- Amid concern over the rise of the Islamic State, developments in Afghanistan have largely dropped off the radar. Yet as Jason Lyall argues, the 2015 fighting season has been one of the toughest Kabul has experienced.
- Over at War on the Rocks, Frank Hoffman and Pat Garrett survey eleven organisational, technological, and strategic trends that they argue will shape how Western militaries face future conflict.
- Jon Solomon explores the technical, operational, and strategic means through which naval defenders can mitigate vulnerability to a first strike attack.
- The Diplomat has a great exploration of the recent evolution and future prospects of Southeast Asian amphibious forces.
- The Obama White House came into office with a strong commitment to reducing America's nuclear arsenal. Yet as the Federation of American Scientists notes, it has achieved the most limited reductions of any post-Cold War Administration.
- Amid calls for boots on the ground to combat the Islamic State, Chris Tuck balances the significant operational advantages land power would offer against the inevitable political costs foreign deployments would generate.
- Sweden is engaged in a massive search for a possible Russian submarine intrusion, an event that carries echoes of the Cold War and holds implications for contemporary security cooperation in the Baltic.
- Meanwhile, a new paper from the Netherlands Institute of International Affairs offers a snapshot into the strategic debates in smaller European states on how they should redefine their relationships with Russia and Europe's eastern periphery.
- Finally, Foxtrot Alpha has a video of Polish MiG-29s in action that, as they bill it, 'will make you want to join the Polish Air Force'.
Military & strategy links: Kabul slog, Russian sub off Sweden, Obama's nukes and more
Published 21 Oct 2014
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