Image Source: World Press Photo In August 2021, the United States and its allies evacuated Kabul after twenty years of what the Department of Defense (DoD) described as waging “a necessary war of self-defense” following the September 11 attacks. In the words of former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in 2002, the United … Continue reading Can Office Work Destroy the Taliban?
Category: Regions
GSSR Interview: Under Secretary of the Army Hon. Gabe Camarillo
Image Source: U.S. Army Official Photo The Georgetown Security Studies Review recently had the privilege of conducting an interview with Hon. Gabe Camarillo, the under secretary of the Army. The broad topics covered reflect the most pressing issues facing the U.S. Army, as well as the under secretary’s recent trip to Eastern Europe. In light … Continue reading GSSR Interview: Under Secretary of the Army Hon. Gabe Camarillo
T-minus 6 Seconds: Starship (and Humanity’s) Next Major Step Into Space
Image Source: Screenshot from SpaceX livefeed of April 20 Starship Launch NASA liked to brag when its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launched last fall that its 8.8 million pounds of thrust made it the most powerful rocket to ever take off. That record was broken on April 20 when at T-minus six seconds SpaceX’s … Continue reading T-minus 6 Seconds: Starship (and Humanity’s) Next Major Step Into Space
China, Too, Is Gearing Up for Tech Competition
Xi Jinping takes his oath of office to begin his third term as president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Source: Reuters It is no secret that the United States views the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a near-peer competitor. As the Biden administration describes, China has both the intent and the capability … Continue reading China, Too, Is Gearing Up for Tech Competition
Security at the Expense of Human Rights: The Case of El Salvador’s “Megacárcel”
Image Source: CNN At the end of February, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced the transfer of the first 2,000 prisoners to the “biggest prison in the Americas,” the “Terrorism Containment Center” (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo - CECOT). The opening of this “megacárcel” (mega prison) is just one of the measures Bukele has undertaken under … Continue reading Security at the Expense of Human Rights: The Case of El Salvador’s “Megacárcel”
Analyzing the Entrenchment of Beijing’s Digital Influence in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
Image Source: Middle East Eye The last several years have seen a steep accumulation of linkages between China and the Arab Gulf monarchies. As China’s energy demands have exploded and oil demand from the West has fallen, the oil-exporting Gulf countries have turned eastwards. China is now Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner and Riyadh has … Continue reading Analyzing the Entrenchment of Beijing’s Digital Influence in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
Globalized Crises: The War in Ukraine and COVID-19’s Impact on Al-Shabaab Recruitment
Mogadishu, Somalia. Image Source: Reuters via The Guardian East Africa is a terrorist hotbed—surpassing the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa for the most terrorist deaths in 2022. Sixty percent of the global terrorist attacks in this region occur because of the many Salafi-Jihadist terrorist groups. Al-Shabaab, the second deadliest group of 2022, operates … Continue reading Globalized Crises: The War in Ukraine and COVID-19’s Impact on Al-Shabaab Recruitment
NATO Needs a Unified Arctic Command
The security landscape of the Arctic is changing. After almost three decades as an afterthought in the eyes of U.S. policymakers, Arctic security is finally catching the attention of American leadership. Rapid climate change and increased military and non-military interest in the region, even from non-Arctic nations, calls for increased coordination between the United States … Continue reading NATO Needs a Unified Arctic Command
Why Russia’s Hypersonics Matter
Image Source: Defense News On Thursday, March 9, Russian MiG-31 fighters employed 6 hypersonic Kh47M2 “Kinzhal” missiles in strikes on population centers and infrastructure across Ukraine. This brought the total instances of hypersonic missile use in Ukraine to five (3/19-20/2022; 8/7/2022; 9/14/2022). The March 9 attack represented the highest-volume use of Kinzhals so far, with … Continue reading Why Russia’s Hypersonics Matter
Data’s Wild West: How Unregulated Access and Advanced Processing Threaten Personal Privacy
Image Source: Anura The 7-day journey of the Chinese spy balloon from Alaska to South Carolina captivated the attention of millions of Americans. While the mission and payload of the airship remain unclear, the low-tech platform likely provided two key advantages over existing satellite capabilities: proximity to targets and persistence for surveillance collection. The public … Continue reading Data’s Wild West: How Unregulated Access and Advanced Processing Threaten Personal Privacy