Michael Burgoyne
@mlburgoyne.bsky.social
US Army Foreign Area Officer (ret), Co-author The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa, Asst Prof of Practice UofA ISS, PhD candidate King's College London, Tequila drinker
Pinned
Welcome to the Western Hemisphere | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University
Perhaps you were preparing for another round of operations in the Red Sea, or flying multinational patrols over Poland, or training with partners in the Philippines. Maybe you were a strategist who ha...
smallwarsjournal.com
As we learned the hard way in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, if you are going to use military force, you should have a deep understanding of your area of operations. Thanks to Small Wars for publishing my short primer on working in the Western Hemisphere. smallwarsjournal.com/2025/11/03/w...
I carried STP 21-1-SMCT Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks in my cargo pocket throughout basic training in 1995. Even the newest privates are instructed on lawful orders.
November 25, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I carried STP 21-1-SMCT Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks in my cargo pocket throughout basic training in 1995. Even the newest privates are instructed on lawful orders.
"The decision to learn a foreign language is to me an act of friendship. It is indeed a holding out of the hand. It’s not just a route to negotiation. It’s also to get to know you better, to draw closer to you and your culture, your social manners and your way of thinking." -John le Carré
November 25, 2025 at 3:41 PM
"The decision to learn a foreign language is to me an act of friendship. It is indeed a holding out of the hand. It’s not just a route to negotiation. It’s also to get to know you better, to draw closer to you and your culture, your social manners and your way of thinking." -John le Carré
Looking forward to this year's U.S.-Mexico Defense & Security Roundtable. Plenty to talk about. Join us live in Mexico City or livestream here: www.youtube.com/live/KM1YdCc...
November 25, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Looking forward to this year's U.S.-Mexico Defense & Security Roundtable. Plenty to talk about. Join us live in Mexico City or livestream here: www.youtube.com/live/KM1YdCc...
The convergence of transnational criminal organizations, insurgents, and terrorists is a real thing. Terrorists and criminals do participate in illicit economic activity to gain resources. However, exactness is important in shaping policy and strategy against these groups.
November 17, 2025 at 4:50 PM
The convergence of transnational criminal organizations, insurgents, and terrorists is a real thing. Terrorists and criminals do participate in illicit economic activity to gain resources. However, exactness is important in shaping policy and strategy against these groups.
Thanks to @avindman.bsky.social for the opportunity to collaborate on this discussion regarding operations in the Caribbean. www.avindman.com/p/what-congr....
What Congress and the American People Should Be Asking About Venezuela
In Collaboration with Michael L. Burgoyne and Albert “Jim” Marckwardt
www.avindman.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Thanks to @avindman.bsky.social for the opportunity to collaborate on this discussion regarding operations in the Caribbean. www.avindman.com/p/what-congr....
As we learned the hard way in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, if you are going to use military force, you should have a deep understanding of your area of operations. Thanks to Small Wars for publishing my short primer on working in the Western Hemisphere. smallwarsjournal.com/2025/11/03/w...
Welcome to the Western Hemisphere | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University
Perhaps you were preparing for another round of operations in the Red Sea, or flying multinational patrols over Poland, or training with partners in the Philippines. Maybe you were a strategist who ha...
smallwarsjournal.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:46 PM
As we learned the hard way in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, if you are going to use military force, you should have a deep understanding of your area of operations. Thanks to Small Wars for publishing my short primer on working in the Western Hemisphere. smallwarsjournal.com/2025/11/03/w...
Why isn't the US exercising strategic patience? Petro is deeply unpopular and is likely to be replaced in Aug. What's the play, completely break the relationship with Colombia and then rebuild it next year? Why not wait a few months on the Venezuela pressure?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
U.S. Strikes Boat in Pacific, Expanding Operation Against Drug Running Suspects
www.nytimes.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Why isn't the US exercising strategic patience? Petro is deeply unpopular and is likely to be replaced in Aug. What's the play, completely break the relationship with Colombia and then rebuild it next year? Why not wait a few months on the Venezuela pressure?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/u...
Had a good conversation with KTAR this week. Short sound bite here (play.cdnstream1.com/s/bonneville...). A few points didn't make the cut...
October 8, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Had a good conversation with KTAR this week. Short sound bite here (play.cdnstream1.com/s/bonneville...). A few points didn't make the cut...
Lots of speculation about the new National Defense Strategy and a shift in focus to the Western Hemisphere. Several years ago, Pablo Brum and I wrote an article outlining the strategic importance of the region. wjpcenter.org/wp-content/u...
September 26, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Lots of speculation about the new National Defense Strategy and a shift in focus to the Western Hemisphere. Several years ago, Pablo Brum and I wrote an article outlining the strategic importance of the region. wjpcenter.org/wp-content/u...
Reminder, under the War Powers Resolution, Congress has 46 days left to authorize the use of military force against Venezuelan criminal organizations and/or the Maduro regime. www.military.com/daily-news/2...
September 17, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Reminder, under the War Powers Resolution, Congress has 46 days left to authorize the use of military force against Venezuelan criminal organizations and/or the Maduro regime. www.military.com/daily-news/2...
COIN has become shorthand for expensive poorly designed intervention policies. This lets our strategic leaders off the hook for their utter failure to develop effective military strategies and sets our forces up for another round of on the job training. archive.smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/was...
Was it All Just a Dream? Revisiting “The Defense of Jisr Al-Doreaa” Ten Years Later | Small Wars Journal
Counterinsurgency isn’t dead no matter how much the U.S. military may want it to be. Ten years ago, we wrote a short parable designed to quickly inform junior leaders on the basic concepts of counteri...
archive.smallwarsjournal.com
September 8, 2025 at 9:11 PM
COIN has become shorthand for expensive poorly designed intervention policies. This lets our strategic leaders off the hook for their utter failure to develop effective military strategies and sets our forces up for another round of on the job training. archive.smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/was...
Well, here we go! Looks like the President has decided to use military force against drug cartels. (www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/u...). With a war in Ukraine raging and tensions with China on the rise, initiating a conflict with Mexico is strategic malpractice.
Trump Directs Military to Target Foreign Drug Cartels
www.nytimes.com
August 8, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Well, here we go! Looks like the President has decided to use military force against drug cartels. (www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/u...). With a war in Ukraine raging and tensions with China on the rise, initiating a conflict with Mexico is strategic malpractice.
So your unit has orders to go to the U.S.-Mexico border? Check out my preparation guide in Small Wars Journal.
An Intellectual Preparation Guide for Joint Task Force Southern Border | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University
The orders came down and your unit is headed to the US-Mexico border to take part in Joint Task Force Southern Border. It’s an important mission intended to stop illegal border crossings and the flow ...
smallwarsjournal.com
May 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
So your unit has orders to go to the U.S.-Mexico border? Check out my preparation guide in Small Wars Journal.
I had a great time talking to students about diplomacy with Rafael Barceló Durazo at the Mexican Consulate in Tucson. Thanks to Tucson Mexico Sister Cities and UofA College of Social & Behavioral Sciences Mexico Initiatives.
May 23, 2025 at 4:11 PM
I had a great time talking to students about diplomacy with Rafael Barceló Durazo at the Mexican Consulate in Tucson. Thanks to Tucson Mexico Sister Cities and UofA College of Social & Behavioral Sciences Mexico Initiatives.
Craig Deare literally wrote the book on U.S. - Mexico defense relations. We should listen to him. thehill.com/opinion/inte...
thehill.com
May 23, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Craig Deare literally wrote the book on U.S. - Mexico defense relations. We should listen to him. thehill.com/opinion/inte...
Not sure where Sebastian Gorka got 500,000 from. Here's the study that was published in Science Magazine "Results show that by 2022, cartels counted 160,000 to 185,000 units, becoming one of the country’s top employers."
Reducing cartel recruitment is the only way to lower violence in Mexico
Reducing recruitment of new members is key to weakening Mexico’s cartels.
www.science.org
May 16, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Not sure where Sebastian Gorka got 500,000 from. Here's the study that was published in Science Magazine "Results show that by 2022, cartels counted 160,000 to 185,000 units, becoming one of the country’s top employers."
Had a great conversation with the International Team for the Study of Security Verona on the potential effects of designating transnational criminal organizations as terrorist groups. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D5c...
Michael L. Burgoyne on the US designation of Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organisations, ITSS Verona
YouTube video by ITSS Verona
www.youtube.com
May 13, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Had a great conversation with the International Team for the Study of Security Verona on the potential effects of designating transnational criminal organizations as terrorist groups. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D5c...
Highway security in Mexico is a topic that should get more attention. Check out this article in Small Wars Journal by Cole Sledge from @uofasecstudies.bsky.social
The Effect of Cargo Hijackings on Economic Security and Foreign Direct Investment in Mexico | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University
Abstract Over the previous decade, there has been a substantial increase in cargo hijacking of semi-trucks throughout Mexico. These hijackings have become a threat to Mexico’s economic security and t...
smallwarsjournal.com
April 25, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Highway security in Mexico is a topic that should get more attention. Check out this article in Small Wars Journal by Cole Sledge from @uofasecstudies.bsky.social
"Wherever the future leads us, I’ve now come to the same conclusion that hundreds of my fellow Afghan combat veterans have: We will have to protect our Afghan allies from the very government that ordered us to befriend them."
The Trump Administration Is Preparing to Send American Allies to Their Deaths
If the Afghans in the United States are deported, they will likely be executed.
www.thebulwark.com
April 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
"Wherever the future leads us, I’ve now come to the same conclusion that hundreds of my fellow Afghan combat veterans have: We will have to protect our Afghan allies from the very government that ordered us to befriend them."
If you are in Tucson and want to attend the @avindman.bsky.social TCFR event, join and register now. We increased the number of available seats, but we're just about to capacity again. www.tcfr.org/vindman
March 26, 2025 at 12:27 AM
If you are in Tucson and want to attend the @avindman.bsky.social TCFR event, join and register now. We increased the number of available seats, but we're just about to capacity again. www.tcfr.org/vindman
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees! www.reuters.com/world/us/va-...
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees! www.reuters.com/world/us/va-...
VA shake-up hits mental health services for US veterans
Joey Cortez, who served 24 years in the U.S. Air Force, had been waiting since August to see a mental health specialist from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, when he experienced a fresh jolt of anxiety.
www.reuters.com
March 20, 2025 at 9:06 PM
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees! www.reuters.com/world/us/va-...
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees! www.reuters.com/world/us/va-...
Just finished the new book by @avindman.bsky.social and I'm looking forward to his presentation at the Tucson Committee on Foreign Relations on 3 April. www.tcfr.org/vindman
March 20, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Just finished the new book by @avindman.bsky.social and I'm looking forward to his presentation at the Tucson Committee on Foreign Relations on 3 April. www.tcfr.org/vindman
Reposted by Michael Burgoyne
You can watch @avindman.bsky.social live at @politicsprose.bsky.social right now!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZZv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZZv...
Alexander Vindman — The Folly of Realism
YouTube video by Politics and Prose
www.youtube.com
March 4, 2025 at 12:04 AM
You can watch @avindman.bsky.social live at @politicsprose.bsky.social right now!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZZv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZZv...
Reposted by Michael Burgoyne
Russia's War on Ukraine
Thursday, April. 3, 2025 | Tucson
Tucson Committee on Foreign Relations
www.tcfr.org/vindman
Thursday, April. 3, 2025 | Tucson
Tucson Committee on Foreign Relations
www.tcfr.org/vindman
Vindman | TCFR
www.tcfr.org
March 3, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Russia's War on Ukraine
Thursday, April. 3, 2025 | Tucson
Tucson Committee on Foreign Relations
www.tcfr.org/vindman
Thursday, April. 3, 2025 | Tucson
Tucson Committee on Foreign Relations
www.tcfr.org/vindman
So I remember when Jim Marckwardt and I were writing Blackjack. We had a scene in there where we had Strykers. But we said, "This is going to seem unrealistic. Let's go with MRAPs, because the Guard would have those." Truth is often stranger than fiction. (www.defense.gov/News/News-St...)
Blackjack | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University
Last year, an authorization for the use of force against Mexican cartels was introduced in Congress. Several senior US politicians, including a presidential candidate, have advocated for military stri...
smallwarsjournal.com
March 1, 2025 at 11:05 PM
So I remember when Jim Marckwardt and I were writing Blackjack. We had a scene in there where we had Strykers. But we said, "This is going to seem unrealistic. Let's go with MRAPs, because the Guard would have those." Truth is often stranger than fiction. (www.defense.gov/News/News-St...)