Michael Knights – författare

The U.S.-led effort to fight the Islamic State in northeastern Syria since 2014 has been as controversial and poorly understood as it has been significant. Advocates of fighting “by, with and through” the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) view the campaign as a near-ideal case study of a cost-effective U.S. military intervention that should be duplicated in the future. Critics of the campaign say that the U.S. allied itself with a terrorist group and endangered its ties with Turkey, a long-stranding NATO partner; losing sight of strategic priorities in order to win tactical victories at low cost.This book combines general research with 50 interviews gathered in Syria with Kurdish, Arab and Christian SDF officers, and 50 interviews with U.S. and French officials and military officers with on-the-ground involvement in the war. It provides an unprecedented window into how the war was really prosecuted, in the eyes of the participants at all levels, uniquely looking not only at how U.S. soldiers view their partner forces, but how the local partners view them in return. This is a unique and essential insight into US strategy in Syria and beyond.

The U.S.-led effort to fight the Islamic State in northeastern Syria since 2014 has been as controversial and poorly understood as it has been significant. Advocates of fighting “by, with and through” the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) view the campaign as a near-ideal case study of a cost-effective U.S. military intervention that should be duplicated in the future. Critics of the campaign say that the U.S. allied itself with a terrorist group and endangered its ties with Turkey, a long-stranding NATO partner; losing sight of strategic priorities in order to win tactical victories at low cost.This book combines general research with 50 interviews gathered in Syria with Kurdish, Arab and Christian SDF officers, and 50 interviews with U.S. and French officials and military officers with on-the-ground involvement in the war. It provides an unprecedented window into how the war was really prosecuted, in the eyes of the participants at all levels, uniquely looking not only at how U.S. soldiers view their partner forces, but how the local partners view them in return. This is a unique and essential insight into US strategy in Syria and beyond.

25 Days to Aden is the story of how in a week in 2015 the Gulf States pulled together a ten-nation coalition and the biggest military operation they ever launched unilaterally. It is an amazing account of Arab militaries doing what America would not, preventing Iran and its proxies the Houthis from taking a foothold on the Arabian Peninsula.The risks for global security were huge: Iran already overshadowed one of the world's greatest maritime straits, at Hormuz, and now it sought to dominate the southern approaches to the Suez Canal as well. Aden had to hold out against the Houthis. The Gulf States were used to America stepping up at such moments, but the White House was partway through negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran. No help would come from Washington. Instead, for the first time, the Gulf States acted alone.Told by an expert communicator on the region, it is a unique story, providing important context for the later US-Iran conflict and the wider fight for influence in the region.

The sequel to Michael Knights' successful 25 Days to Aden, The Race for Mukalla is the story of elite UAE forces taking the counter-terrorism fight to Al -Qaeda in the southern Yemen port of Mukalla.In many senses this was the UAE's most challenging moment. The first part of the book tells the story of the devastating missile strike at Safer, leading to the deaths of fifty Emiratis - a national tragedy for the Gulf nation. But the Emiratis are quick to regroup and their elite forces go on to save the key city of Marib city and liberate the iconic Zayed Dam. Both UAE forces and Al-Qaeda race to be the first to control the southern port of Mukalla. Initially Al-Qaeda take the port city, but by enlisting the help of local tribes - the Hadrami Elites - UAE forces fight their way in, running through precipitous mountain passes to the north and launching a naval blockade and amphibious assault to the south.Meticulously researched with those involved in the campaign and narrated at the same lively pace as 25 Days to Aden, The Race for Mukalla is both an adventure story and a unique historical account of the mission. It outlines the creation of a new formula for hunting Al-Qaeda: bringing together local Yemeni support, UAE special forces on the ground, and remote US intelligence and drones for the first time.