Question (V2): What are the key factors that would impact the wave of violent extremism and ideological radicalism that affect the Sunni community? Author | Editor: Canna, S. (NSI, Inc). Executive Summary The Sunni community is not homogenous, and contributors expressed their discomfort making broad generalizations for a number of reasons. Most Sunni Arabs still […]
Continue ReadingQuestion (R6.4): Knowing that religion is only one (and not the most important) stimulus for disgruntled Islamic youth to join VEOs, what could/should be the domestic messaging to youth to prevent their “radicalization” and joining the VEOs? To what extent could a continued presence of Western military in the Middle East (even only as instructors/trainers) […]
Continue ReadingWhat long-term actions and processes should U.S. government (USG) institutions, the Coalition and the international community examine to position ourselves against a long term ISIL threat? How can the private sector be effectively engaged by government institutions to optimize the effects needed for success? Executive Summary Expert contributors agree that terrorism will remain a long-standing […]
Continue ReadingQuestion (R6.1): What conditions (demographic, political, etc.) should exist on the ground in the Middle Euphrates River Valley and the tri border (Syria/Jordan/Iraq) region to deny the seeds of future conflict from being planted – particularly taking into account the assumed intention of Iranian proxy forces to establish a Shia “land bridge?” Which of these […]
Continue ReadingInfluence in an Age of Rising Connectedness. Author | Editor: W. Aviles & S. Canna (NSI, Inc.). Executive Summary A strong argument can be made that we are moving toward a pluralized, multipolar world, in which military and economic sources of power are widely distributed. Technologies (e.g., the Internet and rapid means of mass migration) […]
Continue ReadingFuture of ISIS: What Do Experts Think Will Happen Next? Author | Editor: Nicole (Peterson) Omundson (NSI, Inc.). At its zenith in 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) controlled more than 100,000 square kilometers of territory. ISIS seized control over major cities, notably Mosul and Raqqa, which contributed to increasing disorder in […]
Continue ReadingNSI Submission to the Army University Press’s Mad Scientist Initiative: “Smoke, Mirrors and Mayhem: The Good Fight Remixed”. Author | Editor: Macaulay, A. & Stevenson, J. (NSI, Inc.). The Army University Press created the Future Warfare Writing Program to generate ideas about possible complexities of future warfare, as presented in the U.S. Army Operating Concept. […]
Continue ReadingThe Trajectory of U.S./North Korean Nuclear War: Insights from Kim Jong Un’s Rhetoric. Author | Editor: Kuznar, L. (NSI, Inc.). Executive Summary Hours after the Washington Post broke the story that North Korea may have miniaturized a nuclear warhead, enabling its ICBM to deliver a nuclear blow to U.S. soil, President Trump announced that if […]
Continue ReadingUS-DiGIA: Overview and Methodology of US Discoverable Government Information Assets Directory. Author | Editor: Polansky (Pagano), S. (NSI, Inc.). Executive Summary The United States Government possesses a vast store of information assets that can be leveraged to inform a variety of problem sets, and can be used by a wide range of governmental actors in […]
Continue ReadingUS-DiGIA: Mapping the USG Discoverable Information Terrain. Author | Editor: Bragg, B., Polansky (Pagano), S., & Stevenson, J. (NSI, Inc.). Executive Summary The United States currently faces a complex and dynamic security environment. States are no longer the only critical actors in the international arena; rather, a diverse range of non-state entities also has the […]
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