David Sterman

Senior Policy Analyst at New America

Senior Policy Analyst @NewAmericaISP. MA @GeorgetownCSS Co-Editor Coronavirus Daily Brief. Also https://t.co/NULIhyr0F9

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Articles

AFRICOM Provides Death Tolls for 2025 Strikes

3 weeks ago | newamerica.org | David Sterman

On April 3, 2025, in response to a New America query, United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) provided its current assessment of the death tolls for six sets of strikes whose press releases did not include numerical assessments of their total death tolls. As a result (combined with other sourcing), there are now reported official death toll assessments for every strike that AFRICOM declared in 2025.
How Many Strikes Has AFRICOM Declared in Somalia in 2025?

1 month ago | newamerica.org | David Sterman

How many strikes did United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) conduct in Somalia in 2025, according to AFRICOM’s own data? For just over a month, the answer was unclear, as AFRICOM published a number of press releases in which it did not state the number of strikes that were conducted. Now, thanks to AFRICOM’s reply to a query from New America we know the answer. As of March 5, 2025, AFRICOM has declared ten strikes.
Somalia: Türkiye Drone Strikes and Rising Civilian Casualties

Aug 20, 2024 | newamerica.org | David Sterman

Future Security Senior Policy Analyst David Sterman's blog post "An Alleged Turkish Strike in Somalia Emphasizes the Challenge of Tracking Strikes in Somalia’s Crowded Battlefield" was cited in an article in The Elephant on Turkish strikes in Somalia:The expanding role of countries like Türkiye in drone operations also makes it harder to assess and attribute the impact on civilians from such strikes.
What Ever Happened to the War on Terror?

Jun 3, 2024 | newamerica.org | David Sterman

Vox cited the Future Security program and Future Security Senior Policy Analyst David Sterman's work on drone strikes in an article on the war on terror's status today:The US is still involved in an ongoing conflict with Iran-backed proxy groups from Yemen to Iraq, and is controversially providing assistance to Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and lower-intensity conflict with Hezbollah.
Drones, Secrecy, and Endless War

Apr 30, 2024 | newamerica.org | David Sterman

Future Security Senior Program Analyst David Sterman spoke with the CATO Institute's Power Problems podcast about the state of the drone wars and the challenges posed by endless war:David Sterman, senior policy analyst at New America’s Future Security Program, tracks U.S. counter‐terrorism airstrikes, particularly with drones.
An Alleged Turkish Strike in Somalia Emphasizes the Challenge of Tracking Strikes in Somalia

Apr 15, 2024 | newamerica.org | David Sterman

On March 19, a drone strike outside Mogadishu reportedly killed more than 20 people, including children. Citing two security sources, the Washington Post reported that “the strike was carried out by a Turkish drone,” adding, “Turkey routinely carries out drone strikes in Somalia in support of Somali government forces.” United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), which is responsible for U.S. military strikes in Somalia, told me and other media sources that the U.S. did not carry out the strike.
How Many People Does the U.S. Assess it Killed in Somalia in 2023?

Apr 2, 2024 | newamerica.org | David Sterman

On April 2, 2024, in response to an inquiry from New America, AFRICOM provided its assessment of the death toll of a December 20, 2023 U.S. strike in the vicinity of Yaq Dabel, Somalia, saying the strike killed two “al-Shabaab terrorists.” The response filled in the last instance in which the United States had confirmed that it conducted a strike in Somalia in 2023 but had not provided an assessed death toll (either via a press release or in response to New America’s inquiries).
This is No Time to Give Up on Ukraine

Feb 12, 2024 | newamerica.org | David Sterman

Future Security Senior Policy Analyst David Sterman's work on defining endless war was cited in an article in the Boston Globe arguing that the war in Ukraine should not be viewed as an endless war: In 2021, David Sterman, a senior policy analyst at the think tank New America, examined the concept in a report entitled “.” “Endlessness emerges,” Sterman wrote, “when a belligerent adopts objectives it lacks the capability to achieve and at the same time is not at risk of being defeated.” Two...
The Three Kinds of Declared U.S. Strikes in Somalia in 2023

Jan 10, 2024 | newamerica.org | David Sterman

The United States government has acknowledged conducting 19 strikes and counterterrorism operations (hereafter strikes, see note below) in Somalia in 2023.
The United States Should Provide a Detailed Accounting of its Operations in Yemen

Aug 3, 2023 | newamerica.org | David Sterman |Rishab Chatty

Blog Post U.S. Marine Corps photo by Chief Warrant Officer William D. Crow Last month, the New York Times published the Biden Administration’s October 2022 memorandum outlining new rules for counterterrorism operations outside “areas of active hostilities” and a national security memo describing its international counterterrorism strategy.