FMSO's Operational Environment Watch provides translated selections and analysis from a diverse range of foreign articles and other media that our analysts believe will give military and security experts an added dimension to their critical thinking about the Operational Environment. Current issue: PDF

Featured FMSO Publications

"Manpower Gaps in the Syrian Army” by Lucas Winter, FMSO Analyst.

“Suheil al-Hassan and the Syrian Army’s Tiger Forces" by Lucas Winter, FMSO Analyst. This paper was originally published in Small Wars Journal, 22 July 2016.

Terrorist and Insurgent Teleoperated Sniper Rifles and Machine Guns

by ROBERT J. BUNKER and ALMA KESHAVARZ

"Transition in the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan - FromConscripts to Contract Soldiers"

by Matt Stein

A Small Box That's a Big Deal: How Latin American Countries are Using CubeSATs

and Why it Matters

by Kevin Freese first published in the Small Wars Journal July 2016

Integration of Unmanned Aerial Systems within Russian Artillery

Published at Fort Sill Fires Bulletin July, Aug 2016

River Flotillas in Support of Defensive Ground Operations: The Soviet Experience

by Lester Grau. This article was previously published in The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, Volume 29,

Number 1, January-March 2016.

Thinking Like A Russian Officer -- Basic Factors And Contemporary Thinking
On The Nature Of War, by Timothy Thomas

Amphibious Planes as a Preferred Trafficking Method in Argentina, by Brenda Fiegel

Local Perspectives of Five Southeast Asian Countries Toward China in the South China Sea Disput,

by Anthony Ortiz

New System Preserves Armor Dominance of Future Battlefield: BMPT ‘Terminator-2’",

by CPT Charles K. Bartles and Dr. Lester W. Grau. This paper is published in the April-June 2015 issue of Armor Magazine"

Russia’s 21st Century Information War: Working to Undermine and Destabilize Populations, by Timothy Thomas. This paper was originally published in NATO's Defense Strategic Communications journal, Volume 1, No 1, Winter 2015.

China’s investment in the Central asian republics by Donald Tang

How to Hold or Take a Big City -- Seven Lines of Effort, by Geoffrey Demarest. This paper was originally published in Small Wars Journal, 18 February 2016.

Foreign Area Observations from Maidan by James Harvey, U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer and FMSO Researcher. This paper was originally published in the Fall 2015 issue of the Foreign Area Officer Association Journal of International Affairs

Rebel Drones: UAV Overmatch in the Ukrainian Conflictby James Harvey, U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer and FMSO Researcher

Getting Gerasimov Right by Charles K. Bartles. This paper is published in the January-February 2016 issue of Military Review

The Murle Tribe: An Analysis of Its Conflicts with the Nuer, Dinka and Government of South Sudanby AHMED OSMAN

Russia’s Military Strategy and Ukraine: Indirect, Asymmetric—and Putin-Ledby Timothy Thomas, FMSO-JRIC Analyst. This paper was originally published in The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. mall Wars Journal on September 04, 2015.

• Growing Military Relations between Nicaragua and Russia,by 1LT Brenda Fiegel, FMSO-JRIC Analyst. This paper was originally published in Small Wars Journal on December 01, 2014. It is being posted on the Foreign Military Studies website with permission from the publisher.
• FARC Raises its Minimum Recruitment Age 1LT Brenda Fiegel, FMSO-JRIC Analyst. This paper was originally published in Dialogo Digital Military Magazine on March 28, 2015. It is being posted on the Foreign Military Studies website with permission from the publisher.
• Honduran Military Implements Narco-Strip Bombing Campaign1LT Brenda Fiegel, FMSO-JRIC Analyst. This paper was originally published in Dialogo Digital Military Magazine on March 28, 2015. It is being posted on the Foreign Military Studies website with permission from the publisher.

• When a River Runs Through It: Riverine Operations in Contemporary Conflict , by LTC (Retired) Lester W. Grau and LTC (Retired) Leroy W. Denniston.
• Combat in Cities: The Chechen Experience in Syria , Dr. Lester W. Grau, SFC Kenneth E. Gowins, Lucas Winter, and Dodge Billingsley.
• The Quantum Leap into Computing and Communication: A Chinese Perspective, by Cindy Hurst, FMSO Analyst. This article was previously published in Joint Force Quarterly, March 2015.
• Human Capital Needed to Support Peruvian Cocaine Production, by Brenda Feigel FMSO Analyst. June 2015.
• Fuel for Thought: The Importance of Thorium to China, by Cindy Hurst, FMSO Analyst. This article was previously published by the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, February 2015.
• Keeping NBC Relevant: Flame Weapons in the Russian Armed Forces, by Charles Bartles, FMSO Analyst, March 2015.
• IEDs in the Context of Appropriate Technology, by Bob Feldman, FMSO Analyst, February 2015.
• Death Unguarded: Unsecured Virulent Pathogens in African Medical Facilities, by Bob Feldman, FMSO Analyst, October 2014.
• Attacks in Chile Taking a Dangerous Turn to Terrorism, by Brenda Fiegel, FMSO Analyst. This article was previously published in Dialogo,07 October 2014.
• The Picuda: A Wave-Breaking Go-Fast Wonder that Defies Radar Detection, by Brenda Fiegel, FMSO Analyst. This article was previously published in Dialogo,16 September 2014.
• Restructuring the Tactical Russian Army for Unconventional Warfare, by Mr. Lester W. Grau, PhD, FMSO Analyst, May 2014. This article was previously published in Red Diamond Volume 5 Issue 2, February 2014.
• Raqqa: From Regime Overthrow to Inter-Rebel Fighting, by Lucas Winter, FMSO-JRIC Analyst. This article was previously published in Small Wars Journal, July 2014.
• Mother Lode in Afghanistan: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, By Cindy Hurst & COL Robert Mathers. This article was previously published in Joint Force Quarterly,January 2014.
• The Afghan Guerrilla’s Dilemma: Tying up loose ends after the Soviets left, by Mr. Lester W. Grau, PhD, FMSO Analyst, May 2014.

Featured International Research Collaboration

• Chinese Officials: Capital Flight to Western Countries, by Wan-Jung Southerland
• Turkish Judicial and Constitutional Reforms by Zeynep Moore; Edited by Karen Kaya
• Brothers Disunited: Russia’s Use of Military Power in Ukraine, by Roger N. McDermott
• Narco-Submarines: Specially Fabricated Vessels Used for Drug Smuggling Purposes, by Byron Ramirez and Robert J. Bunker
• Evaluating China’s New Military Transparency and Openness by Yang Wang; China
• Kazakhstan’s Military-Industrial Complex: “Its Own” Or “Someone Else’s”, by Zhulduz Baizakova
• Responding to US Pivot to the Indo-Pacific: India's Pro-Active Role in Meeting Emerging Security Challenges, by Gurmeet Kanwa
• Fallouts of the Uttarakhand Disaster in India: a Critical Appraisal, by Dhanasree Jayaram
• Turkmenistan’s ‘Golden Age’ Lake: a Potential Environmental Disaster, by Zhulduz Baizakova
• Narco Armor Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicles in Mexico, Edited by Robert J. Bunker and Byron Ramirez, In cooperation with Borderland Beat, InSight Crime, &Small Wars Journal— El Centro
• Latvia's Military Personnel: Limits of Civil Rights as a Guaranty of Political Neutrality, by Ilmars Dzenevs ; Estonia (Edited by Jason Warner, FMSO Foreign Analyst)

Featured University Research Collaboration

• Trafficking in Kazakhstan, by Brian Turnbull
• Artisan Small Arms Production in Sub-Saharan Africa, by Jeff Stocker
• Combating Violent Extremism and Insurgency in Nigeria: A Case Study of the Boko Haram Scourge by Oluwatosin Babalola
• The Enforcement of Russia’s “Foreign Agents Law by Dezeree Hodish
• The American Transit Center at Manas: What Drives Kyrgyz Policy? by Vincent M. Artman
• African Political Party System and Conflict, by Susan M. Bartlett, CGIS-FMSO Fellow Fall 2012
• A Capacity for Violence: The Changing Face of Central Asia’s Islamic Identity, by Luke Falkenburg.
• The Ascent of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Egyptian Revolution: The Interplay of Narrative and Other Factors by William Tombaugh

Featured Foreign Area Officer (FAO) Research Collaboration

• Drug Control in Central Asia An Assessment of Compliance with International Law, By Major Timothy A. Krambs, U.S. Army
• The Strategic Implications of Chinese Companies Going Global, by COL Heino Klinck, U.S. Army
• Fergana as FATA? Central Asia after 2014 – Outcomes and Strategic Options by COL Ted Donnelly, U.S. Army. This article was previously published in CONNECTIONS: The Quarterly Journal Volume XI, Number 1, Winter 2011, p. 11

Featured Interagency Research Collaboration

• Narco-Submarines: Specially Fabricated Vessels Used for Drug Smuggling Purposes, by Byron Ramirez and Robert J. Bunker
• Israeli Assault on Gaza Aid Flotilla, by LCDR Hans Staffelbach. Introduction by Karen Kaya, FMSO Analyst.
• Chinese Imperialism in 2013: Application of Unrestricted Warfare or the Legitimate Use of the Economic Instrument of National Power? by Jason Heeg

Featured COCOM Research Collaboration

• Russia’s Skolkovo Innovation Center, By Mr. Seth Allen, Library of Congress.
• Political Islam and the Economy and Politics in Turkey, By Shana R. McClean and A.A.
• Jihad, Shariah and Their Implications for Security and Geopolitics, By Dr. Jevdet Rexhepi, Regional Functional Scholar-Eurasia, Cultural Knowledge Consortium, Ft. Leavenworth, KS.
• Europe’s Somali Diaspora: Both a Vulnerability and a Strength, By Robert W. Kurz, FMSO-JRIC Analyst.

The Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is an open source research organization of the U.S. Army. Founded as the Soviet Army Studies Office in 1986, it was an innovative program that brought together military specialists and civilian academics to focus on military and security topics derived from unclassified, foreign media. The results were unclassified articles and papers that provided new understandings and broad access to information from a base of expertise in the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, and foreign and U.S. defense communities and universities.

Today FMSO maintains this research tradition of special insight and highly collaborative work. FMSO conducts unclassified research of foreign perspectives of defense and security issues that are understudied or unconsidered but that are important for understanding the environments in which the U.S. military operates. FMSO's work today is still aimed at publication in unclassified journals and its research findings are taught in both military and civilian venues in the United States and around the world. FMSO is organized in the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command under the TRADOC G-2.