Israel, Gaza and Hamas 2014: Operation Protective Edge in numbers: 50 days of fighting; 4,258 rockets fired at Israel; 735 Iron Dome interceptions; 5,226 air strikes; 32 tunnels destroyed; 74 dead on the Israeli side; and some 2,200 dead on the Palestinian side. The historical chronology of the accumulation of these on a daily basis can be reaped from on-line newspaper sources. This book goes behind the scenes to analyze the thinking at the time, from the Israel side, on Strategy and Tactics, Comparing Operations Cast Lead, Pillar of Defense and Protective Edge, Missile and Rocket Warfare and...

This study traces the origins of the Islamic State to 1999 when Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zaraqawi established Al Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers. It examines how it has managed to spread its influence into Africa, the Caucasus and the Far East. Despite having a vast number of forces arrayed against it the Islamic State is growing stronger. Reasons for the resilience displayed on the part of the Jihadis include encouraging polarization between groups and then benefiting from this process and its diverse funding sources from oil sales to the trafficking of antiquities and narcotics....

This book considers the theory of warfare as known prior to the 20th Century and then takes a small step to establish a conceptual framework for discussion of command approaches in the 21st Century. Five chapters of cases detail types of warfare. These are: strategic bombing as an examination of ends, ways, and means during the Great War; The US Army's vision of warfare in the 21st Century; non-lethal weapons and force-casualty aversion in 21st century warfare; C4ISR in Operation Iraqi Freedom; and strategic communications population-centric counterinsurgency. It concludes that the past will...