Small, cheap, deadly, unmanned.

We haven’t even begun to see the skies of future wars. Since aerial combat first evolved in World War I, it’s taken on a familiar form: scouts that find targets, fighters that attack other planes, and big heavy bombers that unload hell onto the ground below.

Despite a century of improvement, it is roughly the same now, with some more specialized aircraft. The wars of the future, though, are going to have a lot more in the sky. This week, at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Xponential conference in New Orleans, an Air Force official suggested that in addition to fighters and bombers, we can expect thousands of smaller drones to join the battle.

Here’s what Colonel Travis Burdine of the US Air Force said at the conference yesterday, according to Flight Global:

“I need a stealth bomber that’s going to get close, and then it’s going to drop a whole bunch of smalls – some are decoys, some are jammers, some are [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] looking for where the SAMs are. Some of them are kamikaze airplanes that are going to kamikaze into those SAMs, and they’re cheap. You have maybe 100 or 1,000 surface-to-air missiles, but we’re going to hit you with 10,000 smalls, not 10,000 MQ-9s. That’s why we want smalls.”

SAMs stands for “Surface-to-Air Missile,” and they’re one of the reasons that the Air Force has invested so much in stealth technology over the years: if a missile can’t see a plane, it can’t hit it. The problem is that the economics don’t quite work that way: it’s easier to make a new, better missile than it is to make an existing airplane even stealthier, and modern Air Force fighters serve for around 30 years each--longer if they’re bombers. Missiles are generally cheaper than airplanes, so anyone who wants to protect against aerial attack just needs to invest in a lot of missiles.

Unless, of course, there are cheaper drones that get in the way. The Air Force, as well as the Navy and DARPA, are all interested in making lots of cheap, deadly drones, specifically to take out and get in the way of enemy missiles. Israel already has kamikaze drones for this purpose, which can find anti-air missiles and destroy them, or land safely for another mission if no good targets are found.

Getting the costs down, and finding a way to carry them to battle before launch, are challenges that need to be met before the drones work. The ideas have been floated, sometimes with cruise missiles in place of drones, for decades, but it looks like the Pentagon is actively working to make this vision happen.

When they do, this is what aerial battlefields will look like: a vanguard of small, deadly drones, flying before more expensive stealth fighters, which are clearing the way for bombers or troop transports. The skies of war are destined to get a lot busier.

SEE ALSO: This map shows how many more military aircraft the US has than every other country on earth

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In "The World's Worst Weapons," Martin Dougherty details the long history of overambitious, underachieving weapons that failed to hit their mark.

For the most part, firearm technology has plateaued. The .45 Colt made in 1911 is still widely used. The AK-47 and AR-15 assault-rifle platforms are both more than half a century old.

But the items on this list employ some different ideas, most of which failed spectacularly.

From brass-knuckle-knife-revolvers to rocket-propelled ammunition, check out the eight worst guns ever produced.

SEE ALSO: This map shows how many more military aircraft the US has than every other country on earth

The Gyrojet pistol was one of the most creative ideas in the history of modern firearms.

Gyrojet pistols used rocket propulsion to fire their ammunition. But the guns were terribly inaccurate and were therefore discontinued.

Country: US

Entered service: 1965

Type: Handgun

Range:165 feet

Capacity: six rounds

Source: "The World's Worst Weapons"

In 1915, at the height of World War I, France's Chauchat light machine gun exemplified everything a light machine gun should not be.

The weapon was poorly manufactured to the point that it kicked like a mule. The firing mechanism frequently jammed, and, even when the gun did work perfectly, its 20-round capacity was inadequate for combat.

Country: France

Entered service: 1915

Type: Support weapon

Range:3,280 feet

Capacity: 20 rounds

Source: "The World's Worst Weapons" 

At the beginning of the 20th century, inventors tried to create a self-loading pistol. The Colt M1911 would eventually become the standard, but many mistakes before that, like the Mars pistol, were made.

The Mars was very complicated to operate and ejected used cartridges directly into the shooter's face.

"About 80 were made, after which the Mars quite rightly faded from the scene,"Dougherty wrote.

Country: UK

Entered service: 1900

Type: Handgun

Range:131 feet

Capacity: six rounds

Source: "The World's Worst Weapons"

The Syrian military denied on Friday it had conducted air strikes on a camp near the Turkish border that killed at least 28 people, but a top UN official said initial reports suggested a government plane was responsible for the "murderous attacks".

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said Thursday's attacks were almost certainly a deliberate war crime. France called them a "revolting and unacceptable act that could amount to a war crime or crime against humanity".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said women and children were among those killed in the attack on the camp near the town of Sarmada, which sheltered people fleeing the five-year civil war. The monitoring group said the death toll could rise further because many people were seriously wounded.

In a statement published by state media, the Syrian military said: "There is no truth to reports ... about the Syrian air force targeting a camp for the displaced in the Idlib countryside."

Syria's ally Russia said none of its aircraft had flown over the camp. It said militants from the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front might have deliberately or accidentally fired on it.

UN rights chief Zeid said in a statement: "Given these tent settlements have been in these locations for several weeks, and can be clearly viewed from the air, it is extremely unlikely that these murderous attacks were an accident."

He said his organization and others would "leave no stone unturned in their efforts to research and record evidence of what appears to be a particularly despicable and calculated crime against an extremely vulnerable group of people."

Initial reports suggested the attacks were carried out by Syrian government aircraft, but this remained to be verified, he added. He urged governments on the United Nations Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court so that there would be "a clear path to punishment for those who commit crimes like these".

Charred tents

Footage shared on social media showed rescue workers putting out fires which still burned among charred tent frames, pitched in a muddy field. White smoke billowed from smoldering ashes, and a burned and bloodied torso could be seen.

Sarmada lies about 30 km (20 miles) west of Aleppo, where a cessation of hostilities brokered by Russia and the United States had brought a measure of relief on Thursday.

Zeid said most of the people in the camps had been forced to flee their homes in Aleppo in February because of sustained aerial attacks there.

He said he was also alarmed about the situation in Syria's Hama central prison, where detainees had taken control of a section of the prison and were holding some guards hostage.

"Heavily armed security forces are surrounding the prison and we fear that a possibly lethal assault is imminent. Hundreds of lives are at stake, and I call on the authorities to resort to mediation, or other alternatives to force," Zeid said.

SEE ALSO: Russian orchestra performs amid Syria's ruins as airstrike nearby kills 28

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West Point is investigating a photograph showing 16 female cadets posing with their fists raised outside a US Military Academy barracks, the Army Times reports.

A raised fist is a gesture that has been associated with political movements for centuries. Suffragettes, union activists, and civil-rights activists have all marched with and displayed raised fists. The Black Panthers, a black-power group in the 1960s, also adopted it, and more recently the gesture has become part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The political history of the gesture, as well as the perceived race of the cadets, has moved some to argue that the photo violates Department of Defense Directive 1344.10, Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces.

The directive says active members of the armed forces "should not engage in partisan political activity" and even nonactive members "should avoid inferences that their political activities imply or appear to imply official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement." As cadets in the US Military Academy, the women are considered to be active members of the armed forces and therefore barred from making political statements.

"We can confirm that the cadets in this photo are members of the US Military Academy's Class of 2016," West Point's director of public affairs, Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker, wrote in a statement emailed to the Army Times. "Academy officials are conducting an inquiry into the matter," the statement continued.

The picture went viral after John Burk, a former soldier, posted the photo in a blog post titled "Racism within West Point" on his In The Arena fitness blog.

Burk's post was shared more than a thousand times on Facebook.

Burk wrote that the cadets in the picture had been "making their voices heard" using Yik Yak, an anonymous messaging app.

In his post, Burk also quoted an anonymous source who said students were hesitant to discuss the issue because they could be expelled or forced to repeat years if they disrespect anyone.

SEE ALSO: Prominent Harvard law professor explains why he 'respects' Yale's decision to keep a slave owner's name on one of its 12 colleges

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NOW WATCH: JAMES ALTUCHER: College is a waste of time and money

Recently released footage from the Combined Joint Task Force's Operation Inherent Resolve shows a US-led airstrike obliterating an ISIS logistics hub outside of Al Huwayjah, Iraq.

According to the task force, ISIS used the building to conduct their terrorist operations, as well as store illicit materials. Judging by the secondary explosion after the missile hits, the facility may have also been storing bombs.

Here is the footage of the strike:

And the aftermath:

SEE ALSO: Russian orchestra performs amid Syria's ruins as airstrike nearby kills 28

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NOW WATCH: The US Army is sending Apache attack helicopters to fight ISIS in Iraq

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Senior members of North Korea's ruling regime took to the stage on Saturday to praise their party and leader Kim Jong Un at their biggest meeting in 36 years, a much-touted and tightly choreographed event intended to demonstrate Kim is firmly in control despite his country's deepening international isolation over its nuclear weapons program.

In something like a formal coronation for Kim, the ruling Workers' Party congress was also expected to officially elect him to its top post.

According to the North's state-run media, the agenda for the congress includes reviewing the work of the party's Central Committee and Central Audit Commission, revising party rules, electing Kim to the top party post and installing a new central party leadership — though no major departures from the current lineup were expected.

Video of the proceedings broadcast on state television on the second day of the congress Saturday showed party officials reporting accomplishments in the military, science and economy as part of the first item on the agenda.

The decision to formally install — or, perhaps more accurately, reinstall — Kim at the top is a step along the lines of his late father and grandfather, who both held the title of general secretary of the Workers' Party, and would demonstrate the young leader is in full control and ready to begin a new era of his own.

Kim is already head of the party, but with the title of first secretary. He could be re-elected to the same post or given an unspecified new one. His father, Kim Jong Il, holds the posthumous title of "eternal general secretary" and his grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung, is "eternal president."

Kim opened the lavish congress with a brief speech on Friday that singled out North Korea's advances in developing nuclear weapons and rockets capable of putting satellites into orbit, as examples of the country's progress in the face of international criticism and tough sanctions that threaten to further stifle its struggling economy.

Along with being high political theater filled with pomp and ceremony — the congress is being held in a lavishly decorated hall decked out with bright red banners and flags bearing the party's hammer, sickle and pen symbol — the gathering is a major milestone for the young North Korean leader, who was not yet born when the previous congress was held in 1980.

Kim called the congress a "historic" step in a grand struggle pitting the North against "all manner of threats and desperate challenges by the imperialists"— meaning mostly the United States. He said it would "put forward the strategic line and tasks to keep ushering in a great golden age of socialist construction and the direction of advance of our revolution."

The reference to what the North claims was a successful hydrogen bomb test in January brought a standing ovation from the more than 3,400 delegates at the congress. To put a finer point on his defiant message, outside observers believe, the North may be preparing to conduct another nuclear test soon.

An analysis released by the respected 38 North website, which follows developments in North Korea, said commercial satellite imagery of North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site from May 5 suggests Pyongyang may be preparing for a nuclear test "in the near future."

The analysis said that overall activity at the site is low, but that vehicles have been spotted at what is believed to be the Command Center, located approximately 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) south of the test site.

On Saturday morning, thousands of people continued practicing their moves in open areas around Pyongyang for the kind of mass celebrations that North Korea typically puts on for big events.

Younger students are usually involved in a torchlight parade at nighttime. Older students and workers normally take part in a daylight parade. For many years, both of these mass celebrations have been held in Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang, which was locked down on Wednesday for a giant dress rehearsal.

Some North Koreans said they were following the congress on television.

"I saw the congress last night on TV when I was at home with my family," Pyongyang resident An Myong Hui said Saturday. "Because it's the first one in 36 years and because Marshal Kim Jong Un was there, it made me feel really emotional."

Since assuming power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011, Kim has pushed a "byongjin" guns-and-butter policy of developing North Korea's nuclear weapons while also building its domestic economy.

Though the dual strategy is his trademark policy, many outside economists believe it is unlikely to succeed because of the heavy price the nuclear program brings in international sanctions that keep the country's economy from achieving sustainable growth.

All of the previous six congresses were convened by Kim's grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung. The previous one was used to formally announce Kim Jong Il as the second heir to power in the North's Kim family dynasty.

Kim Il Sung died in 1994, and Kim Jong Il — who rarely spoke in public — never called for the convening of a congress, though they were on paper supposed to be held every five years.

This one is clearly designed to put the spotlight on Kim Jong Un, who has yet to travel abroad or meet any world leaders. With that in mind, the North has invited over 100 foreign journalists in to cover the event, though none have been let inside the convention hall.

Instead, they have been kept busy touring showcase factories, hospitals and historic sites.

SEE ALSO: North Korea is holding its first Party Congress in 36 years — here's why

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Global warming has increasingly led to the melting of Arctic ice.

And, as the ice melts, the world's last true backwater will become a hotbed of global geopolitical competition. 

The following map from Parag Khanna's book "Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization" demonstrates exactly why the Arctic will become the world's next major frontier.

Largely, the competition in the Arctic will be based off of overlapping territorial claims and the region's high likelihood of having major oil and gas fields: 

SEE ALSO: Here is the map Donald Trump doesn't seem to understand

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NOW WATCH: Watch Russian warplanes fly dangerously close by a US Navy ship

The US Air Force is the world's premier aerial power. 

With 39 distinct types of aircraft, and many more subvarieties of each airframe, it is easy to understand why the US Air Force has no peers. Each airframe is custom-made to carry out a select mission effectively, and each pilot knows their aircraft perfectly. 

Below are the 39 distinct types of aircraft that the US Air Force fields, according to the Air Force Fact Sheets. 

SEE ALSO: This chart shows the incredible cost of operating the US Air Force's most expensive planes

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A-10 Thunderbolt II

Mission: The A-10 is specifically designed to carry out close-air support at low altitude and low speed. The A-10 is built to be highly survivable and can takeoff and land in locations near to the front lines.

Source: US Air Force

AC-130

Variants: AC-130U "Spooky" and AC-130W Stinger II 

Mission: Both AC-130 variants are highly modified versions of the original C-130 airframe. The variants are both tasked with close-air-support missions, convoy escort, and point air defense.

Source: US Air Force

B-1B Lancer

Mission: The B-1B Lancer is the Air Force's bomber backbone. It has the largest payload capacity of any aircraft in the fleet, is multi-mission capable, and can carry and deliver huge quantities of both precision and nonprecision weaponry. 

Source: US Air Force

On March 5, Airmen from all over the US converged on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona for the 20th annual Heritage Flight, showcasing 70 years of US air superiority.

The P-38 Lightnings, P-40 Warhawks, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-51 Mustangs, that ruled the skies during World War II flew alongside the F-16s, F-22s, and the F-35 in this moving tribute to the US's military aviation.

"The best thing about being a part of Heritage Flight is the impact that is has on people when they see us at an airshow,” said Dan Friedkin, the founder of the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation and demonstration pilot, Airman Magazine reports.

“The music, the sound of the airplanes, and the visuals, inspire great feelings. It makes people proud to be an American, proud of the US Air Force and happy to see others inspired.”

See the highlights of the flights below:

SEE ALSO: Step inside the cockpit of the US's most iconic war planes

The aircraft, old and new, have to be meticulously maintained by the airmen.

Fred Roberts, a 93-year-old, a World War II P-51 Mustang pilot who took it to the Luftwaffe, was a hit at the event. “I love joking with young pilots and talking about our ventures,” Roberts said. “It truly puts a visual to the lineage of the aircraft.”

Here's a view from inside the Mustang's cockpit with the pilot who flew in the Heritage Flight.

Former Navy SEAL sniper Brandon Webb completed one of the military's hardest training programs in order to become a SEAL. Many of us have heard of 'Hell Week' and how brutal the experience can be, but Webb describes a different phase of his training that proved to be even more challenging. 

Produced by Eames Yates

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The cool shot in this post was shared by the Thunderbirds on their Facebook page.

It shows a US Air Force F-35A forming up on right wing of the F-16 No. 1 leader of the USAF demo team. By looking at the configuration of the two aircraft and the angle of attack, or AOA — the angle between the relative wind and a reference line on the airplane or wing — it is pretty clear that the aircraft are flying at low speed in an attempt to match the airspeed of a slow camera ship.

Noticing that the F-35 is flying with a higher AOA than the F-16, many people have used the photograph to criticize Lockheed Martin's fifth-generation stealth jet as if the fact that the Joint Strike Fighter was flying "nose high" is the umpteenth sign that the aircraft is a fiasco: Criticizing the F-35 has become somehow "fashionable."

Actually, it's not the case. The photo just highlights that, given its wing type and aerodynamic characteristics, a clean F-16, with flaps down, is able to fly, under full control and leveled, in formation with the camera ship with a slightly lower AOA than an F-35.

That's it.

Is this an F-35's fault? Most probably not. The higher AOA does not mean the aircraft is "worse" than the Viper. The design of the JSF is such it can fly really high AOA (back in October 2012, the aircraft was flown to the production limit of 50 degrees) while the F-16 is limited to below 29 degrees.

(Some basic stuff: Lift depends on wing surface, air density, airspeed, and AOA. To make it simple, if an aircraft wants to fly slower without descending, it must increase the AOA. Obviously, the AOA has a limit, a critical angle of attack beyond which the wing begins to stall.)

Indeed, one of the strengths of the F-35 is the authority at significantly higher AOA than the F-16. A couple of months ago we published an interesting article with a firsthand account of what dogfighting in the F-35 looks like to a Norwegian pilot who has a significant experience with the F-16.

Among the things Major Morten "Dolby" Hanche underlined was the greater authority at high AOA and low airspeeds that gives the F-35 pilot the ability to point the nose of the airplane where he desires, enabling him to deliver weapons earlier than with the F-16 and giving him the ability to reduce the airspeed quicker than in the F-16.

Here's how "Dolby" described the high AOA/low airspeed regime:

"Yet another quality of the F-35 becomes evident in this flight regime; using the rudder pedals I can command the nose of the airplane from side to side. The F-35 reacts quicker to my pedal inputs than the F-16 would at its maximum AOA (the F-16 would actually be out of control at this AOA). This gives me an alternate way of pointing the airplane where I need it to, in order to threaten an opponent. This «pedal turn» yields an impressive turn rate, even at low airspeeds. In a defensive situation, the «pedal turn» provides me the ability to rapidly neutralize a situation, or perhaps even reverse the roles entirely."

Therefore, the troubled F-35 may have several flaws, but the above photograph does not add any new or old one to the list.

SEE ALSO: Air Force test pilot shares if the F-35 or A-10 is better for close air support

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NOW WATCH: Watch this beautiful footage of Saab’s fighter jet that aims to compete with the F-16

World War I drastically changed the face of Europe and set the stage of the even more staggering changes wrought by World War II. 

Before the start of World War I, just over a hundred years ago in 1914, European empires still controlled vast swathes of territory, Communist revolutions had yet to spread across the globe, and the Russian Empire controlled Finland, the Baltics, Ukraine, and large portions of Poland.

The following photos, from the Prokudin-Gorskii Collection in the Library of Congress, offers an amazing glimpse into pre-Communist revolution Russia. The photos were taken throughout the Russian Empire between 1905 and 1915 and have been colorized to to give a unique view of what life was like during the last days of the empire.

SEE ALSO: Amazing colorized photos show a unique side of World War II

A view of the Assumption of the Mother of God Church in Deviatiny, which was 200 years old when the photo was taken in 1909.

Andrei Petrov Kalganov, a former master at a production plant, poses in regalia, after being able to present bread and salt to His Imperial Majesty, the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II.

Three young women offer berries to visitors to their izba, a traditional wooden house, in a rural area along the Sheksna River, near the town of Kirillov.

It was just a few months ago that the first A-29 Super Tucanos touched down in Afghanistan, and a new video of live fire drills gives us a rare look at the Afghan pilot's progress since then. 

As part of NATO's Operation Resolute Support to provide support and security to the Afghan National Government in the face resurgent terrorist groups like the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the US has provided A-29 light air support planes to the fledgling Afghan Air Force.

Throughout the video, you can hear US Air Force trainers instructing the Afghan pilots.

The A-29s in the video are firing off rockets, as well as the .50 calibre guns.

The A-29s sent to Afghanistan are US made, designed specifically for counter insurgency and are super versatile. 

The planes have five hardpoints on each wing and can carry up to 3,300 pounds of additional ordinance, like AIM-9X missiles, rocket pods, 20 mm cannons, smart freefall bombs, and even air-to-air missiles, according to IHS Jane's.

Watch the full video below (the firing starts at around the 3:10 mark):

SEE ALSO: Afghan special forces raid frees 60 prisoners from the Taliban

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Russia marked the Soviet Union's role in defeating Nazi Germany 71 years ago by holding one of the largest Victory Day military parades in Moscow in years today.

President Vladimir Putin presided over the parade, which included tanks, aircraft, and ballistic missiles.

The parade in Moscow was a strong reminder of Russia's dedication in recent years to modernize its military. It is also a show of strength by Putin as he continues his claims of being the defender of Russians even outside of the Russian border. 

SEE ALSO: Incredible colorized photos show Russia before the Communist revolution

Russian MiG-29SMT fighter jets fly in formation during the Victory Day parade, marking the 71st anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, above the monument of Minin and Pozharsky at Red Square in Moscow, Russia May 9, 2016.

Russian servicemen march during the Victory Day parade, marking the 71st anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, at Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2016.

Russian Mi-28N military helicopters fly in formation during the Victory Day parade, marking the 71st anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, above GUM department at Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2016.

In the photo below, soldiers and airmen from the international coalition to thwart ISIS stand in front of some of the most powerful military aircraft in the world.

From left to right, we see a U-2 spy plane, a KC-10 tanker, an F-15 Eagle, an F-18 jet in front of an E-3, a KC-30A tanker, an F-22 Raptor, and an RQ-4 Global Hawk drone.

SEE ALSO: Here's how the fledgling Afghan air force is training to take on Al Qaeda and the Taliban

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NOW WATCH: EX-PENTAGON CHIEF: These are the 2 main reasons ISIS was born

Is the West misreading Russian President Vladimir Putin? Brookings Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for the United States and Europe Fiona Hill sets the record straight in a new article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Putin oversees a vast nuclear weapons arsenal—so for the sake of international security, it’s important to know who he is, how he thinks, and why. And Western leaders, for their part, will need to learn how to talk with him.

Putin, Wizard of Oz

“Putin’s Russia is a one-man show,” Hill argues, even though the state appears to be managed by a cadre of his associates. It’s not clear whether he listens to their advice—all that’s clear is that he calls the shots. This kind of hyper-centralized, unchecked rule buttressed by a rubber-stamp parliament has deep roots in Russian political culture, according to Hill, going back to the Soviet system (and czarist Russia before that).

That said, Putin’s “operative-as-autocrat” status is unprecedented in Russia or in any other modern state. And he’s not merely an opportunist, Hill cautions, stressing: “Putin is a strategist.” He plans ahead. This, combined with the fact that he is not nearly as institutionally-constrained as his Western counterparts, makes him an inordinately flexible force in world affairs.

But Putin is not all-powerful—or infallible. “Overestimating him can be as dangerous as underestimating him,” she argues, pointing to Putin’s own personal misreadings of Western leaders. With limited experience living abroad, “Putin does not have deep insight into the way our societies work, nor does he care to obtain it.” Instead, he falls back on old threat perceptions, filtered through the prism of the Cold War when he was a KGB operative.

Coexisting better

Putin doesn’t really know how to talk to the West, and the West doesn’t know how to listen or talk to him—this level of mutual incomprehension, Hill argues, is dangerous. 

What the West tends to miss amid Putin’s alpha-male rhetoric is that he wants security for Russia, plain and simple. He wants to define and defend what he sees as Russia’s vital interests, and sees the United States as its foremost threat (a fact that American leaders find hard to understand in a post-Cold War era).

And he perceives Western efforts to promote democracy and liberal markets as encroachment, exhibiting paranoia that Trojan horses and Fifth Columnists are being implanted in Russia in order to undermine it. 

At the end of the day, Putin’s view of the world is a carry-over from the Soviet era: in short, “might still makes right” and the chess game of global affairs is still played out, fundamentally, on literal battlefields.

The trouble, for Putin, is that Russia’s resources in conventional military and economic terms are still far inferior to those of the United States and the West. So Putin sees himself in an asymmetric struggle with the United States, prompting him to try to “be innovative, catch the West off guard, and fight dirty,” as Hill writes. 

The paradox, she concludes, is that Putin doesn’t want out of the international community. Instead, Putin wants a seat at the table with the West—specifically with the United States—to make deals on “equal” (in his view) footing.

So what should Western leaders do about the Russian strongman? They can’t “simply reject the idea of dealing with Russia in international affairs,” Hill writes, pointing to common crises that the Russian and Western leaders need to solve together (like Syria, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, climate change, and the threat of pandemic disease).

Trying to isolate Russia will only push it to act as a spoiler. So the West should talk to Putin and members of his team, Hill urges—even if it makes their stomachs turn.

SEE ALSO: Incredible colorized photos show Russia before the Communist revolution

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NOW WATCH: Here's the high-tech military equipment Russia could use against the world

Moqtada al-Sadr and Iran have always had a difficult relationship. The two have used each other when it suited them, and then parted ways over and over again. Currently the two are at odds with each other over Sadr’s protests and support of Prime Minister Haidar Abadi.

In 2016 Sadr was able to co-opt the anti-government protests in Iraq. Those demonstrations started the year before demanding reforms in Baghdad. In August 2015 Sadr first called on his followers to join in, and eventually subsumed the secular protest leaders and imposed his agenda upon them by the start of this year.

That culminated in taking over the Green Zone from April 30-May 1. During those two days Sadrists chanted anti-Iranian and anti-General Qasim Suleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, slogans. Sadr meant to use the demonstrations to push Prime Minister Abadi to follow through with his remaking of the cabinet with non-partisan technocrats.

Sadr also meant to intimidate the other ruling parties by threatening to storm the Green Zone if they didn’t back the reforms. In doing so, Sadr was attempting to become the new kingmaker in Iraqi politics.

Sadr’s actions have evoked the ire of Iran and its allies, which have become increasingly critical of him. The earliest hint of that dissatisfaction came in April 2016 when Sadr went to Lebanon and met with Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah. A few days later Al Hayat reported that Tehran sent Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander General Qasim Suleimani to talk with Sadr about his protests.

A source claimed Sadr walked out of the meeting. Finally, an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Akbar Velayati said the protest was illegal and threatened the security and rule of law in Iraq.

That pressure seemed to make Sadr back off a bit. The day after his followers took over the Green Zone, he departed to Iran where he was going to be berated for that latest action. The head of his bloc in parliament also apologized for the anti-Iranian chants. Finally, his offices told his followers to only carry out local demonstrations on May 6. Despite that, people came out in cities across southern Iraq and Baghdad.

Iran has deep mistrust of Sadr, and does not appreciate him trying to bully Abadi and push through his reforms. Tehran’s main allies in Baghdad, Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawa faction and the Badr Organization have been opposed to PM Abadi attempting to change the cabinet, and have been trying to undermine his rule for months now.

They joined in the sit in protests by lawmakers that attempted to vote out not only Speaker of Parliament Salim al-Jabouri, but Abadi as well. They both have been long time opponents of Sadr too. Iran also does not like Sadr appropriating the protest movement, because it gives him more influence, and hence have been attacking him over it. After 2003 Iran and Sadr came together because both opposed the United States occupation of Iraq.

Sadr proved both erratic and unpredictable and the two quickly fell out. The two maintained ties, but it was always a difficult relationship. Today they actively dislike each other as shown by Sadr’s followers chanting anti-Iran and anti-General Suleimani slogans. At the same time, Tehran still has enough sway to order Sadr to appear in Iran for those same protests. Who will ultimately win in this struggle is yet to be seen.

Epilogue

Recent reports on Sadr and Iran have been schizophrenic. First, Sadr’s offices released a series of pictures claiming to be Moqtada in Iran. The problem was at least one of those pictures dated back to 2011 bringing up the date of the other photos.

Then Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied that Sadr was in the country for any talks. Finally, MP Hakim Zamili a leader in the Sadrist movement in parliament denied that the movement was behind the Green Zone take over, claiming that it was a spontaneous move, and then a spokesman warned that there would be a new round of demonstrations if parliament didn’t meet again to vote on the rest of Abadi’s cabinet.

Those defiant statements counter the retreat the organization made over the anti-Iranian chants during the Green Zone takeover. The use of old pictures and the contradictory statements about Sadr’s presence in Iran also obfuscates his status. Was he being berated by Iran or was Tehran just trying to cover up its actions?

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BEIRUT — Top officials in Tehran have vowed to exact revenge for the heavy losses suffered by Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) troops in a battle in which Islamist fighters seized a village south of Aleppo over the weekend.

Mohsen Rezaee, the secretary of the powerful Expediency Discernment Council, warned Monday that “takfiris” would pay a “heavy price” after killing 13 IRGC members and injuring 21 others in Khan Tuman on May 6, the largest single one-day loss of Iranian troops since it entered the Syria conflict.

The Iranian general hailed the killed Iranian soldiers, all of whom were from Iran’s Mazandaran province along the Caspian Sea, writing in a post on his official Instagram account that their service evoked memories of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War.

Razaee returned to active service in the IRGC in May 2015 following a stint in politics that saw him unsuccessfully run for president in 2009 and 2013. Rezaee commanded the IRGC from 1981 to 2005.

The high IRGC casualty count around Khan Tuman has sent shockwaves across Iran, with local newspaper Ghanooncomparing the clashes to the Battle of Karbala, a highly significant event for Shiite Muslims in which the Imam Hussein died alongside his supporters.

Rezaee claimed that insurgents “took advantage of the ceasefire” to seize Khan Tuman, adding that Saudi Arabia and Turkey were supporting insurgents in Syria.

Another Iranian security official, in turn, said that the attack on the Aleppo village revealed problems with the cessation of hostilities implemented in Syria in late February 2016.

"Since [the] truce plan was put forward, the Islamic Republic of Iran, which didn't oppose it in principle, reminded of its structural problems," Ali Shamkhani—the the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council of Iran—said.

"This event showed that the concerns raised by Iran were fully correct and based on the realities on the ground and that ceasefire would be merely an opportunity for the recruitment and reinvigoration of the terrorist groups by the governments which support them," he further claimed.

Iran has suffered over 400 casualties in Syria, according to reports, including the loss of a number of high-ranking officers. The casualty counts began rising as Iran deployed larger number of troops in support of the Syrian army’s offensives against rebels starting with Russia’s aerial intervention in late September 2015.

In April, Tehran deployed its troops from its regular army, including the 65th Airborne Special Forces Brigade, in its first official deployment outside of Iran since the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

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At the time of their surrender on May 7, 1945, Nazi forces had all but disintegrated. Adolf Hitler had committed suicide and Soviet forces had already taken Berlin, which resulted in 70,000 Nazi soldiers putting down their arms.

The failure of Nazi troops to check this advance resulted in them having no choice but to sign a treaty of unconditional surrender. The declaration of surrender stipulated that Nazi Germany recognize the authority of the Soviet Union and Allied forces. Nazi forces also had to immediately cease hostilities and remain in their bases. The signed Act of Surrender went into effect on May 8, 1945.

Immediately after the surrender, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, sent out a top-secret cable announcing the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and the victory of the Allies.

John S.D. Eisenhower, son of the general, recounts the moment of Germany's total surrender in his book, "The Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge":

General Eisenhower was sitting in his office awaiting the outcome of the surrender negotiations. Past the desk of his secretary and into the office came the Nazis, erect and cold. Eisenhower stood up. Rigid, and fixing a cold eye on his enemies, he demanded, "Do you understand all the provisions of the document you have just signed?"

"Ja!"

"You will, officially and personally, be held responsible if the terms of this surrender are violated, including its provision for German commanders to appear in Berlin at the moment set by the Russian High Command, to accomplish formal surrender to that government. That is all."

The Nazis saluted and left, and Eisenhower relaxed. A few minutes later he sent a message to the Combined Chiefs of Staff: "The mission of this Allied Force was fulfilled at 0241, local time, May 7th, 1945."

Although these documents put an end to the war with Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan continued to fight for an additional four months before it finally surrendered on September 2, 1945.

Only once Japan surrendered was World War II officially brought to a close.

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The U.S. Marine Corps is getting its first female rifleman and machine gunner later this year, service officials confirmed this week.

The two female enlisted Marines who have made lateral move requests to infantry jobs have been approved, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Philip Kulczewski told Military.com. The news was first reported by Marine Corps Times.

The Marine who applied to be an 0311 rifleman was a lance corporal, an official confirmed. The rank of the Marine approved to be an 0331 machine gunner is not clear. Kulczewski said the Corps is now in the process of meeting staffing requirements at the units that will receive the Marines.

In keeping with a Defense Department mandate and the Corps' own plan for integrating female troops into ground combat jobs, any infantry battalion with female members must also have a leadership cadre of at least two female officers or noncommissioned officers who have been at the unit for at least 90 days. Kulczewski said it's likely the Marines will not join their new units until December of this year.

While the units that will get the first female grunts have been identified by the Marine Corps, Kulczewski said, they have not yet been publicly announced.

The Marines who applied for infantry jobs are part of a small group of 233 women who were granted infantry military occupational specialties earlier this year after passing the Corps' enlisted infantry training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina, in order to participate in the service's research on integrating women into the previously closed units. While all the women are eligible to apply for infantry jobs, only the two enlisted Marines have done so to date.

Kulczewski said a more senior female infantry captain had also applied for a lateral move to a newly opened unit, but the request was denied based on the staffing needs of the Marine Corps.

After the two Marines reach their new units, the service will continue to research their progress. Kulczewski said the Marine Corps had created a 25-year longitudinal study to "assess all aspects and possible impacts throughout implementation."

The Corps' implementation plan requires that the commandant be informed directly of certain developments as women enter all-male infantry units, including indications of decreased combat readiness or effectiveness; increased risk to Marines including incidents of sexual assault or hazing; indications of a lack of career viability for female Marines; indications of command climates or culture that is unreceptive to female Marines, and indications that morale or cohesion is being degraded in integrated units.

Officials are also rolling out new training beginning this month aimed at ensuring all Marines understand the changes taking place. Mobile training teams will spend the next two months visiting bases and offering two-day seminars to majors and lieutenant colonels that include principles of institutional change, discussions of "unconscious bias" and specifics of the Corps' integration plan. These officers are then expected to communicate this information to their units.

"The Corps applauds the time and efforts of those Marines who volunteered. Request like these help the Marine Corps to continue the implementation of gender integration throughout all military occupational specialties," Kulczewski said. "The continued success of the Marine Corps as our nation's preeminent expeditionary force in readiness is based on a simple tenet: placing the best trained and most fully qualified Marine, our most valuable weapon, where they make the strongest contribution to the team."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

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