Confronting the Drone Challenge, Containing Russia and Prospects of a Gaza Ceasefire

This week, War on the Rocks authors took a hard look at how drones are reshaping the battlefield and the challenges and opportunities the technology presents for the U.S. military. Our contributors also considered how Russia could be isolated and the prospects of achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.

All this and more, this week on War on the Rocks. Read below.

Articles

In Syria, the United States should maintain its forces, withdrawing only when the underlying Syrian situation that led to their deployment improves.?

As talks on a ceasefire in Gaza appear deadlocked , we asked Jacob Stoil to reflect on his 2014 article, “Why a Gaza Ceasefire is So Difficult .”

The employment of A-teams into Ukrainian territory to train, advise, and assist Ukrainian forces — positioned well behind the active combat zones — requires little imagination, no adaptation, and few modifications. It does require political will and a fresh calculation of risk.

The contested air littoral has emerged as a critical new subdomain of warfare. This is a paradigm shift of epic proportions, which will require the Air Force to fundamentally transform itself in a very short period of time.

We asked five experts to tell us more about what Sweden and Finland will bring to the NATO alliance and how Russia might respond to NATO enlargement.

The U.S. military risks repeating history unless bureaucratic impediments are removed and the right organizations are empowered to make significant changes regarding the acquisition and distribution of small drones for infantry units.

Thus far in Ukraine, drone warfare has been an evolution, not a revolution.

The United States and its European allies should respond to global Russia with a multi-part containment strategy.

“Over the years, I’ve seen way too many ads for websites purporting to show the best examples of data visualization. Well, the following, I’d suggest, is one of the weirdest.”

Become a War on the Rocks member and enjoy more podcasts, more newsletters and even more insights.

Podcasts

Dr. Meg Reiss sat down with Marshall Kosloff to discuss supply chain risks and how these risks could be mitigated with investments in new technology.?

Ankit sat down with Victoria Samson to discuss the recent news of Russia's experimentation with placing a nuclear weapon in orbit, what the Russian leadership may be thinking, and what it means for national security.?

French President Emmanuel Macron has doubled down on comments he made last week suggesting that Western troops could be sent to fight Russia in Ukraine. Tara Varma joined the WarCast to discuss the French leader’s remarks and the international response.

Criminal gangs in Haiti launched a coordinated assault last week to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry from power when he was out of the country. Vanda Felbab-Brown joined the WarCast to tell us more about what is happening.

On this week’s Unspent Rounds, Tanvi Madan and Sergey Radchenko debate the best way to deal with Russia on the global stage.?

Ryan sat down at the Pentagon with Gen. Gary Brito to talk about strengthening Army professionalism.

Charles Kupchan spoke about the history of isolationism in the United States, its role in the formulation of American foreign policy, and how the idea is now resurgent in U.S. domestic politics.?

Aaron sat down again with Michael Koplow to discuss the latest news from Gaza, the prospects for a ceasefire, Israel-U.S. tensions, and domestic political dynamics in Israel.

Mike sat down with Iskander Rehman to discuss his recent Adelphi Paper, Planning for Protraction , and how scholars and observers should think about current and future wars.