Franz Bischoff (American, 1864-1929) - Morning Mist, Monterey Coast n.d. oil on canvas Irvine Museum, Irvin, CA, USA
Craig Whiteside
@craigwhiteside.bsky.social
teach for the Naval War College resident program at NPS in Monterey, CA; The ISIS Reader (Hurst 2020) and Non-state Special Operations (Routledge, 2025); dad, scout, sports fan, and Geronimo https://theisisreader.substack.com/
What do you get when you mix climate change, logistics, and fossil fuels, and a war? A Bluesky thread on the convergence between summer drought in Europe, a dam in the Netherlands, Germany's reliance on a single river, and why the US still has to care about climate change. Settle in. (1/11)
Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-52 on Miller, Choosing Defeat How and why did the United States lose its war in Afghanistan? Even before the final withdrawal of American forces in September 2021, a scholarly… https://issforum.org/roundtables/roundtable-review-17-52-paul-d-miller-choosing-defeat
Jervis Forum Roundtable 17-52 on Miller, Choosing Defeat
How and why did the United States lose its war in Afghanistan? Even before the final withdrawal of American forces in September 2021, a scholarly consensus emerged that the US had always faced an uphill battle to meet its more ambitious goals. The combination of ever-shifting objectives, the gap between the costs of the war and the strategic rationale for it, a recalcitrant Pakistan that provided sanctuary for insurgents, a lack of legitimacy on the part of the intervening powers and the government they were propping up, and a nationbuilding project that was hopelessly over-ambitious in the face of a decentralized and fragmented society all meant that the United States and its allies faced long odds for success.
issforum.org
Jimi Hendrix, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose, CA, May 25 1969.
@smh-historians.bsky.social @shafrhistorians.bsky.social
H-Diplo with the Jervis Forum@h-diplo.bsky.social · 3d agoJervis Forum Roundtable 17-52 on Miller, Choosing Defeat How and why did the United States lose its war in Afghanistan? Even before the final withdrawal of American forces in September 2021, a scholarly… https://issforum.org/roundtables/roundtable-review-17-52-paul-d-miller-choosing-defeat
60,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes in Spokane, Washington.
Live: Trio of wildfires described as ‘worst natural disaster’ Spokane has faced
A total of three wildfires, described together as the Spokane Complex wildfire, are burning. About 60,000 people have evacuated, with over 700 structures lost.
seattletimes.com
“War is at best barbarism…Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot, nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.” ~General of the Army William Tecumseh Sherman, 1879. Image: Nat’l Archives.
Wildfires ripped through the Spokane area of eastern Washington state, destroying hundreds of homes and forcing thousands of people to evacuate. Three blazes, which started Saturday, burned through 7,500 acres.
Wildfires Destroy Hundreds of Homes in Washington State
Three blazes near Spokane are ‘the worst natural disaster our region has faced,’ mayor says.
on.wsj.com
"The contributors show how research in these unique archives challenges previous assumptions about Ba'thist Iraq & the workings of authoritarian regimes." @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social @lisablaydes.bsky.social @samuelhelfont.bsky.social @stanfordpress.bsky.social pocketcasts.com/podcast/new-...
Lisa Blaydes and Samuel Helfont eds., "Ba‘thist Iraq Through Archives: Reflections, Explorations, and Opportunities" (Stanford UP, 2026)
The opening of Iraq's Ba'th Party archives revolutionized the study of Iraqi politics and history, offering scholars unprecedented access to the inner workings of one of the world's…
pocketcasts.com
A year later, a postscript: The Army has finally hung a portrait of Pvt. Fitz Lee, Buffalo Soldier, at the rebranded Fort Lee in Virginia. Here’s my article on Fitz and the Trump administration program that restored Confederate names to U.S. bases. Next: The portrait.
The Mysterious Life and Afterlife of Private Fitz Lee (Gift Article)
For more than a century, this Black soldier from Virginia was remembered by nearly no one. Then this year, someone at the Pentagon found a use for him.
nytimes.com
Russia's Africa Corps kills Mali civilians in 'indiscriminate' attack, rights group says reut.rs/44XYIwA
Russia's Africa Corps kills Mali civilians in 'indiscriminate' attack, rights group says
Russian paramilitary group Africa Corps killed eight civilians, including three children, in Mali last month, Human Rights Watch said on Friday, during air strikes the campaign group called "unlawfully indiscriminate".
reut.rs
Sales Are So Low, California Wineries Are Burning Their Vineyards www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
Sales Are So Low, California Wineries Are Burning Their Vineyards
The rise and fall of pinot noir symbolizes the larger struggles of the wine industry as younger generations turn to other beverages.
nytimes.com
The Islamist extremist attack targeting Berlin's Christopher Street Day celebrations has once again highlighted that Islamic State (IS) remains a major terrorist threat. A new ISD dispatch examines what the attack tells us about today's Islamist extremist landscape. 🧵
I spend so much time during the day thinking about The Odyssey now I can’t spare any time to think about the Roman Empire
China does not really have allies; America’s partnerships, most of which are based in both interest and real affinity, are a massive advantage for the United States that the current administration is squandering.
Elbridge Colby and the Art of Defending the Indefensible
Trump’s impulsive foreign policy of grudges, threats, and contempt for allies is a self-defeating mess. His suave sophist struggles to spin it as strategically sound.
lnk.thebulwark.com
China in touch with Yemen's Houthis to allow ships to sail through Red Sea, sources say www.reuters.com/world/china/...
China in touch with Yemen's Houthis to allow ships to sail through Red Sea, sources say
China has held direct talks with Yemen's Houthi movement to enable its tankers to sail through the southern Red Sea without being attacked after the Iran-aligned militia pledged to prevent access to S...
reuters.com
Multiple world class researchers working on de-radicalization and reintegration these days, and the quality of research on these topics far exceeds that of research on "radicalization." There's even a dedicated, open-source journal with lots of resources on this: www.journal-derad.com/index.php/jd
Journal for Deradicalization
The Journal for Deradicalization (JD) is the only independent and peer reviewed online journal about the theory and practice of deradicalization and processes of radicalization worldwide.
journal-derad.com
Chinese ships fired a water cannon at Philippine vessels, including one carrying a CNN crew, near a dangerous flashpoint in the South China Sea on Friday – the third tense confrontation this week in the contested waters. cnn.it/4yJ1Rhs
Chinese ship shoots water cannon at Philippine vessel with CNN crew on board near flashpoint shoal | CNN
Chinese ships fired water cannon at Philippine vessels, including one carrying a CNN crew, near a dangerous flashpoint in the South China Sea on Friday – the third tense confrontation this week in the...
cnn.it
"Hodges argues that military legalism contorts the military professional’s decision-making, setting the commander’s focus on the bare minimum the law requires rather than on the military expertise and professional ethics." Matthew Forst reviews “The Rise of US Military Legalism" by Doyle Hodges.
Legal-ism Mission Creep
A review of Doyle K. Hodges, “The Rise of US Military Legalism: A New Theory of Military Professionalism” (Routledge, 2026).
lawfaremedia.org
Today in @cimsec.bsky.social: "The Curious Rise of Military Bullshit,"by Colonel Benjamin Gray of the Australian Army. This is a phenomenal piece that lays bare the perverse trend within military culture to hide lazy thinking with complicated language. Read it here: cimsec.org/the-curious-...
A German court sentenced two former Daesh members for crimes committed against Yazidi girls, marking another step toward justice for survivors and accountability for Daesh crimes. #DaeshFacesJustice
This article would fit well into a discussion on theory and practice in our security course: "Clausewitz on Operation Epic Fury" in @justsecurity.org www.justsecurity.org/147675/claus...
Clausewitz on Operation Epic Fury
Applying Clausewitz’s core principles to Operation Epic Fury reveals the war’s strategic design was deficient from the start.
justsecurity.org
Billy Wilder's birthday. I'll re-tell the story of why we have those movies. The Gestapo was after him. His neighbour tipped him as he came home one night; in 20 minutes he threw things into a bag, fled to Paris on the night train. He made a movie there, sold a story to Hollywood.
NARROWLY PASSED: The House passed the $1.15 trillion defense policy bill amid increasing tension over military spending and the war with Iran. Six Democrats voted for the bill, and seven Republicans voted against it.
House narrowly passes $1.15 trillion defense bill, approving raises for troops, adopting Department of War name
The House on Wednesday passed the $1.15 trillion defense policy bill amid increasing tension over military spending and the war with Iran.
stripes.com
Tremendous new book out today by Omar Mohammed "Mosul Eye: A Scholar's Clandestine War against ISIS" www.amazon.com/Mosul-Eye-Sc...
Mosul Eye: A Scholar's Clandestine War Against ISIS
Mosul Eye: A Scholar's Clandestine War Against ISIS [Mohammed, Omar, Petraeus, David H., Pope Francis] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Mosul Eye: A Scholar's Clandestine War Against ISIS
amazon.com
The FDA now says that Taylor Farms finding is a false positive. What a mess.
FDA says Taylor Farms cyclospora finding was a false positive
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Sunday that laboratory experts re-checked lettuce sample results from Taylor Farms in an investigation into an outbreak of the cyclospora parasite and c...
reuters.com
Local plumbers two steps ahead of every university administrator in america 👏
Metin Seven (Moon Child's dad 🌝)@seven.eurosky.social · 2w ago