Russian war correspondent Arkady Babchenko presents these amazing images of the war in Ossetia as he travels with Russian soldiers to Gori (hat tip Coming Anarchy). Warning: the photographs on the linked site contain many graphic images of corpses. The photographer did not get too close to the actual fighting, but he got close enough.

4GW, Catastrophes, Europe, Failed states, Firearms, Photos, World | No Comments »

This article originally appeared in SOLO. On the 15th of October 2007, several hundred armed police officers executed search warrants around New Zealand. They cordoned off Ruatoki, a small Maori village south of Whakatane, seized a number of firearms, and arrested 17 people. The police claimed that the raids, carried out under post 9/11 anti-terror [...]

4GW, Black globalization, Infrastructure, New Zealand, Non-state actors, Police, Terrorism | 7 Comments »

Or should that be “fragmegration”, James Rosenau’s coinage which links fragmentation with the inevitable integration that comes with globalization? Passport reports the latest on Belgium’s political crisis, which threatens to split the bicultural state. Miss Belgium, a Czech immigrant, sparked anger when it was revealed that she could not speak Dutch. Bolivia (Passport again) is [...]

4GW, Americas, Europe, Failed states, New Zealand | No Comments »

Adam (Simulated Laughter) and Mark (ZenPundit) both have shiny new blogs. ZenPundit.com: Finally, this excellent blog has the design and appearance appropriate for the quality of its posts. Rethinking Security: Adam’s new blog. I love the banner image! A good-looking blog doesn’t have to be hard work, but coming up with a good design isn’t [...]

4GW, Meta, World | 6 Comments »

Soon after Labour came to power in 1999, the planned purchase of 28 F-16s by New Zealand’s air force was cancelled, and the A-4K Skyhawk squadrons, Nos. 75 and 2 – which represented NZ’s only attack or fighter capability – as well as the jet-training squadron, No. 14, were disbanded.  Since then, 17 Skyhawks and 17 [...]

4GW, Labour, New Zealand | 16 Comments »

Thomas X. Hammes speculates that a series of large explosions at major ports could effectively “end globalization”. My previous post, “Fourth-generation warfare expert to speak in Wellington on Monday”, generated some interest, and several people have asked me for a report. Well, I guess I did promise you, so here goes… As Shlok said, Hammes [...]

4GW, Black globalization, Catastrophes, Infrastructure, Resilience, Terrorism, Wellington | 9 Comments »

“The Insurgency: Present State and Possible Future” Date: 27 August 2007 Time: 5.45pm Venue: Law School, Lecture Theatre 2, Old Government Buildings, Victoria University of Wellington, Pipitea Campus, Lambton Quay Presenter: Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, United States Marine Corps (Retired) I’ll definitely be attending this talk. Hammes was one of the first authors to use [...]

4GW, Wellington | 4 Comments »

In some ways, it sounds exactly like a typical Al Qaeda attack, with multiple, near-simultaneous bombing targeting public transport: Stuff, “Bombs spark city chaos”Four explosions plunged Christchurch into commuter chaos yesterday. A bomb exploded in the Bus Exchange about 3.10pm, forcing hundreds of passengers, many of them schoolchildren, onto surrounding streets. Inner-city traffic came to [...]

4GW, Infrastructure, New Zealand, Resilience, Terrorism | 4 Comments »

Originally posted on Coming Anarchy. If you would like to comment, please do so there. Lihir gold mine, Papua New Guinea A history of conflict As has been explored in previous Oceania Day posts, conflict in Oceania – particularly in Melanesia – is often related to resources. The prime example is Bougainville, where in 1989 [...]

4GW, Black globalization, Development, Energy, Failed states, Infrastructure, Mercenaries, Non-state actors, Pacific, Resilience | No Comments »

The preface of Edward Luttwak’s classic work on how to overthrow a government reads as follows: AS THE EVENTS in France of May 1968 have shown yet again, insurrection, the classic vehicle of revolution, is obsolete. The security apparatus of the modern state, with its professional personnel, with its diversified means of transport and communications, [...]

4GW, Black globalization, Development, Failed states, Infrastructure, Non-state actors, Technology | 7 Comments »