Month: April 2026

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐡𝐞𝐦,

by 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐣𝐬𝐤𝐚𝐥.

Book Review by Doug Livermore in The Drop, Special Forces Association

A Landmark Study in the Birth of Modern Unconventional Warfare

James Stejskal delivers a masterful exploration of the origins of modern special operations and unconventional warfare. Far from being another biographical treatment of T.E. Lawrence, this exceptional work examines the collective efforts of the British Military Mission (BMM) that operated in the Arabian Peninsula during World War I, revealing how a small cadre of irregular warfare specialists pioneered tactics and operational concepts that would shape military doctrine for generations to come…

Stejskal brings unique credibility to this historical analysis. As a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer who served thirty-five years as a “Green Beret” and CIA case officer, he understands unconventional warfare not merely as an academic concept but as a lived reality…
His career included two tours with the elite Special Forces Berlin unit during the Cold War, where he conducted clandestine operations behind potential Warsaw Pact lines, and later service with the CIA in numerous high-risk environments worldwide…

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 https://thedroponline.com/features/masters-of-mayhem.html

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃: ℐ𝓇𝒶𝓃 ℳ𝓊𝓈𝓉 ℬℯ 𝒟ℯ𝓈𝓉𝓇ℴ𝓎ℯ𝒹 𝓉ℴ ℛℯ𝒸𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓂 𝒫ℯ𝓇𝓈𝒾𝒶

by Shubhrangshu Roy, philosopher, poet, researcher, photographer, former Editor-in-chief of the Financial Chronicle in partnership with The New York Times. Published in 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 https://shubhrangshuroy.com/essays/saffron-shadows/the-wasteland

“𝒪𝓇𝒾ℊ𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁, 𝓈𝒸𝒽ℴ𝓁𝒶𝓇𝓁𝓎, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℊ𝓇𝒾𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓁𝓎 𝒽ℴ𝓃ℯ𝓈𝓉”

Highlights

Persia and now Iran

“Iran is that desolate expanse, dotted with oases towns, that the Sassanid called Eransahr, their dominion, ruled mostly through history by non-Persian races, Each one of these invaders …, since the dawn of human memory, has left behind their cultural imprint on a vast desert wasteland we still call Iran, where they rode from oasis to oasis to occupy territory, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌ℯ𝓈𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓃 𝓈𝒸𝒽ℴ𝓁𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓀ℯ𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒾𝓂𝒶ℊ𝒾𝓃ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝒷ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝒶𝓃𝒸ℯ𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓁 𝒽ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝒻 𝓉𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 𝓂𝒶𝓀ℯ-𝒷ℯ𝓁𝒾ℯ𝒻 𝒜𝓇𝓎𝒶𝓃 𝓇𝒶𝒸ℯ.
One month into American bombings, Iran is at that forever twilight moment in the immensity of time through which its rulers have carved their remarkable journeys in the ‘wasteland’ of civilizations from one oasis to another…”

To read the full article in 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬, click here https://shubhrangshuroy.com/essays/saffron-shadows/the-wasteland