Browsing by Author "Robinson, Colin D."

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    As ATMIS looks to withdraw, the risk of large-scale al-Shabaab success in southern Somalia is high
    (The International Peace Institute, 2024-12-10) Robinson, Colin D.
    In March this year, the African Union (AU) expeditionary force in southern Somalia—which started off as AMISOM but is now the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS)—reached its 17th year. The mission will end on December 31, 2024, and it will be replaced by a new African Union Stabilization and Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). United Nations Security Council approval will have to be given this month to meet the changeover deadline. Yet the new force is unlikely to significantly degrade the long-term threat al-Shabaab poses. al-Shabaab is stronger than generally perceived and may be in a position to achieve significant large-scale success.
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    Why the Afghan and Iraqi armies collapsed: an allied perspective
    (United States Army War College Press, 2024-08-29) Robinson, Colin D.
    Rather than military factors, American and Western liberal ideas (ideological views) and politics explain many of the obstacles faced in rebuilding the Afghan and Iraqi Armies. Liberal ideas largely determined what options the coalition would use. Ideological factors help explain democratization and reconstruction challenges, partner leaders with divergent aims, military-cultural factors and the Western combat focus, politicization, corruption, and nepotism. This article reviews the differences between Western liberal democracies and partner states, the politics of counterinsurgency, and army accounts. This article will assist US practitioners in security cooperation, institutional capacity building, and security assistance.