Major Wael Abbas graduated from the American University in Beirut in 1999 with a BCE in civil engineering. In September 2000, MAJ Abbas joined the Lebanese Armed Forces. He was commissioned as a lieutenant engineer upon graduating from the Lebanese Army Military Academy. MAJ Abbas's decorations and awards include the Military Valor Medal and the Medal in the Fight against Terrorism. 

Throughout the last 13 years of military conflict involving US forces, commanders, planners, and civilian decision makers at all levels have demonstrated an unquenchable thirst for information. Individuals and units have had to respond to multilayered requirements for the collection of information, and dozens of new information-processing tools and systems have been deployed to capture the resulting data.

US and European military partnerships in Africa have been growing rapidly, as a quick glance at an AFRICOM (US Africa Command) map and a perusal of SOCAFRICA's (Special Operations Command Africa) activities over the last seven years make evident. In response to invitations from different African countries, and their apparent interest in forming long-term relationships, SOCAFRICA has aligned its forces in a way that encourages units to maintain regular contact with their African partners and to build progressively on these professional interactions... 

About two months after 9/11, Osama bin Laden boasted to a group of supporters, "When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse." Not only did the weak horse turn out to be bin Laden's own, however, but bin Laden was also probably quite mistaken about popular psychology. Data from social psychology suggest that a majority of people consistently favor and identify with the "underdog," whether it be in politics or in sports, or even with shapes on a map...

A new buzz phrase is circulating among SOF planners and operators these days: operation and intelligence fusion. The goal is for the operations and intelligence sections to work together more closely; become better integrated; and feed off each other's thinking, ideas, and processes to produce better outcomes. Military operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere have matured over the last decade into police-led operations to disrupt and degrade insurgent and criminal networks... 

A new buzz phrase is circulating among SOF planners and operators these days: operation and intelligence fusion. The goal is for the operations and intelligence sections to work together more closely; become better integrated; and feed off each other's thinking, ideas, and processes to produce better outcomes. Military operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere have matured over the last decade into police-led operations to disrupt and degrade insurgent and criminal networks... 

The news is full of the daily horrors that are tearing Syria and Iraq apart. The recent involvement of Russia is just one more twist in this story. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are fleeing not only the Bashar al-Assad regime, but also the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS). From reports of its rivalry with al Qaeda (AQ) for the allegiance of other jihadis, to the declaration of a caliphate, to the rise in terrorist acts around the world by individuals or groups claiming affiliation with or inspiration from ISIS, the group seems ubiquitous in the headlines of the world's newspapers...

In this paper, Mr. Roberts describes the irregular and hybrid tools and techniques that Russian President Vladimir Putin, his security forces, and his intelligence forces have used, first in the attack against Georgia in 2008, then in the assault on Ukraine, and now in Syria, to advance renewed Russian regional hegemony and strategic reach...