Alliance By James Lewis American Thinker, November 1, 2012 The nature of the Benghazi disaster is now clear.  Ambassador Stevens was engaged in smuggling sizable quantities of Libyan arms from the destroyed Gaddafi regime to the Syrian rebels, to help overthrow the Assad regime in Syria.  Smuggling arms to the so-called “Free …

Parag Khanna and Frank Jacobs: The New World – More Small Nations, New Economic Zones, High-Speed Rail, Singapore to Vladivostok to London — While the Americas Decline

The New World Frank Jacobs and Parag Khanna The New York Times Sunday Review, September 22, 2012 IT has been just over 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the last great additions to the world’s list of independent nations. As Russia’s satellite republics staggered onto the global stage, one could be …