Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
US policy and the future of a unified Syria Brian M Downing Secretary of State Kerry has repeated the administration’s commitment to keeping Syria a united country, as it was before public protest turned into civil war. His statement comes along with a ceasefire agreement with Russia and the announcement Read More …
Israeli generals, the Palestinian question, and a growing divide Brian M Downing The matter of a Palestinian state has for the most part fallen by the wayside. Recently, however, Vladimir Putin has broached the idea of holding talks in Russia between Israel and the Palestinians. The talks will not be Read More …
Four out of five stars This is a slow-paced but intriguing Iranian film about a young woman from a city on the mainland sent to a small island to collect votes for the national election. She is accompanied on her mission by a local soldier who is initially baffled by Read More …
Peter Sweda was my friend and neighbor. I first met him around 1991 when he found my wallet while on a routine walk around the condominium buildings we lived in. We chatted briefly and soon determined that we had common outlooks and experiences, including war service – his in World War Read More …
Modern War and the Decline of the Old Regime, 1763-1856 © 2001 Brian M. Downing The basis of democratization is everywhere purely military in character. . . . Military discipline meant the triumph of democracy because the community wished and was compelled to secure the cooperation of the non-aristocratic masses Read More …
ISIL expanded suddenly over the last year and a half, from half-forgotten bombing outfit in western Iraq to regional danger. It has won the allegiance of unaffiliated Islamist groups as well as those formerly bound to al Qaeda. Attention is on North Africa and the Middle East, but conditions conducive to Read More …
Little surprise that there is a sizable ISIL following inside Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom’s Wahhabi understanding of Islam is militant and anti-western and meshes fairly well, though not precisely, with jihadi thought. Many of the fighters in ISIL and the several al Qaeda franchises come from Saudi Arabia and a Read More …
While many parts of the world have called the Iranian nuclear deal a triumph of diplomacy, Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has branded it an “historic mistake, even though international inspection teams will monitor the number of centrifuges and see that Iran’s uranium is well below weapons grade. The Read More …
Brian M Downing From the end of World War Two, until the outset of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the US maintained good relations with both Saudi Arabia and Iran. The US imported hydrocarbons from both, exported weapons to both, and maintained cordial diplomatic relations with both. This contributed to Read More …
Brian M Downing Islamist State forces have been blunted since their offensive into Iraq last summer. ISIL troops enjoy a considerable qualitative edge over the various Iraqi forces arrayed in front of them but are badly outnumbered by Iraqi army, Kurdish troops, Shia militias, and Sunni tribal fighters. ISIL has Read More …