A Framework for Irregular Warfare Australia has a long history with insurgency and considers its experience in Phuoc Tuy, Vietnam and Uruzghan, Afghanistan, as examples evidencing a reputation as a world leader in this space. An innate capability for insurgency and irregular warfare would seem logical given the frequency of insurgency in our region; almost all South-East Asian nations have experienced insurgency since World War II. [1] Despite this context and recent operational experience in Iraq and …

A Strategic Plan for Tunisia Tunisia is challenged by a dual insurgency, with affiliates of al-Qaeda and ISIS exploiting grievances within the population and leveraging Islam to mobilise support. The objective of these affiliates is to discredit the Tunisian authorities and install a sharia-ruled government. [1] Tunisia’s strategic partnership with Algeria has moderately suppressed a cross-border insurgency in Tunisia’s west, although the insurgency still leads the contest for the control of the …

The decision by President Biden’s Administration to withdraw from Afghanistan received strong criticism and opposition from many military veterans, former decision makers and policy analysts from Capitol Hill . While the basis for criticism is diverse, one common feature that emerges from the commentary is a strong sense that the US was unable to achieve an integrated civil-military strategy to underpin decision making in Afghanistan , and that the same fault beleaguered operations in Iraq and Syria. The …

The British Army on the Western Front 1917 By Ed Spencer Jones Helion , Warwick, 2022, 514pp, Images: 87 b/w photos, 21 maps 9781914059858 - Paperback Reviewed by BRIG Chris Roberts AM. CSC (Retd.)   This is the fourth in the series of splendid books edited by Dr Spencer Jones which provide insights into the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front.  Each volume covers a year of the war and this one delivers the same high standards of scholarship as its predecessors. The books’ value lies in …

The Defence of Portugal during the Peninsular War, 1807 – 1814 By Mark S. Thompson Helion , Warwick, 2021, 224pp, Images: 28 colour and 50 b/w illustrations, maps and diagrams 9781914059858 - Paperback Reviewed by BRIG Chris Roberts (Retd.)   In this meticulously researched book, Mark Thompson delivers a comprehensive study filled with a wealth of information on the planning, construction, and defence of the Lines of Torres Vedras. Along the way, the author challenges some earlier held views, providing …

By Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis Penguin Press , 2021, 303pp ISBN 9781984881267 - Paperback ISBN 9781984881250 - Hardcover ISBN 9781984881267 - Ebook ISBN 9780593394748 - Audio Reviewed by Dr Albert Palazzo   In 1978, the retired British general Sir John Hackett published an account of a fictional war between the United States and the Soviet Union . Reading it is a distant memory for me, but at the time it formed a part of my foundation as a scholar of war. The Cold War was ongoing and …

The 51st (Highland) Division during the First World War By Craig French Helion , Solihull, 2017, 300pp, Images : 4 maps & 26 tables 9781911096542 - Hardback Reviewed by BRIG Chris Roberts (Retd.) The 51st (Highland) Division earned a high and (from their German opponents) fearsome reputation. Its exploits during the Great War have been the subject of at least four previous histories, the latest being Colin Campbell’s The 51st (Highland ) Division in the Great War: Engine of Destruction , published in 2013, …

What it looks like Tactically, Operationally, and Strategically The author acknowledges the efforts, analysis, and assistance of Commander Jorge McKee and Lieutenant Colonel Uliano Polatos. Both officers significantly contributed to, and directly provided, the ideas and analysis that supports this article. History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. Attributed to Mark Twain.   [Australia’s] strategic culture values engagement with culturally compatible, like-minded worldwide powers, coalitions or …

The content in this article is an extract of  Spotlight Brief 7/21 . ResQBot 2.0: An improved Design of a Mobile Rescue Robot with an Inflatable Neck Securing Device for Safe Casualty Extraction Applied Sciences – Jun 2021 The authors of this study propose a novel design for a mobile rescue robot that can extract casualties from dangerous areas. They present ResQbot 2.0 – a stretcher-type robot capable of safely performing extraction through loco-manipulation that is synchronised with a conveyer belt and …

Explaining political precursors to violence in African civil conflicts. Introduction The Mozambique war of independence from Portugal has been regarded as one of Africa’s greatest stories of liberation to date. Scholars from around the globe have written about the conflict and subsequent civil war, exploring the complex factors within the narrative by applying theories of irregular warfare to better understand its drivers, events, and outcomes. Typically, researchers seek to fit a theory to a case study, …