Recent Articles

SOLLIMS Sampler – Foreign Humanitarian Assistance Mister David A Mosinski PKSOI SOLLIMS Sampler by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "Foreign Humanitarian Assistance operations typically involve a wide array of participants – US Government civilian and military organizations, multinational partners, nongovernmental organizations, intergovernmental actors, and host nation government authorities. Their various contributions can be vital for saving lives and relieving/reducing human suffering within an affected host nation."

Collins Center Update - April-June 2015 James Shufelt, Professor Bernie Griffard, Mr. Steve Kidder, Lieutenant Colonel Brent Kauffman, Professor John Powell, Professor Bert B. Tussing Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership

Strategic Insights: The Will To Fight M. Chris Mason Article by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Events on world battlefields over the past two years should give the U.S. Army pause to reconsider the entire Foreign Internal Defense (FID) mission. The seemingly unarguable axiom that "good training makes good soldiers" has been proven to be not always true. Good training does not always make good soldiers. If the definition of a good soldier is "a member of the armed forces who stands and fights for his or her country," then a good deal of money has been spent in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere without measurable and sustainable success. More than a third of all Afghan defense forces trained with U.S. taxpayer money desert in Afghanistan each year, and in Iraq they simply disappear."

United Nations Peacekeeping Missions Maritime Manual United Nations Peacekeeping Missions Manual by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, United Nations This Manual describes the United Nations (UN) Maritime Task Force, focusing on maritime support to a UN Mission and Force Headquarters. Always scalable in size, modular in function and Mission-tailored, the UN Maritime Task Force’s size and composition depend on the size, composition and requirements of the UN Mission it supports and the physical characteristics of the Mission area. In UN Maritime Task Force operations, a common understanding of terms, standards and procedures is crucial to Mission success. Many maritime nations are already generally familiar with internationally accepted standards and procedures, but may not be familiar with the more specific requirements to operate with one another as part of a UN Maritime Task Force. This manual is designed to meet that need."

The Ethics of Drone Strikes: Does Reducing the Cost of Conflict Encourage War? Dr Marcus Schulzke, Dr James Igoe Walsh Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

Climate Change: Considerations for Geographic Combatant Commands Colonel Jason A Kirk PKSOI Paper by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, US Army War College Press "Global changes to the environment are having a dire impact on the stability and security of nations and regions within Geographic Combatant Commands. GCCs must focus more attention on emerging threats which impinge on U.S. interests and develop innovative approaches to assist partner nations in planning preventing, and mitigating potential catastrophes."

Cyber Defense: An International View Mr Keir Giles, Ms Kim Hartmann Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Despite the history of offensive cyber activity being much longer than is commonly thought, cyber defense is still considered a new discipline. It is only relatively recently that states have established formal structures to provide for cyber defense, and cyber security more broadly. In this context, each nation has developed its own mix of public, private, and military organizations active in the field."

Developing Emerging Leaders: The Bush School and the Legacy of the 41st President Dr Joseph R Cerami Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Leadership remains at the core of the military profession. Gaining a reputation as an effective and ethical leader is the foundation for a successful career as a commissioned and noncommissioned officer. Naturally, a great deal of attention in pre-commissioning and professional military schools, as well as experiential learning in a variety of demanding positions, is necessary for advancement. Understanding the ideas and best practices of expert leaders as individuals and as a member of groups, teams, organizations, and institutions remain an important area of research and study for individual and organizational learning. Learning leaders and learning organizations are the focus of this monograph. Specific attention is placed on identifying the key ideas and actions, or best practices, in comparing the leadership studies and research literature that bridge the guiding civilian and military approaches, and compares ideas and practices across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. "

The Limits of Offshore Balancing Dr Hal Brands Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Should the United States undertake a fundamental strategic retrenchment? Should it roll back, and perhaps do away with, the system of overseas security commitments and military deployments that have anchored its international posture since World War II? Many academic and strategic studies observers have answered “yes” to these questions in recent years. They assert that America’s long-standing, postwar grand strategy has become both dispensable and self-defeating—dispensable because that grand strategy is no longer needed to sustain an advantageous global environment, and self-defeating because it wastes finite means while eliciting adverse behavior from allies and adversaries alike. The proper response to this situation, they believe, is to adopt a minimalist approach referred to as “offshore balancing.” Briefly stated, offshore balancing envisions a dramatic reduction in America’s overseas military deployments and alliance commitments, and a shift toward greater restraint and modesty in U.S. policy writ large. It is premised on the idea that this type of retrenchment will actually produce better security outcomes at a better price— that when it comes to grand strategy, less will actually be more."