Recent Publications
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Added October 04, 2016
The Army War College Review Vol. 2 No. 3
Edited by Dr. Larry D Miller.
The Army War College Review, a refereed publication of student work, is produced under the purview of the Strategic Studies Institute and the United States Army War College. An electronic quarterly, The AWC Review connects student intellectual work with professionals invested in U.S. national security, Landpower, strategic leadership, global security studies, and the advancement of the profession of arms. -
Added September 06, 2016
An Arab NATO in the Making? Middle Eastern Military Cooperation Since 2011
Authored by Dr. Florence Gaub.
View the Executive Summary
Military cooperation and alliances have not been a consistent or successful feature in the Middle East and North Africa. Since 2011, incentives to join forces have arisen and given way to several initiatives to that effect—but will they succeed? -
Added August 16, 2016
Investigating the Benefits and Drawbacks of Realigning the National Guard Under the Department of Homeland Security
Authored by Dr. Ryan Burke, Dr. Sue McNeil.
View the Executive Summary
Part I of the 2014-2015 Army War College’s Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL)–Army Priorities for Strategic Analysis—asks: “Given the growing importance of homeland defense, what would be the benefits and drawbacks of realigning the [National] Guard under the department of Homeland Security to enhance domestic security and disaster response, while retaining utility for overseas missions in support of the Department of Defense?” (pg. 10). This monograph attempts to answer this question through analysis of interview data from subject matter experts in the National Guard and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The resulting product is a series of recommendations for improving the utility of the National Guard during homeland defense (HD) missions. -
Added August 11, 2016
Cyberspace: Malevolent Actors, Criminal Opportunities, and Strategic Competition
Edited by Dr. Phil Williams, Dr. Dighton Fiddner.
View the Executive Summary
Cyberspace: Malevolent Actors, Criminal Opportunities, and Strategic Competition examines the challenges posed by the unique nature of cyberspace; differences between cyberthreats and more traditional challenges to national security; the range of possible responses to cyberthreats, and the relevance of traditional strategic concepts to potential confrontations in cyberspace. This volume is designed to inform and provoke, as well as to assist civilian and military national security, commerce, public sector, and academic decision-makers in understanding the sheer complexity and dynamism of both cyberspace and its associated insecurities. -
Added August 10, 2016
The Pivot to Asia: Can it Serve as the Foundation for American Grand Strategy in the 21st Century
Authored by Dr. Douglas Stuart.
View the Executive Summary
Two years after coming to office, U.S. President Barack Obama designated the Indo-Asia-Pacific (IAP) region as his top strategic priority. This study argues that this was the right decision, and then looks at the challenges that the United States has confronted in its efforts to accomplish this “pivot strategy.” -
Added July 31, 2016
2016-17 Key Strategic Issues List
Edited by Professor John F. Troxell.
Update 8/16: The signed version of the 2016-2017 KSIL is now posted -
Added July 18, 2016
The Army War College Review Vol. 2 No. 2
Edited by Dr. Larry D Miller.
The Army War College Review, a refereed publication of student work, is produced under the purview of the Strategic Studies Institute and the United States Army War College. An electronic quarterly, The AWC Review connects student intellectual work with professionals invested in U.S. national security, Landpower, strategic leadership, global security studies, and the advancement of the profession of arms. -
Added July 14, 2016
Taking the Fight to the Enemy: Chinese Thinking about Long-Distance and Expeditionary Operations
Authored by Dr. Larry M. Wortzel.
View the Executive Summary
This Letort Paper examines a genre of military publications inside the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that advocates the development of the capacity to hold a distant enemy’s population and homeland at risk in a conflict. This Paper also assesses a series of military exercises and changes in force posture that would make the PLA more capable of expeditionary operations. -
Added June 29, 2016
NATO Cyberspace Capability: A Strategic and Operational Evolution
Authored by Jeffrey L. Caton.
View the Executive Summary
Bolstered by numerous cyber attacks, such as those in Estonia in 2007, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO’s) priorities were formalized in subsequent cyber defense policies adopted in 2008, 2011, and 2014. If indeed the decision is made to pursue military action in the cyberspace realm, what capabilities are available within NATO forces to accomplish such activities? -
Added June 22, 2016
India's Evolving Nuclear Force and Implications for U.S. Strategy in the Asia-Pacific
Authored by Yogesh Joshi, Dr. Frank O'Donnell, Dr. Harsh V. Pant.
View the Executive Summary
This Letort Paper investigates the present status and contours of Indian nuclear force development, nuclear doctrinal views, and nonproliferation policy, before illustrating the effects of these emerging developments for Asian security and U.S. regional interests. -
Added June 14, 2016
Honduras: A Pariah State, or Innovative Solutions to Organized Crime Deserving U.S. Support?
Authored by Dr. R. Evan Ellis.
View the Executive Summary
In Honduras, one of the nations in Latin America most impacted by transnational organized crime and violent street gangs, the government of President Juan Orlando Hernandez has reduced murders by almost a quarter in 3 years. Hernandez, with U.S. help, has dismantled the leadership of the nation’s two principal narcotrafficking transport groups, the Cachiros and the Los Valles, as well as significantly reducing the use of the country as a transit zone by narco flights and other drug trafficking operations. His initiatives include the controversial creation of a new police force within the military, the Policía Militar del Orden Público (Military Police of Public Order [PMOP]), and a creative new interagency structure, de la Fuerza de Seguridad Interinstitucional Nacional (the National Inter-Agency Security Force [FUSINA]), integrating the military, police, prosecutors, special judges, and other state resources to combat organized crime and delinquency in the country. This monograph by SSI Professor R. Evan Ellis explores the evolution of organized crime and gangs in Honduras and the innovative approaches of the Hernandez administration to combat these threats, which have significantly challenged governance and prosperity in not only Honduras, but also its neighbors. -
Added June 07, 2016
Outplayed: Regaining Strategic Initiative in the Gray Zone, A Report Sponsored by the Army Capabilities Integration Center in Coordination with Joint Staff J-39/Strategic Multi-Layer Assessment Branch
Authored by Mr. Nathan P. Freier, Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Burnett, Colonel William J. Cain, Jr., Lieutenant Colonel Christopher D. Compton, Lieutenant Colonel Sean M. Hankard, Professor Robert S. Hume, Lieutenant Colonel Gary R. Kramlich, II, Colonel J. Matthew Lissner, Lieutenant Colonel Tobin A. Magsig, Colonel Daniel E. Mouton, Mr. Michael S. Muztafago, Colonel James M. Schultze, Professor John F. Troxell, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis G. Wille.
View the Executive Summary
This report concludes gray zone competition and conflict will persist as Department of Defense (DoD) pacers for the foreseeable future. It describes trends contributing to the emergence of gray zone challenges, major gray zone archetypes, and their defense implications and finally, specific recommendations for more activist and adaptive DoD responses to persistent gray zone provocation. -
Added May 23, 2016
Strategic Landpower and a Resurgent Russia: An Operational Approach to Deterrence, A U.S. Army War College Integrated Research Project in Support of U.S. European Command and U.S. Army Europe
Authored by Lieutenant Colonel R. Reed Anderson, Colonel Patrick J. Ellis, Lieutenant Colonel Antonio M. Paz, Lieutenant Colonel Kyle A. Reed, Lieutenant Colonel Lendy Renegar, Lieutenant Colonel John T. Vaughan.
View the Executive Summary
Is the U.S. Army prepared to address the challenge that Russia poses to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance in Europe? This monograph critically examines the American military response to Russia's invasion and dismemberment of Ukraine, and it offers an array of practical solutions designed to reinforce efforts to date. -
Added April 07, 2016
Starting Strong: Talent-Based Branching of Newly Commissioned U.S. Army Officers
Authored by Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Michael J. Colarusso, Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth G. Heckel, Colonel David S. Lyle, Lieutenant Colonel William L. Skimmyhorn.
View the Executive Summary
This monograph examines a new talent management approach to assigning commissioned officers to their initial Army basic branches, highlighting its increased potential for long-run officer productivity, engagement, and satisfaction. -
Added April 04, 2016
Operating in the Gray Zone: An Alternative Paradigm for U.S. Military Strategy
Authored by Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria, II.
View the Executive Summary
The idea of gray zone wars is not new, but why does the West think it is and why has it struggled to deal with it? How can the West adjust its way of thinking about strategy and war to operate better in the gray zone? -
Added March 31, 2016
The East Mediterranean Triangle at Crossroads
Authored by Dr. Jean-Loup Samaan.
View the Executive Summary
The evolving dynamics in the East Mediterranean Triangle, composed of Israel, Turkey, and Greece, reveal key security and economic trends that have direct implications for the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). -
Added March 15, 2016
Old and New Insurgency Forms
Authored by Dr. Robert J. Bunker.
View the Executive Summary
While the study of insurgency extends well over 100 years and has its origins in the guerrilla and small wars of the 19th century and beyond, almost no cross-modal analysis—that is, dedicated insurgency form typology identification—has been conducted. This monograph creates a proposed insurgency typology divided into legacy, contemporary, and emergent and potential insurgency forms, and provides strategic implications for U.S. defense policy as they relate to each of these forms. -
Added January 29, 2016
The Army War College Review Vol. 2 No. 1
Edited by Dr. Larry D Miller.
The Army War College Review, a refereed publication of student work, is produced under the purview of the Strategic Studies Institute and the United States Army War College. An electronic quarterly, The AWC Review connects student intellectual work with professionals invested in U.S. national security, Landpower, strategic leadership, global security studies, and the advancement of the profession of arms. -
Added January 24, 2016
Military Engagement and Forward Presence: Down but Not Out as Tools to Shape and Win
Authored by Dr. John R. Deni.
View the Executive Summary
Forward military presence and, when employed selectively, military engagement – can promote stability and security and can contribute dramatically to operational capacity and capability across a range of military operations, including major interstate war. Unfortunately, significant cuts to overseas permanent presence and continuing pockets of institutional bias against engagement as a force multiplier and readiness enhancer have combined to limit the leverage possible through these two policy tools. -
Added December 31, 2015
Strategy and Grand Strategy: What Students and Practitioners Need to Know
Authored by Dr. Tami Davis Biddle.
View the Executive Summary
Explaining why the practice of strategy is such a difficult and demanding art, Dr. Tami Davis Biddle offers a clear-headed critique that will be illuminating for students and practitioners alike. Relying on a broad base of classic and contemporary literature, she reveals why the logic of strategy often rests on weak foundations, and why—even when that logic is sound—the myriad problems of implementation will tend to erode and undermine the link between ends and means. -
Added December 23, 2015
Reforming U.S. Export Controls Reforms: Advancing U.S. Army Interests
Authored by Dr. Richard Weitz.
View the Executive Summary
The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) help prevent potential foreign adversaries from using U.S. arms against the United States and its allies. However, the Regulations, as enforced, can weaken U.S. national security in other important ways. -
Added December 22, 2015
Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future
Authored by Mr. Henry D. Sokolski.
View the Executive Summary
Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future explores what nuclear future we may face over the next 3 decades and how we currently think about this future. Will nuclear weapons spread in the next 20 years to more nations than just North Korea and possibly Iran? How great will the consequences be? What can be done? -
Added December 18, 2015
Enabling Others to Win in a Complex World: Maximizing Security Force Assistance Potential in the Regionally Aligned Brigade Combat Team
Authored by CPT (P) Liam P. Walsh.
View the Executive Summary
Despite significant U.S. Army efforts at providing security force assistance (SFA) during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, the performance of the Iraqi Security Forces against the Islamic State in the summer of 2014 raises questions about the conventional Army’s ability to train host nation security forces. Focusing on the brigade combat team (BCT), this monograph examines SFA efforts in Iraq and provides recommendations to maximize SFA capabilities in the regionally aligned BCT. -
Added December 16, 2015
Autonomous Weapon Systems: A Brief Survey of Developmental, Operational, Legal, and Ethical Issues
Authored by Jeffrey L. Caton.
View the Executive Summary
What does the Department of Defense hope to gain from the use of autonomous weapon systems (AWS)? This Letort Paper explores a diverse set of complex issues related to the developmental, operational, legal, and ethical aspects of AWS. -
Added December 15, 2015
Lethal and Legal? The Ethics of Drone Strikes
Authored by Dr. Shima D. Keene.
View the Executive Summary
With greatly increased lethal use of unmanned aerial vehicles comes greater scrutiny and controversy. This monograph lays out the ethical and legal landscape in which drone killings take place and makes key recommendations both for ensuring legality and a sound moral basis for operations, but also for ensuring those operations are effective. -
Added December 11, 2015
The Human Terrain System: Operationally Relevant Social Science Research in Iraq and Afghanistan
Authored by Dr. Christopher Sims.
View the Executive Summary
Investigation of the experiences and insights of social scientists that conducted research at the tactical level in Iraq and Afghanistan offers a nuanced examination of the challenges posed by those conflicts. This book explains how a military crisis catalyzed the creation of the Human Terrain System and traces its effect through interviews with former program members. -
Added December 02, 2015
Mastering the Gray Zone: Understanding a Changing Era of Conflict
Authored by Dr. Michael J. Mazarr.
View the Executive Summary
This study examines the growing use of “gray zone” campaigns and techniques to achieve national goals. It assesses the character of these challenges, offers a number of hypotheses to help understand their strategic implications, and makes policy recommendations to deal with these increasingly important forms of statecraft. -
Added November 30, 2015
The New Arab Regional Order: Opportunities and Challenges for U.S. Policy
Authored by Gregory Aftandilian.
View the Executive Summary
This monograph explores the new Arab regional order that has arisen in the past few years, made up of Saudi-led alliances in opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood in one grouping and in opposition to the Houthis and other Shia elements in another. It shows how this new order presents challenges and opportunities for the United States, and provides recommendations for U.S. policymakers. -
Added November 25, 2015
The Hour of Truth: The Conflict in Ukraine–Implications for Europe’s Energy Security and the Lessons for the U.S. Army
Authored by Dr. Ariel Cohen, Ivan Benovic.
View the Executive Summary
Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, a number of gas disputes between Russia and Central and Eastern European countries have unveiled the strategic dependence of Europe on Russian piped gas. The recent Ukrainian crisis demonstrated that Europe has a desperate need to improve the security of its gas supply. -
Added November 17, 2015
From Assistance to Partnership: Morocco and its Foreign Policy in West Africa
Authored by Dr. Mohammed El-Katiri.
View the Executive Summary
This monograph focuses on the geopolitical and economic drivers for the renewed Moroccan interest in West Africa. It also examines how Morocco is conducting its foreign and security policy in a variety of Western African countries. It highlights Morocco’s contribution to counterextremism in West Africa and Sahel regions, through the provision of training to the imams and preachers of African Mosques.
