Over the past several days, I’ve been asked by many about the current situation in Afghanistan, and why we're seeing those tragic events unfold so rapidly. If you'd like the short version, what we're now witnessing is an abject failure of both operational and strategic leadership in Afghanistan, Brussels, and in Washington.

It's obvious that we haven't learned much since Somalia, let alone Vietnam.

Conflict Management in Perspective

There was a time when wars were decided largely by applying overwhelming force and maneuver to defeat an enemy...think World War I, World War II…Desert Storm...even the Cold War. As a nation, we tend to prefer those types of conflicts because victory is largely achieved through dominance. But today, the ways, means and ends of winning wars are more complex, deadly, and often far more unconventional than we'd like.

A Kitchen-Table Schematic of the Author's Crisis Resolution Cycle

One of the primary responsibilities of operational and strategic l