In today’s turbulent global security environment, impacted by a plethora of violent and extremist events committed by diversely motivated and ever more violent groups, education and critical thinking should be at the forefront of the United States’ defense strategy. This commitment to intelligence and the understanding of the motivations of groups committing acts against U.S. national security interests, as well as against basic human rights, should be shared by not only the employees of U.S. government institutions, but also by members of the media and every day citizens.
It has been stated and repeated over and over throughout history that the true enemy is ignorance. Although the U.S. remains a super power, the ignorance in understanding the origins, structures, cultures, languages and most importantly the true motivations of those we have identified as adversaries has led to many avoidable complications and defeats. Such understanding is just as important in a strong defensive posture, as is a strong military.
It is with this mission of education and critical thinking that Son of Media Safety & Security announces its 2015 Project on War and Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). Each month a number of posts will be published aimed and profiling significant wars and conflicts in history, as well as FTOs. Son of Media’s analysis, though varying from post to post, will at minimum discuss the origins, motivations and key players involved in each War or FTO.
Son of Media’s analysis will not be limited to highlighting the efforts of extremist Islamic groups covered on a daily basis in the media. The project on War and Foreign Terrorist Organizations will supply analysis on a diverse set of events and groups, as diverse as the threats facing U.S. national security interests. Although Son of Media staff will retain selection control of which significant wars or conflicts will be covered, the FTOs selected for analysis will largely follow and correlate with the months in which U.S. Department of State declaration announcements on FTOs were made. To read more about how FTOs are designated by the DOS, click here.
Albeit on a small level, Son of Media Safety & Security staff are very excited to have the opportunity to inject critical thinking and understanding of wars, conflicts and terrorist organizations into the citizens knowledge bank.