Monthly Newsletter

Who is SSI?

The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College publishes national security and strategic research and analysis which serves to influence policy debate and bridge the gap between Military and Academia.

Military Strategy and Policy - Recent

Security strategy and policy are among the most important issues any state confronts, especially in a time of war. At SSI, research on these issues focuses on three primary areas: military and strategic theory; grand strategy; and the assessment and critique of critical national strategic documents:

National Security Strategy 2010 (NSS)
National Defense Strategy 2008(NDS)
Quadrennial Defense Review 2010(QDR)
National Strategy on Combating Terrorism 2006.

Dr. Robin Dorff is our Security Strategy and Policy specialist.

New References from the Military Education Research Library Network

Strategy and Policy

(10/16/06) Two new items have been added to the National Security Strategy MiPAL: an article on revitalizing public diplomacy from the Heritage Foundation, and a monograph from the Strategic Studies Institute containing essays on the U.S. response to the strategic challenges it faces in the 21st century. Please see the Recently Added Documents section for the latest on this topic - the newest updates are in bold. (View it at NDU)

Strategy and Policy

(10/11/06) Three new items have been added to the National Security Strategy MiPAL: articles from on a preemptive strategy for the 21st century, and on counterinsurgency strategies. Please see the Recently Added Documents section for the latest on this topic - the newest updates are in bold. (View it at NDU)

Strategy and Policy

(10/6/06) Four new items have been added to the National Security Strategy MiPAL: a report from the Congressional Budget Office on military recruiting, a Congressional hearing on the Defense Department's irregular warfare map, a Congressional Research Service report on information operations and cyberwar, and a Council on Foreign Relations report on foreign investment and national security. Please see the Recently Added Documents section for the latest on this topic - the newest updates are in bold. (View it at NDU)

Strategy and Policy

(10/4/06) Two new items have been added to the National Security Strategy MiPAL: a RAND report on the importance of air power in counterinsurgencies, and a report from the Stanley Foundation on U.S. strategy in response to failing states. Please see the Recently Added Documents section for the latest on this topic - the newest updates are in bold. (View it at NDU)

Added October 12, 2012

A "Hollow Army" Reappraised: President Carter, Defense Budgets, and the Politics of Military Readiness

Authored by Professor Frank L. Jones.
For more than 30 years, the term “hollow army” has represented President Carter’s alleged willingness to allow American military capability to deteriorate in the face of growing Soviet capability. The true story is more complicated than the metaphor suggests.
Added October 09, 2012

The Future of American Landpower: Does Forward Presence Still Matter? The Case of the Army in Europe

Authored by Dr. John R. Deni.
View the Executive Summary

The January 2012 announcement that the United States would reduce the number of Brigade Combat Teams in Europe captured media, popular, and scholarly attention, prompting many to ask: Is the United States turning its back on Europe as it pivots to Asia? Do the Europeans have the wherewithal to defend themselves? Are forward-based U.S. land forces necessary at all? Given the necessity of capable, interoperable coalition partners for the future security threats Washington most expects to encounter, the role of America’s forward military presence in Europe remains as vital as it was at the dawn of the Cold War, but for different reasons. Dr. Deni’s monograph forms a critical datapoint in the ongoing dialogue regarding the future of American Landpower.
Added September 25, 2012

Lead Me, Follow Me, Or Get Out of My Way: Rethinking and Refining the Civil-Military Relationship

Authored by Dr. Mark R. Shulman.
Troubled relations between the armed forces and civil society sap the vitality of the republic and undermine the effectiveness of the military. This timely monograph launches a discussion about what kind of civil-military relationship we have and how to improve it.
Added September 25, 2012

Key Strategic Issues List Update No. 2

Edited by Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria, II.
This is an update to the 2012-13 Key Strategic Issues List. It includes topics from U.S. Army Pacific G-5, Plans and U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE).
Added September 21, 2012

Russia and the Current State of Arms Control

Edited by Dr. Stephen J. Blank.
The chapters in this volume focus on Russian developments in arms control in the light of the so-called New Start Treaty signed and ratified in 2010 by Russia and the United States in Prague, Czech Republic.
Added September 19, 2012

The Prospects for Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: A Year After the Revolution

Authored by Dr. Querine Hanlon.
The Arab Spring began in Tunisia, and in the year since the revolution, Tunisia has undergone a remarkable transition to democratic rule. The legacy of the previous regime looms large, however, as Tunisia’s new government faces major challenges implementing Security Sector Reform.
Added September 12, 2012

Perspectives on Russian Foreign Policy

Edited by Dr. Stephen J. Blank.
Charles de Gaulle said that states are cold monsters. To see how perhaps one of the coldest of these monsters thinks about and acts in world politics take a look at these essays from SSI’s annual Russia conference of September 26-27, 2011.
Added August 30, 2012

The Promise and Pitfalls of Grand Strategy

Authored by Dr. Hal Brands.
This monograph offers a critical analysis of the idea of “grand strategy.” It explains why grand strategy is simultaneously so important and so difficult to do, and offers suggestions for how U.S. officials might approach the challenges of grand strategy in the 21st century.
Added August 30, 2012

2012-13 KSIL Update No. 01

Edited by Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria, II.
This is an update to the 2012-13 Key Strategic Issues List. It includes topics from I Corps, USACE, UNC/CFC/USFK, and U.S. Army South (ARSOUTH).
Added August 16, 2012

Transnational Organized Crime, Terrorism, and Criminalized States in Latin America: An Emerging Tier-One National Security Priority

Authored by Douglas Farah.
The emergence of new hybrid (state and nonstate) transnational criminal/terrorist franchises in Latin America operating under broad state protection now pose a tier-one security threat for the United States. Similar hybrid franchise models are developing in other parts of the world, making understanding the new dynamics an important factor in a broader national security context.
Added August 10, 2012

Arms Control and European Security

Edited by Dr. Stephen J. Blank, COL Louis H. Jordan, Jr.
Is the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty dead, or waiting to be reborn? These three papers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia illuminate the complexities and dilemmas facing any attempt to raise the vexed issue of conventional arms control in Europe.
Added August 08, 2012

Culture, Identity, and Information Technology in the 21st Century: Implications for U.S. National Security

Authored by Dr. Pauline Kusiak.
The author describes strategic trends in cultural change and identity formation in the 21st century and suggests that the beliefs and values of foreign societies may increasingly, and more directly, impact our own national security in a future dominated by information technology.
Added August 01, 2012

Against All Odds: Relations between NATO and the MENA Region

Authored by Dr. Florence Gaub.
Whereas NATO had no relationships with the Middle East and North Africa at all until 1994, it has expanded now to an extent where the League of Arab States mandated its Libya mission in 2011. This monograph explains this unlikely development.
Added August 01, 2012

2012-13 Key Strategic Issues List

Edited by Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria, II.
The purpose of the Key Strategic Issues List is to provide military and civilian researchers a ready reference for issues of special interest to the Department of the Army and the Department of Defense.
Added July 25, 2012

The Next Arms Race

Edited by Mr. Henry D. Sokolski.
As the United States and Russia negotiate to bring their number of deployed nuclear weapons down, China, India, Pakistan, and Israel continue to bump their numbers up while a growing number of smaller states develop “peaceful” nuclear programs that will bring them closer to getting bombs if they choose. Welcome to the brave new world of tighter, more opaque nuclear competitions, the focus of The Next Arms Race—a must read for policy analysts and planners eager to understand and prevent the worst.
Added July 05, 2012

U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Vol 2: National Security Policy and Strategy, 5th Ed.

Edited by Dr. J. Boone Bartholomees, Jr.
This edition of the U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues reflects both the method and manner that the U.S. Army War College uses to teach strategy formulation to America’s future senior leaders. It contains essays on the general security environment, strategic thought and formulation, the elements of national power, the national security policymaking process in the United States, and selected strategic issues.
Added July 03, 2012

End Game Strategies: Winning the Peace

Authored by Lieutenant Colonel William L. Peace, Sr.
What lessons can be learned from the occupation of Germany after World War II and from Iraq after Operation IRAQI FREEDOM? This Carlisle Paper analyzes both the similarities and differences between the occupations of both countries and suggests how lessons learned from both can be applied to the future.
Added June 22, 2012

U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Vol. 1: Theory of War and Strategy, 5th Ed.

Edited by Dr. J. Boone Bartholomees, Jr.
This edition of the U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues reflects both the method and manner that the U.S. Army War College uses to teach strategy formulation to America’s future senior leaders. It contains essays on the general security environment, strategic thought and formulation, the elements of national power, the national security policymaking process in the United States, and selected strategic issues.
Added June 07, 2012

Can Russia Reform? Economic, Political, and Military Perspectives

Edited by Dr. Stephen J. Blank.
Can or will Russia reform its state, economy, and armed forces at the same time? These papers provide an answer to those questions.
Added May 22, 2012

The Role of Small States in the Post-Cold War Era: The Case of Belarus

Authored by Dr. Dmitry Shlapentokh.
The absence of a single center of power or a few centers of power — as was the case during the Cold War — provides the opportunity even for small states, sandwiched between much stronger states, to move with comparative ease from one center of power to another. Even when small states become finally attached to one of these centers, their attachment is not absolute, and freedom of action is still preserved. This provides the opportunity for small states, such as Belarus, to move from one center of power to another or to engage in a sort of geopolitical gamesmanship.
Added May 10, 2012

Disjointed Ways, Disunified Means: Learning from America's Struggle to Build an Afghan Nation

Authored by Colonel Lewis G. Irwin.
Remarkably ambitious in its audacity and scope, NATO’s irregular warfare and nation-building mission in Afghanistan has struggled to meet its nonmilitary objectives by most tangible measures. This book explores shortfalls in the U.S. Government’s strategic planning processes and the mechanisms for interagency coordination of effort that have contributed to this situation, as well as reforms needed to meet emerging 21st century national security challenges.
Added April 27, 2012

Ambassador Stephen Krasner's Orienting Principle for Foreign Policy (and Military Management)—Responsible Sovereignty

Authored by Dr. Max G. Manwaring.
This monograph takes the logic of the contemporary security dilemma to another level. The intent is to operationalize and elaborate Ambassador Stephen Krasner’s "Responsible Sovereignty" orienting principle for foreign policy and military management.
Added April 17, 2012

Conflict Management and "Whole of Government": Useful Tools for U.S. National Security Strategy?

Edited by Dr. Volker C. Franke, Dr. Robert H. Dorff.
Intended to facilitate dialogue between academic experts, military leaders, policymakers, and civilian practitioners, this edited volume provides a state of the art analysis of current whole of government (WoG) approaches and their effectiveness for coordinating stabilization and peacebuilding efforts. It explores the question: Can “smart power”—using the right tool for each operational context—successfully shift the burden of stability operations to civilian actors and enable the timely scaling-down of military deployments?
Added April 12, 2012

Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO

Edited by Dr. Tom Nichols, Dr. Douglas Stuart, Dr. Jeffrey D. McCausland.
What is the role that tactical or non-strategic nuclear weapons (NSNWs) play in NATO defense policy and strategy? This book examines the key issues surrounding this question as the Alliance seeks to redefine itself in the 21st century and meet the requirements in the Defense and Deterrence Policy Review.
Added March 29, 2012

Project on National Security Reform - Vol. 2: Case Studies Working Group Report

Authored by Dr. Richard Weitz.
The case studies in this volume confirm that flawed responses recur in issue areas as diverse as biodefense, public diplomacy, and military intervention as well as across presidential administrations. The piecemeal national security organizational reforms enacted to date have not fostered improved policy outcomes or decisionmaking, while capability building, especially in the civilian national security agencies, remains less than optimal.
Added February 24, 2012

Categorical Confusion? The Strategic Implications of Recognizing Challenges Either as Irregular or Traditional

Authored by Dr. Colin S. Gray.
"First, do no harm" is a golden rule for both medicine and strategic theory. Challenges to national security are simply challenges, they are neither irregular nor traditional.
Added December 19, 2011

The United States and China in Power Transition

Authored by Dr. David Lai.
Historically, systematic power transitions were settled in war. Can China and the United States avoid a deadly contest and spare the world another catastrophe? What can we expect from China and the United States with respect to the future of international relations?
Added December 01, 2011

The Strategic Logic of the Contemporary Security Dilemma

Authored by Dr. Max G. Manwaring.
This monograph is part of a continuing effort to inform the contemporary transnational security debate, move it to the strategic level, and support the best interests of the United States Government and peoples, and also those of the Western Hemisphere and the rest of the world.
Added August 31, 2011

National Security Reform 2010: A Midterm Assessment

Edited by Dr. Joseph R. Cerami, Dr. Robert H. Dorff, Matthew Harber.
This book includes a summary report of three panels, along with selected papers, from an April 22, 2010, colloquium in Washington, DC, on “2010: Preparing for a Mid-Term Assessment of Leadership and National Security Reform in the Obama Administration.”
Added July 13, 2011

Russia in the Arctic

Edited by Dr. Stephen J. Blank.
The Arctic is the newest sphere of international competition for energy and security access. It pits Russia against the other Arctic states. These essays fully explore and analyze what is at stake here and what Moscow has done to increase its capability and influence in the Arctic.
Added April 08, 2011

Hard Power and Soft Power: The Utility of Military Force as an Instrument of Policy in the 21st Century

Authored by Dr. Colin S. Gray.
The concepts of "hard" and "soft" power are subjected to close critical scrutiny. The author finds the latter is significantly misunderstood and therefore inappropriately assessed as a substitute for the former, the threat or the use of military force.
Added April 06, 2011

A Colloquium on U.S. National Security Policy, Military Strategy: Understanding the Environment for Contemporary Warfare

Authored by Dr. Steve Maxner, Dr. Dennis Patterson, Mr. Dave Lewis.
No problem facing the United States is more important than national security, and no institution is more involved and more affected by this problem than the U.S. military, the U.S. Army in particular. The purpose of this collaboration is to begin a dialogue that can help bridge the gap between two worlds, one where senior U.S. military officers are educated and the other where scholars work on problems that relate to the causes and conduct of war.
Added February 11, 2011

The Role of Religion in National Security Policy Since 9/11

Authored by Chaplain (COL) Jonathan E Shaw.
Is it possible to wage war against radical Muslim terrorists if your national security policy does not consider religion as power which motivates terrorist behavior? Yes, but you risk being ineffective or inefficient, or both.
Added January 31, 2011

2010 SSI Annual Strategy Conference Report "Defining War for the 21st Century"

Authored by Dr. Steven Metz, COL Phillip R. Cuccia.
SSI's XXI Strategic Conference convened many of the world's top experts to assess and debate the definition of war and the strategic implications of how it is defined.
Added December 21, 2010

A Risk-Based Approach to Strategic Balance

Authored by Colonel John A. Mauk.
This paper explores a risk-based approach to a strategically balanced force that assesses alternative postures and the viability of competing force concepts in mitigating national risk in a resource-constrained environment. This assessment also examines alternate definitions of balance and the continued relevance of U.S. conventional capabilities and nuclear deterrence.
Added December 08, 2010

Strangely Silent: The Missing Strategic Debate in the 2010 Mid-Term Elections

Authored by Dr. Robert H. Dorff.
Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the December 2010 newsletter.
Added September 23, 2010

Preparing for One War and Getting Another?

Authored by Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria, II.
The idea that war or strategy is driven by a paradoxical logic is attractive, but a number of questions remain unanswered. If war has its own logic, rather than its own grammar, where does the logic of policy fit in? If the logic of strategy is paradoxical, how can it be taught? What are paradoxes, and can they be useful in guiding our strategic choices?
Added September 21, 2010

A New Chapter in Trans-American Engagement

Authored by Dr. Max G. Manwaring, Eva Silkwood Baker.
The critical need to develop a serious hemispheric partnership for opening “A New Chapter in Trans-American Engagement” was stressed at the 2010 Western Hemisphere Security Colloquium, held on May 25-26, 2010, in Miami, Florida. The issues and recommendations discussed emphasized that building a viable regional security partnership in the Hemisphere is not a strictly short-term, or unilateral, or even bilateral defense effort. Regional security will result only from long-term, multilateral, civil-military partnering efforts. Thus, the generalized results of the colloquium emphasize three highly interrelated needs and an associated recommendation.
Added September 09, 2010

Somalia: Line in the Sand--Identification of MYM Vulnerabilities

Authored by LTC Eloy E. Cuevas, Madeleine Wells.
Continuing instability in Somalia has increased concern that terrorists who seek to establish a foothold in Africa may use such insecure places as a safe haven and launching pad for future attacks. Several attempts have been made to establish lawful governments in Somalia; however, warlord and clan interests have managed to take center stage among the population. The Somali-based al-Shabaab (also known as the Mujahidin Youth Movement [MYM]) is a militant organization born out of both successive regional turmoil and international salafi-jihadi ideology, which continues to actively undermine the United Nations (UN)-supported African Union (AU) peacekeeping force, the fledging Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and all UN efforts to support Somalis in creating a stable state.
Added August 31, 2010

Dilemmas of Brazilian Grand Strategy

Authored by Dr. Hal Brands.
The author discusses the grand strategy Brazil has pursued under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He argues that Lula’s policies have raised Brazil’s profile and enhanced its diplomatic flexibility, but have also exposed Brazil to several potent strategic dilemmas that could compromise, or at the very least complicate, its geopolitical ascent.
Added August 27, 2010

David Galula: His Life and Intellectual Context

Authored by Ms. Ann Marlowe.
David Galula’s ideas are reflected in U.S. Army Field Manual 3-24, Counterinsurgency, and in nearly every speech that American commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq give, but until now, almost no biographical information was available about him. Arguably the greatest writer on counterinsurgency, Galula led a fascinating, although all too brief, life that gave him a bird’s eye view of most of the great conflicts of the second half of the 20th century.
Added August 27, 2010

Preparing for a Mid-Term Assessment of Leadership and National Security Reform in the Obama Administration

Authored by Jared E. Bennett, Dr. Joseph R. Cerami, Dr. Robert H. Dorff.
The colloquium theme focused on the need for advancing the research and study of key national security issues by engaging the invited participants to share their expertise, and by informing interested community members of ways to develop a deeper awareness and understanding of the security reform issues facing the U.S. Government.
Added August 24, 2010

U.S. Military Forces and Police Assistance in Stability Operations: The Least-Worst Option to Fill the U.S. Capacity Gap

Authored by Colonel (Ret.) Dennis E Keller.
Stability operations in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be challenged by the lack of effective local police forces to secure the civilian population from insurgent infiltration and criminal violence. Given U.S. government legal and organizational shortfalls to train and advise foreign police forces, coupled with an operational environment characterized by local police corruption and abusiveness, this monograph proposes a way ahead for effective community based policing despite these adverse circumstances.
Added August 17, 2010

Chinese Energy Security: The Myth of the PLAN's Frontline Status

Authored by Dr. Ryan Clarke.
As the Chinese economy continues to expand at impressive rates, energy security strategies have assumed center stage in Beijing. Given that China relies heavily on energy imports, many are predicting the emergence of a blue water navy that seeks to engage in global power projection and secure China’s energy supply. These assessments are incorrect.
Added August 13, 2010

Defense Energy Resilience: Lessons from Ecology

Authored by Dr. Scott Thomas, Mr. David Kerner.
National Security relies heavily on the ready availability of energy resources in the types, quantities, and locations the military demands. While U.S. energy needs are currently met, the shrinking gap between global supply and demand draws the world closer to a tipping point at which human behavior is less predictable, competition overwhelms social and geopolitical normalizing forces, and conflict becomes more likely and more pronounced. Given concerns about future resource availability, DoD would be well served by devising and implementing a sustainable, resilient energy strategy that addresses current projections and adapts to evolving conditions.
Added August 05, 2010

Organizing to Compete in the Political Terrain

Authored by Dr. Nadia Schadlow.
The degree to which military forces can and should shape the political landscape during war--that is, who rules contested terriroty--is at the root of several ongoing debates about how to restructure the U.S. Army. Decisions about the military's appropriate role in shaping political outcomes in war are fundamental to resolving these debates and will determine the degree of organizational and educational changes that the U.S. Army must make to meet current and future security threats.
Added July 30, 2010

Project on National Security Reform: Vision Working Group Report and Scenarios

Edited by Dr. Sheila R. Ronis.
On November 26, 2008, the Project on National Security Reform submitted its 2-year study of the national security system, "Forging a New Shield," to the President, President-elect, and Congress. The work of the Vision Working Group led to the formulation of the following recommendation: The country must establish a mechanism to infuse greater foresight into the Executive Branch, and in particular the national security system. This proposed mechanism, named the Center for Strategic Analysis and Assessment, would exist and operate within the Executive Office of the President. This volume details the proposed architecture and operation of the Center.
Added July 27, 2010

U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Vol I: Theory of War and Strategy, 4th Edition

Edited by Dr. J. Boone Bartholomees, Jr.
This edition of the U. S. Army War College Guide to National Security Policy and Strategy reflects both the method and manner the college uses to teach strategy formulation to America’s future senior leaders. It contains essays on the general security environment, strategic thought and formulation, the elements of national power, the national security policymaking process in the United States, and selected strategic issues.
Added July 27, 2010

U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Vol II: National Security Policy and Strategy, 4th Edition

Edited by Dr. J. Boone Bartholomees, Jr.
This edition of the U. S. Army War College Guide to National Security Policy and Strategy reflects both the method and manner the college uses to teach strategy formulation to America’s future senior leaders. It contains essays on the general security environment, strategic thought and formulation, the elements of national power, the national security policymaking process in the United States, and selected strategic issues.
Added July 14, 2010

The Russian Military Today and Tomorrow: Essays in Memory of Mary Fitzgerald

Edited by Dr. Stephen J. Blank, Dr. Richard Weitz.
The essays in this volume represent both a memorial and an analytical call to action. Mary Fitzgerald of the Hudson Institute was one of the most brilliant and vivacious practitioners of the study of the Russian and Chinese militaries, whose insights helped not just to put those fields of study on the map, but also to influence U.S. military thinking.