Defense and the National Interest

By Dr. Vomact
Some deeds raise questions. Some speak so loudly, you might say they are themselves questions. The recent vogue of mass murders, done by a single individual who walks into a crowded public space and commences firing for no apparent reason belongs to this latter class. The press and public ask why anyone would [...]

By William S. Lind
Between February 8 and February 14, four American schools suffered attacks by lone gunmen. The most recent, at Northern Illinois University on February 14, saw five killed (plus the gunman) and 16 wounded. Similar attacks have occurred elsewhere, including shopping malls.
Is this war? I don’t think so. [...]

By William S. Lind
Retired Air Force Colonel Chet Richards has published another short, good book: If We Can Keep It: A National Security Manifesto for the Next Administration. The “it” in question is a republic, which we are unlikely to keep since republics require a virtuous citizenry. But suggesting a rational, prudent defense policy for [...]

By William S. Lind
For centuries, Continental wars that included Great Britain tended to follow a pattern. The British would send an army to the Continent; it would be defeated by the French or Germans; the British would withdraw to their island; and their triumphant European enemy would draw up a superior force on the [...]

By Max Cunningham
“Asymmetric Warfare,” as defined by Martin Creveld, boils down to the strong, vs. the militarily weak, in the conventional sense.
A good definition that gives students of evolving 4th generational warfare something to work with. However, some difficulty arises currently, and in understanding our world, with Clausewitz’s much earlier assertion of [...]

By William S. Lind
From: Major Wormwood, III Section (Current Ops)
To: General Screwtape, Chief-of-Staff, Supreme Infernal Headquarters, Chateau de Malpense
Re: End of year net assessment
Sir:
Your Lucifership asked for a short report on the state of the world before the week of December 25, when all Hell is too weak to work. Please forgive my non-use [...]

By William S. Lind
Fourth Generation Seminar
(Note: This On War column is a product of the Fourth Generation War seminar, whose earlier products include the fourth generation war manual FMFM-1A [237 KB PDF]. The seminar, which I lead, is currently composed of U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army officers, mostly captains. W.S. Lind)
Recent tactical [...]

Americans are only beginning to realize what they’re up against, Inbal Nachum of the [Israeli] Home Front Command says forebodingly. “Americans don’t understand — you don’t understand — what it is like… [when terrorism] just is … just is the reality.
“They say the difference is that in America talk is about preventing terrorism; here [...]

 By William S. Lind
Tom Lehrer sang of ivy-covered professors in their ivy-covered halls, and seldom indeed does anything worth reading come from academia. Between the stultifying effects of cultural Marxism, aka Political Correctness, and the narrowness demanded by über-specialization, academia offers only hard and stoney ground to the fragile seeds that are new insights.
Nonetheless, it [...]

Is this beginning to sound familiar?

Already, a walk through neighborhoods where the volunteer groups are active is an unsettling experience. Small groups of young armed men guard street corners, while others ride in open trucks. In many areas they wear camouflage uniforms that resemble military ones, making it hard to tell whom they work [...]