Category: War On The Rocks

The Changing Character of Combined Arms

By Benjamin Jensen Debates are raging the about tanks and how well individual services, like the U.S. Marine Corps, are responding to the requirements of great power competition. Retired generals question the utility of lighter expeditionary forces reliant on missiles while younger officers and thinkers are more open to experimentation and debate based on insights […]

Intelligence and War: Does Secrecy Still Matter?

By Joshua Rovner The secret services were remarkably conspicuous before the war in Ukraine. American and British agencies issued blunt assessments about Russian intentions and policymakers used intelligence to rally support against Russian aggression. They also released specific details about suspected efforts to manufacture a pretext for war, using intelligence as a “prebuttal” to phony […]

How Strong Is al-Qaeda? A Debate

By Daniel Byman Sept. 11, 2001, was “The Day the World Changed.” The 2,977 deaths at the hands of al-Qaeda terrorists led to massive policy changes and dominated U.S. politics for years afterward. The United States went to war in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, and the attacks contributed to the U.S. decision to invade […]