The "Ejército Mexicano" (Mexican Army) was created on March 26th, 1913 with the “Plan de Guadalupe” (Gobierno de México 2021), as a consequence of the first social revolt of the twentieth century. For 75 years, no member of it has occupied the executive office of the country. "The existing literature on the army in Mexican politics has... Continue Reading →
Vladimir Putin in a joint news conference with the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö "This belief in the desire to hold power leads us to theorize about the interdependence between institutions of governance and questions related to political survival, a topic that has received limited attention in the literature on political institutions" - Bruce Bueno de... Continue Reading →
Comdt. Pat Quinlan, far left, poses with soldiers of A Company, 35th Infantry Battalion, in Elisabethville, before the siege.4 The siege of Jadotville was an armed conflict that happened in September of 1961 (at the peak of the Cold War), during the Congo Crisis, when the "A" Company, 35th Battalion, of the Irish Army's United... Continue Reading →
The altarpiece of the Independence of Mexico ("El Retablo de la Independencia de México"), is a fresco on a wall by Juan O'Gorman, painted from the year 1960 to 1961. "What has characterized the Latin American state is not its concentration of power, but the very dilution of power." - Miguel Angel Centeno (2002, Loc.... Continue Reading →
Whenever the objective has been to disrupt, sabotage, rescue, gather intelligence, combat irregular enemy forces, etc. Special forces have always played a key role throughout the history of warfare. Top of mind commando forces include Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) and, in the United States, the Green Berets, Rangers and Delta Force. In the case... Continue Reading →
The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 15 May 1648 by Gerard ter Borch "The real difficulty is that through history the use of force in statecraft has had different meanings, and if this is so, the sources, causes, or correlates of war in one period cannot be easily transferred to another." - Kalevi J.... Continue Reading →
Naval diplomacy, the peaceful use of the possibility of force... "Naval diplomacy is about what navies actually do, rather than what they train for.” - Kevin Rowlands Naval diplomacy, a maritime, non-violent state’s activity that pursuits the national interest; an old practice, even observed by Thucydides’ when accounting of the power of the Athenian Fleet... Continue Reading →
Coalition partners and security force members aim towards the location of concealed opponents during a drill on navigating difficult terrain during military training in Erbil, Iraq, Jan. 23, 2018. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Anthony Zendejas IV) “Insurgents tend to ride and manipulate a social wave of grievances, often legitimate ones, and they... Continue Reading →
Is is true that democracies do not come to the rescue of other democracies? Are democracies more likely to win wars? Are democracies better administrators of resources than non-democracies in times of armed conflict? Overall, this D. Reiter & A. Stamm III's book is an "interesting" one. Nevertheless, a couple of affirmations significantly damaged my... Continue Reading →
A computer simulation grab, shows the Avangard hypersonic vehicle being released from booster rockets. Source: RU-RTR Russian Television via AP. "The Avangard is absolutely invulnerable to any air or missile defense system." - Vladimir Putin Recently, the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin that the first Russian missile unit equipped with the... Continue Reading →
Grande stratégie 