In 2010, U.S. special operations forces (SOF) in Afghanistan began a new and innovative program to fight the Taliban insurgency using the movement's structure and strategy against it. The Village Stability Operations/Afghan Local Police initiative consisted of U.S. Army Special Forces and U.S. Navy SEAL teams embedding with villagers to fight the Taliban holistically. By enlisting Afghans in their own defense, organizing the local populace, and addressing their grievances with the Afghan government, SOF was able to defeat the Taliban’s military as well as its political arm. Combining the traditions of U.S. Army Special Forces with the lessons learned in the broader SOF community from years of counterinsurgency work in Iraq and Afghanistan, this new approach fundamentally changed the terms of the conflict with the Taliban. However, little has been written about this initiative outside of the special operations community until now. In this first-hand account of how the Village Stability Operations program functioned, Daniel R. Green provides a long-term perspective on how SOF stabilized the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, the site of the Pashtun uprising against the Taliban in 2001 led by Hamid Karzai, future president of Afghanistan. In the Warlords’ Shadow offers a comprehensive overview of how SOF adapted to the unique demands of the local insurgency and is a rare, inside look at how special operations confronted the Taliban by fighting a “better war” and in so doing fundamentally changed the course of the war in Afghanistan.

New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter begins a dark, sexy new series—Rise of the Warlords—with a fan-favorite character from her beloved Lords of the Underworld series, Taliyah Skyhawk. The ice maiden faces off with her greatest enemy, a villain brutal beyond imagining. For centuries, Taliyah Skyhawk has prepared to become Harpy General, leader of the deadliest female army in existence. One of the requirements? Remain a virgin. But, for a chance to save her people, she must wed the fearless leader of the Astra Planeta, Alaroc Phaethon. The time has come for Roc to sacrifice another virgin bride to his god. There has never been a woman alluring enough to tempt him from his path. No warrioress powerful enough to overcome his incredible strength. No enchantress desirable enough to make him burn beyond reason. Until now. With the clock ticking, war between husband and wife ignites. Except Taliyah never expected the merciless king to challenge the future she once envisioned. She certainly never anticipated the thrill of their battles turning into games… The problem is, only one spouse can survive. Love is a battlefield in Showalter’s The Warlord. Don't miss Ruthless, the second book in New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter's captivating and unforgettable Immortal Enemies series.

Life in the Scythian court was never easy. Just being born royalty painted a target on Maeve's back. Despite the deadly games, failed assassination attempts, and a truly monstrous parentage, Maeve discovered her true family; her brother and her dragon. They should've been enough to protect the kingdoms from devil growing in their midst. But that's the funny thing about love, it's blind. It took one moment for Maeve to lose everything she loved, and one more for her to irrecoverably change. Sometimes to destroy a monster, one had to become something worse. Every villain has his handmaiden, and the Warlord was no exception.The fairy-tales had it wrong. Monster's weren't born, they were made.In this heart - wrenching novella of the Internationally Bestselling Series The Aermian Feuds, Maeve will set in place a rebellion that will span hundreds of years and shake the very foundation of everything you thought you knew.

An electrifying thriller – the first in a blistering series for readers of Brad Thor, Tom Clancy and Daniel Silva. Tom Locke is an elite warrior working for Apollo Outcomes, one of the world’s most successful private contracting firms. Pulled out of a mission in Libya, he is tapped for an unusual and risky assignment: a top secret black op in Ukraine. Given one week to rescue an oligarch’s family and pull off a spectacular assault, he soon realises his mission has repercussions for this imperiled Eastern European nation and the world. What Locke doesn’t know is that the operation comes with a dangerous complication: his enigmatic and ambitious boss, Brad Winters. One misstep could cost Locke – and the region – everything. Written by an army veteran with deep military expertise, Shadow War is an explosive and unputdownable thriller. Praise for Shadow War ‘I was blown away’ Mark Greaney, #1 New York Times bestselling author ‘Ex-mercenary Sean McFate has produced a first novel that's assured, authentic, timely, gritty, and most of all real’ C.J. Box, New York Times Best-selling Author of Badlands and Off the Grid ‘Shadow War has pace like a catapult, sudden and fierce, and it will hit readers straight between the eyes’ Ted Bell, author of Patriot

Annotation This book captures the human face of the frontlines, revealing both the visible and the hidden realities of contemporary war, power, and international profiteering in the 21st century.

Whether victorious or not, Central European states faced fundamental challenges after the First World War as they struggled to contain ongoing violence and forge peaceful societies. This collection explores the various forms of violence these nations confronted during this period, which effectively transformed the region into a laboratory for state-building. Employing a bottom-up approach to understanding everyday life, these studies trace the contours of individual and mass violence in the interwar era while illuminating their effects upon politics, intellectual developments, and the arts.

The war is over; Audriss the Serpent and his plans for tyranny have been put to an end. But for a man like Corvis Rebaine - whose past is full of horror and atrocities - there is no rest; especially not when word begins to spread that he's going around killing key members of the ruling aristocracy and the merchant Guilds ... because it's not actually Corvis doing it. If he's going to clear his name, and find out who's using it for their own nefarious purposes, then he will have to enter the murky world of politics and assassination once again. And he's not going to be very pleased about it ...

Two of Matt Braun's most beloved novels—now newly repackaged as a 2-in-1! In The Spoilers, private detective Luke Starbuck has been hired to ferret out the Judas working for the Central Pacific-a mastermind behind a string of train robberies. The target: gold shipments from the Frisco mint. All Starbuck has to do is pass himself off as an outlaw and infiltrate the pack... But chumming up to a gang leader like Denny O'Brien means that Starbuck must follow him into the vice pits of the notorious Barbary Coast. Getting inside this hellhole of crime is dangerously easy if you make the right moves. Make the wrong ones, and getting out could be murder... In The Warlords, It's 1915. In Europe, men are dying in trenches. In Washington, sentiment is growing for war against the Kaiser. And in Mexico, an explosive plot is set in motion by a German agent, a deposed dictator, and an army of murderous rebels. Amidst the chaos of Pancho Villa's revolution, a force of embittered Tejanos has crossed the Rio Grande, burning ranches, killing Texans, and gathering fighters in its wake. For the Germans, the goal is to paralyze America. For a daring Special Agent and a Texas Ranger, the mission is to go deep behind enemy lines and cut out the heart of an astounding conspiracy—before the West is drawn into a bloody war of its own...

A long-term evaluation and analysis of the UK's involvement in Sierra Leone before and after the conflict which ended in 2002. This book looks at how UK intervention moved from initial involvement through to war fighting and then post-conflict reconstruction, specifically of the security infrastructure.

The book provides critical perspectives that reach beyond the technical approaches of international financial institutions and proponents of the liberal peace formula. It investigates political economies characterized by the legacies of disruption to production and exchange, by population displacement, poverty, and by 'criminality'.