Recent Articles

Conflict Management and "Whole of Government": Useful Tools for U.S. National Security Strategy? Dr Robert H Dorff, Dr Volker C Franke Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, Kennesaw State University, and KSU's International Conflict Management Throughout most of the 20th century, national security focused primarily, and sometimes exclusively, on military affairs. In the 21st century, this has changed as new and more comprehensive ways of thinking about, studying, and planning for national security and global security are being adopted in response to new security challenges and threats that go beyond the dangers posed by traditional causes of war and conflict. In addition to terrorism, these other threats to security are posed by, but not limited to, shortfalls of energy and nonfuel mineral resources, scarcity of food and fresh water, encroaching desertification, and cyber attacks. To some, these new challenges and threats present as much, and over time perhaps more, of a challenge and threat to security as do guns, bombs, and missiles.

Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO Dr Jeffrey D McCausland, Dr Tom Nichols, Dr Douglas Stuart Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute The role and future of tactical nuclear weapons in Europe are subjects that sometimes surprise even experts in international security, primarily because it is so often disconcerting to remember that these weapons still exist. Many years ago, an American journalist wryly noted that the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was “a subject that drives the dagger of boredom deep, deep into the heart”—a dismissive quip which would have remained true right up until the moment World War III broke out. The same goes for tactical nuclear weapons: compared to the momentous issues that the East and West have tackled since the end of the Cold War, the scattering of hundreds (or in the Russian case, thousands) of battlefield weapons throughout Europe seems to be almost an afterthought, a detail left behind that should be easy to tidy up.

Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Instability Dr Vanda Felbab-Brown, Dr Phil Williams Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The rationale for this series is a reflection of the ways in which the world of armed groups has changed and is continuing to change, and the impact of these changes on threats and challenges to national and global security. Although challenges posed by various kinds of violent armed groups initially appear highly diverse and unrelated to one another, in fact they all reflect the increasing connections between security and governance—and, in particular, the relationship between poor governance and violent armed groups. The growth in the number of states with capacity gaps, functional holes, and legitimacy deficits helps to explain the resurgence of a new medievalism, and the rise of illegal quasi-governments in localized areas. The irony is that after several decades in which the number of sovereign states represented in the United Nations (UN) has increased significantly, relatively few of these states can truly claim a monopoly on force within their territorial borders."

MAPRO: Mass Atrocity Prevention and Response Options Professor Dwight Raymond Guides and Handbooks by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "This Handbook is designed to be a reference for policy makers to monitor, prevent, and if necessary respond to genocide and other mass atrocity situations. It addresses topics promulgated in the August 2011 Presidential Study Directive on Mass Atrocities (PSD-10) as well as recommendations contained in Preventing Genocide, the 2008 study published by the Genocide Prevention Task Force (GPTF)."

Collins Center Update, Volume 14, Issue 1 (Winter 2012) Colonel Barry Di Ruzza, Dr. Mark A. Van Dyke, Professor William Waddell, Colonel Sam White, Professor Bert Tussing, Colonel Steve Carney Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership

Delegitimizing Al-Qaeda: A Jihad-Realist Approach Dr Paul Kamolnick Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "During the past 2 decades, America and the world have witnessed the ignoble rise and now-pending destruction of the al-Qaeda terrorist entity, one of the modern world’s most vicious and successful transnational organizations. Scholars and national security personnel have dedicated vast resources to dissecting and analyzing al-Qaeda’s ideological, strategic, organizational, and tactical strengths and weaknesses. Notable in this entire debate, however, has been the repeated refrain among scholars and U.S. policymakers that we have yet to design and execute a successful messaging campaign that effectively attacks and delegitimizes al-Qaeda in the eyes of potential recruits. Dr. Paul Kamolnick’s monograph is designed to address that present lacuna..."

Once Again, the Challenge to the U.S. Army During a Defense Reduction: To Remain a Military Profession Dr Don M Snider Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The U.S. Army has been through three reductions-in-force since the inception of the All-Volunteer Force. The first one, roughly 1972-78, actually birthed the All-Volunteer Force. The second one occurred in the late 1990s after the end of the Cold War when the U.S. Army was reduced by approximately one-third in both force structure and budget (Total Obligational Authority). The third one is just now beginning in 2011-12 as the Army returns from a decade of war in the Middle East..."

Categorical Confusion? The Strategic Implications of Recognizing Challenges Either as Irregular or Traditional Dr Colin S Gray Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Strategic concepts and the theories they encourage and enable are discretionary intellectual constructions. Strategic concepts are not dictated to us; rather, we choose them and decide how they can serve as building blocks for the edifice of theory we prefer. When strategic theory is confusing, misleading, and not fit for its practical purposes of education and even advice, then it is akin to bad medicine that we take in the mistaken belief that it will do us good. Unfortunately, it is necessary to alert Americans to the inadvertent self-harm they are causing themselves by the poor ways in which they choose to conceptualize strategic behavior."

The United States and China in Power Transition Dr David Lai Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The United States and China have experienced many changes in their relations in the past 30 years. Some international security experts posit that the most profound one has begun—an apparent power transition between the two nations. This potentially titanic change, it is argued, was set in motion by China’s genuine and phenomenal economic development over the past decade, or so. Clearly, China's impact on the United States and the U.S.-led international system has been growing steadily."