Recent Articles

Do Fewer Resources Mean Less Influence? A Comparative Historical Case Study of Military Influence in a Time of Austerity Dr Mary Manjikian Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, military planners speak at great length about the importance of rebalancing our armed forces. As a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011, our U.S. Armed Forces have absorbed significant budget cuts, which are projected to continue into 2016. Not surprisingly, a major theme of the Quadrennial Defense Review is the necessity of making tough choices in a period of fiscal austerity."

Strategic Insights: The Landpower Robot Revolution Is Coming Steven Metz Article by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Military technical revolutions have a distinct pattern. When new technology becomes available, it initially is used to augment existing operational methods and tactics. In Europe, for instance, the first firearms were used to give formations of pikemen more punch. On the battlefields of World War I, tanks were moveable pill boxes supporting slogging infantry attacks. Airplanes were used like old-fashioned cavalry, scouting for the infantry and artillery. Later, they supplemented infantry and artillery by strafing and bombing. Even the first atomic weapons were simply a very effective way to do the work of traditional 500 pound bombs and incendiaries..."

Strategic Insights: The Strategic Relevance of Latin America for the United States R. Evan Ellis Article by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "From October 12-14, 2014, the city of Arequipa, Peru, was host to this year’s largest unnoticed meeting of senior government officials from across the Western Hemisphere: the 11th annual Defense Ministerial Summit of the Americas. The meeting brought together Ministers of Defense and their equivalents from 34 nations from the Western Hemisphere to discuss and coordinate positions on defense and security topics important to the region. Yet in the U.S. media, almost the only mention of the gathering was a reference that the U.S. Secretary of Defense would ask the assembled leaders for “specific contributions” to the struggle against the terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Middle East. In the game of geopolitics, Latin America has long been, and continues to be, the 'minor leagues.' "

American Grand Strategy and the Future of U.S. Landpower Major Joseph V Da Silva, Dr Hugh P Liebert, Prof Isaiah Wilson III Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The current international security environment is characterized by unprecedented uncertainty. In the Asia-Pacific, our allies adjust to China’s rise and hedge against instability coming from North Korea. In the greater Middle East, the Syrian civil war draws in powerful state and nonstate actors, Iran’s weapons program worries its neighbors, the Arab Spring continues its uncertain course, and we see a growing Sunni-Shia split throughout the region. In Europe, the need for a strong North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance has become clear as nations along Russia’s periphery reevaluate their strategic alignments in the wake of the situation in Crimea. In Africa, weak states with ethnic and religious tensions set conditions for terrorist groups to operate with near impunity. It is in this uncertain and unstable world that U.S. military forces will operate for the foreseeable future."

Operationalizing Counter Threat Finance Strategies Dr Shima D Keene Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In this monograph, British academic and practitioner Dr. Shima Keene describes a number of ways in which financial intelligence can be leveraged not only to disrupt adversary activities, but also to provide indicators and warnings of future actions and, ultimately, to address underlying insecurities. Dr. Keene was previously both a banker and a British Army reservist. In this monograph, she uses her expertise as a threat finance specialist to outline specific areas where financial intelligence analysis techniques, which are common in the private sector, can be applied to combating insurgency, terrorism, and other hard security threats. "

Regionalizing East Mediterranean Gas: Energy Security, Stability, and the U.S. Role Ms Laura El-Katiri, Dr Mohammed El-Katiri Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In recent years the distribution of the world’s exploitable energy reserves has shifted markedly. One major change is the discovery of substantial gas deposits offshore the Levant. But while these deposits have the potential to revolutionize the economies of the net energy importers, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Israel, they also bring into sharp focus long-running disputes over maritime boundaries and sovereignty. In short, these deposits provide yet another cause for conflict in an already deeply troubled region. This monograph explores both the positive and negative implications of the Eastern Mediterranean’s new gas reserves for the region, and the implications of both for U.S. interests. It combines the recognized expertise of two researchers with long experience in regional and energy studies, respectively. Their conclusion is that the management of these new energy resources is likely to influence significantly the relationships among the states in the region, particularly between Israel and its neighbors, including the Palestinian Territories. "

Strategic Insights: Can the EU Declare Energy Independence From Russia? Scott Cowman Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The worsening situation in Ukraine has yet again reminded the European Union (EU) and the United States that Europe is far too reliant on Russian energy imports. Even after the downing of MH-17, the EU was reluctant to increase sanctions against Russia, let alone ones that target Russian energy. Several EU countries, most notably Germany, were hesitant because Russia has a history of using its energy exports as a political weapon. It seems likely that if the EU was less reliant on Russian energy, it could respond to Russian aggression in a more effective manner..."

United Nations Force Headquarters Handbook United Nations Peacekeeping Missions Manual by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, United Nations "Peacekeeping operations have traditionally been considered as instrumental in consolidating confidence among conflicting parties and monitoring the effective respect of the ceasefire by those who signed it. To that end peacekeepers were usually armed only with light weapons to be used solely for self-defence in the case that they were attacked. These missions were authorized under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter. From the 1990s to the early 2000 peacekeeping operations have been deployed in countries where security remained a critical issue. As these traditional peacekeeping operations were repeatedly confronted with major human rights violations without having the means to stop them a new generation of operations, the so called robust peacekeeping operations were launched..."

Stepping Up: Burden Sharing by NATO's Newest Members Dr Joel R Hillison Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In August 2003, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) took control of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan. At the time, many European allies were disgruntled with the United States over the war in Iraq. Some allies' also felt snubbed by the U.S. decision to act unilaterally in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Yet, 12 years later, the Alliance was still involved in the NATO mission in Afghanistan. All 28 NATO allies persevered in the face of intensified fighting in Afghanistan and growing domestic political and fiscal pressures..."