ISG Africa Regional Program Lead Dr. Whitney Grespin’s recently published an article titled, “Things Fall Apart: Soviet Assistance to the Somali Armed Forces, 1960–1977” in the latest issue of The Journal of African Military History. In this piece, Dr. Grespin and co-author Mr. Matthew Marchese noted, “As Cold War tensions rose, Soviet aid was offered to the nascent Somali government in pursuit of broader geopolitical machinations that were seen to supersede Somali interests, laying the groundwork for a decades-long mismatch between local intentions and Cold War superpower objectives in the Horn of Africa.” The result of this mismatch, they argue, “left Somalia with an unsustainable, corrupt, and repressive security structure as a direct result of high levels of foreign assistance that were not well coordinated with host nation sustainment capabilities.”

The Institute for Security Governance (ISG) recently conducted a “Strategies and Capabilities for Cyber Challenges” Resident Course at ISG headquarters in Monterey, California. This four-week course – offered annually – equips participants with the knowledge and skills to understand cyber threats and vulnerabilities, and their consequences for national security and military operations. The course explores strategies and capabilities to maintain an advantage over actors who seek to exploit, disrupt, or damage the critical networks, systems, and services upon which our societies and militaries depend.

In this issue of The ISG Heron, the Institute reflects on the DSCA Director’s fruitful visit to ISG, applauds ISG's Resident Advisor to Lithuania for receiving the Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service, welcomes new colleagues, marks the successful conclusion of the two-year educating-the-educators mobile seminar series in Ghana, offers a standing ovation to Emergency Management & Resilience colleagues, highlights Resident Education in Logistics Capacity Building, spotlights ICB Advising achievements in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and many more newsworthy developments.

Driven by a national mandate to improve military readiness and to increase its ability to quickly defend the borders of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Institute for Security Governance (ISG) and the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) Military Ammunition Command recently completed a ten-month Munitions Management Assessment (hereinafter Munitions Assessment) and developed a Munitions Infrastructure Master Plan (IMP) to improve the safety, security, and operational effectiveness of the country’s munitions management processes. This action was in response to a 2021 JAF request for ISG’s evaluation of the JAF’s current munitions material management practices.

As the lead coordinating entity for 10th annual Exercise Gobi Wolf 2022, The Institute for Security Governance (ISG) brought together stakeholders from U.S. Army Pacific, the Alaska Air and Army National Guard, the U.S. Forest Service, and the international community to exchange expertise and best practices in disaster response. Taking place in early September in Bayankhongor, Mongolia, Exercise Gobi Wolf is part of the Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) program, which focuses on interagency coordination and foreign humanitarian assistance.

A DIILS team recently traveled to Djibouti to conduct seminars on Human Rights and the Law of Armed Conflict.