Modern War Institute

The Modern War Institute's book club is turning its attention to Leo Tolstoy's 'Hadji Murat', the short novel about the 19th-century Chechen leader who defected to the Russians during the Caucasus War. The selection invites readers to revisit Tolstoy's portrayal of loyalty, empire and insurgency, themes that resonate with contemporary military discussions about irregular warfare.

Accord, a South African peace institute, has published a piece arguing that United Nations peace operations must be fundamentally reset to cope with modern conflict. The argument is that missions designed for inter-state wars are struggling with today's asymmetric wars, political fragmentation and shrinking international consensus for intervention.