Strategic Studies Institute
United States Army War College
Recent Publications
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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 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 17, 2012
Hidden Dragon, Crouching Lion: How China's Advance in Africa is Underestimated and Africa's Potential Underappreciated
Authored by David E. Brown.
In 2010, China eclipsed the United States as Africa’s largest trading partner. Beijing has accomplished this by using a tied aid, trade, and development finance strategy to promote its commercial and political interests on the continent, and its status as a rising global power. This monograph examines the origins of China’s rapid economic advance in Africa; whether this advance will help or hurt Africa; and, the implications that this ecomomic advance will have for the United States. -
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 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 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 May 01, 2012
Lessons of the Iraqi De-Ba'athification Program for Iraq's Future and the Arab Revolutions
Authored by Dr. W. Andrew Terrill.
This monograph considers both the future of Iraq and the differences and similarities between events in Iraq and the Arab Spring states. Serious and expanding mistakes by new governments are possible in the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolutions, and any lessons that can be gleaned from earlier conflicts will be of considerable value to those nations. Moreover, U.S. Army officers and senior noncommissioned officers (NCOs) may often have unique opportunities and unique credibility to offer advice on the lessons of Iraq to their counterparts in some of the Arab Spring nations. -
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 25, 2012
Enabling Unity of Effort in Homeland Response Operations
Authored by Lieutenant General (Ret.) H Steven Blum, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Kerry McIntyre.
The authors assert that attaining unity of effort is the fundamental prerequisite for effective homeland response operations. They conclude that the best way to improve unity of effort is to create a dynamic system for producing, validating, and updating a unifying national homeland response doctrine. -
Added April 19, 2012
Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Instability
Authored by Dr. Phil Williams, Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown.
The world of armed groups has changed and is continuing to change. What impact will these changes have on the threats and challenges to national and global security in the world today? This monograph focuses on the complex relationship between human security, crime, illicit economies, and law enforcement. It also seeks to disentangle the linkages between insurgency on the one hand and drug trafficking and organized crime on the other, suggesting that criminal activities help sustain an insurgency, but also carry certain risks for the insurgency. -
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 March 14, 2012
Delegitimizing Al-Qaeda: A Jihad-Realist Approach
Authored by Dr. Paul Kamolnick.
Preventing radicalization and recruitment to al-Qaeda’s terrorism is vital to U.S. national security. This monograph suggests a distinct “jihad-realist” approach for partially accomplishing this elusive strategic objective. -
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 February 08, 2012
Once Again, the Challenge to the U.S. Army During a Defense Reduction: To Remain a Military Profession
Authored by Dr. Don M. Snider.
The exact shape of the recently initiated Department of Defense reductions and the defense strategy that our down-sized land forces are to execute in the future are only now becoming clear. How can the U.S. Army best meet these challenges? -
Added December 23, 2011
Organizational Change in the Russian Airborne Forces: The Lessons of the Georgian Conflict
Authored by Dr. Rod Thornton.
Russia’s best troops are to be found in the Airborne Forces. These were the only Russian troops to emerge with their reputation intact after the conflict with Georgia in 2008. They can represent a formidable foe. This monograph examines the current state of the Airborne Forces and why they might be seen as "formidable."