Recent Articles

Using Target Audience Analysis to Aid Strategic Level Decisionmaking Dr Steve Tatham Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Albert Einstein famously stated that: “Any fool can know; the point is to understand.” Over the past 20 years, the United States has known that there exist people with a profound hatred of all that it and the West are, and all that it stands for. During that time the American people and our allies abroad have known war in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and we know that today in Syria, Iraq, in Nigeria and North Africa those enemies plan and plot more violence and more hatred against us. Yet, do we really understand? If there is one observation that has been repeated by military commanders and policymakers alike from almost every nation in our various coalitions, it is the idea that we have not understood our adversary properly."

Duffer’s Shoal: A Strategic Dream of the Pacific Command Area of Responsibility COL Russell N Bailey, LTC Bob Dixon, Ms Laura McAleer, LTC Derek J O'Malley, COL (NZ) Christopher J Parsons, COL Elizabeth R Smith Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The following strategic assessment seeks to go beyond a traditional comparative analysis of the military, technological, political, cultural, and economic factors governing the relationships and capabilities of the Asia Pacific environment. To truly make sense of the intrinsic complexities unique to this region, the authors endeavor to broaden our view and rely on a tool often overlooked in government studies: imagination. Moreover, they aim to offer a strategic document that is readable, instructive, and provocative. Pulling from a well-referenced piece of military teaching, this assessment borrows a learning concept first employed in 1904 by Major General Sir Ernest Dunlop Swinton in The Defence of Duffer’s Drift."

Terrorist and Insurgent Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Use, Potentials, and Military Implications Dr Robert J Bunker Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Derived from the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) use threat scenarios, three levels of military significance are foreseen with terrorist and insurgent activities associated with these devices. Because of the technologies that will eventually be associated with UAVs—robotics and expert (and artificial intelligence) systems networked together—their significance is projected as increasing over time from the tactical to the operational and then to the strategic levels of concern..."

Strategic Insights: Fragile States Cannot Be Fixed With State-Building Robert D. Lamb Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The problem with the way the international community thinks about and responds to fragile states is not that we do not understand “fragility,” its causes, and its cures, but that we think of them as “states,” as coherent units of analysis. As a result of this strategic level mistake, efforts to build state capacity to contain violence and reduce poverty are at least as likely to destabilize the country as they are to help. The U.S. military should consider the destabilizing potential of its efforts to build capacity, train and equip security forces, and provide support to diplomacy and development when its partners and beneficiaries are officials of fragile states."

Peace & Stability Journal, Volume 5, Issue 4 Mister Robert C Browne Peace and Stability Journal by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute During the 2015 PSOTEW, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) facilitated a discussion aimed at developing a new course on civilian and military relations. The new course will focus on developing the knowledge and skills necessary for mid-level practitioners in the U.S. Government (USG), the Non-Governmental Organization/International Organization (NGO/IO), and multi-national communities to work more effectively with each other and with host country actors."

United Nations Peacekeeping Missions Military Police Unit 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) Military Police Unit, focusing on Military Police support to a UN Mission and Force Headquarters. Always scalable in size, modular in function and Mission-tailored, the UN Military Police unit’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."

Religion: A Missing Component of Professional Military Education Doctor Thomas G Matyok PKSOI Paper by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, US Army War College Press "There is little reason to romanticize religion and the potential roles it can play in peacebuilding. The historic record is clear. Religion has often been animated to justify the worst kinds of horrors. In the United States alone, Jim Crow preachers employed religious rhetoric to keep segregation in place. Osama Bin Laden used religion to justify mass murder, and preachers such as Jerry Falwell routinely suggested the link between terrorism waged against Americans and God’s wrath for a society wandering away from Christian values."

A Hard Look at Hard Power: Assessing the Defense Capabilities of Key U.S. Allies and Security Partners Mr Gary J Schmitt Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Since the end of World War II, the United States has made maintaining a favorable balance of power in Eurasia a core element of its national security strategy. It did so in good measure by maintaining a large conventional military force that was based not only at home, but also in bases spread across Europe and Asia. That strategy was buttressed by developing security ties and alliances with key powers and frontline states. The implicit bargain was that the United States would help keep the peace on their door front if they would provide access from which American forces could operate and, in turn, maintain credible forces themselves to reinforce and support U.S. efforts at keeping the great power peace. The question raised by this collection of essays is: Is that bargain unraveling?"

The Chinese People's Liberation Army in 2025 Mr Roy Kamphausen, Dr David Lai Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The scholarship presented in this edition addresses the uncertainty surrounding the potential direction of the PLA by examining three distinct focus areas: Domestic, External, and Technological Drivers of PLA Modernization; Alternative Futures for the PLA; and Implications for the Region, World, and U.S.-China Relations. The analysis provides an insightful perspective into the factors shaping and propelling the PLA’s modernization, its potential future orientation ranging from internally-focused to globally-focused, and how the PLA’s choices may impact China’s relations with its neighbors and the world."