Small wars are operations undertaken under executive authority, wherein military force is combined with diplomatic pressure in the internal or external affairs of another state whose government is unstable, inadequate, or unsatisfactory for the preservation of life and of such interests as are determined by the foreign policy of our Nation.

-- Small Wars Manual, 1940

Welcome. Small Wars Journal publishes contributed work from across the spectrum of stakeholders in small wars. We look for articles from serious, authentic voices that add richness, breadth and depth to the dialog that too often occurs in cloistered venues. We do not screen articles for conformance with a house view; our only position is that small wars are wicked problems warranting consideration of myriad views before action, to inform what will no doubt be imperfect decisions with significant unintended consequences. On the continuum from paralysis by analysis, to informed action with recognition & maybe mitigation of cascading effects, to bold & ignorant decisiveness, we strive to help our readers find the middle ground.

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The Afghan knows he has much to learn from the American. Americans are often too intellectually arrogant to admit they have several things that they can learn from Afghans.

Garbology: As our soldiers gain insights, more and more talking trash with the locals will provide a whole new body of intelligence.

The primacy of the state may be nowhere more pronounced than where terrestrial political borders have no relevance.

Canadian Army Officer A. A. Cohen has written a new and refreshing book on the life, ideas, and intellectual struggles of the French officer David Galula.

The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army is struggling for survival.

swj blog

Algeria’s bloody siege of the Amenas facility was a necessary first shot in an oncoming regional problem, as groups both criminal and ideological groups seek sources of income...

The writings of SWJ El Centro Fellows John Sullivan, Paul Kan, and Robert Bunker are mentioned in a work with an anti-statist and anti-capitalist perspective.

Continue on for today's SWJ news and opinion roundup.

The white paper on targeted killing is less chilling than confused--the work of constitutional lawyers who appear to lack familiarity with the laws of war.

SWJ contributor Robert Kozloski on Admiral Zumwalt.