Recent Articles

Sharing Power? Prospects for a U.S. Concert-Balance Strategy Dr Patrick Porter Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Grand strategy is an important subject. It is about the dialectical relationship between power and commitments, ends, and means. Grand strategy concerns not only the alignment of resources with goals, but how to conceive those goals in the first place. At root, it is about the identity of the security community. What kind of country does it want to be, and what kind of country does it have the power to be?"

From Chaos to Cohesion: A Regional Approach to Security, Stability, and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa Ms Diane E Chido Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Conflicts and extremism are almost certain to continue to rise in Africa, especially with instability resulting from the cascade of unrest across North Africa and the Middle East, the burgeoning youth bulge in Sub-Saharan Africa, African mercenaries, rising Islamic extremism, myriad wild, ungoverned spaces, and increasing resource shortages resulting from human activities and climate change across the Continent. In order to protect our troops while ensuring stability in the region, we must develop the capacity of a Pan-African force to deal effectively with these and other likely problems as they arise."

Governance, Identity, and Counterinsurgency: Evidence from Ramadi and Tal Afar Dr Michael Fitzsimmons Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The premise of most Western thinking on counterinsurgency is that success depends on establishing a perception of legitimacy among local populations. The path to legitimacy is often seen as the improvement of governance in the form of effective and efficient administration of government and public services. However, good governance is not the only possible basis for claims to legitimacy. This monograph considers whether, in insurgencies where ethno-religious identities are politically salient, claims to legitimacy may rest more on the identity of who governs, rather than on how those people govern..."

Talking Past Each Other? How Views of U.S. Power Vary between U.S. and International Military Personnel COL Richard H M Outzen Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This Paper addresses the question of whether anecdotally observed friction between U.S. military personnel and their international partners stems from underlying bias or other factors that cannot be practically remedied. After providing a backdrop of the types of friction that have been observed, and that seem to be escalating, the Paper examines alternative theoretical explanations for such friction. The friction mirrors, in a sense, the broader sharpening of anti-U.S. sentiment observed throughout much of the globe over the past decade. There are two broad explanatory approaches: the friction and sentiment stem from who we are and are thus immutable; or they stem from discrete actions and policies, and thus may be ameliorated to some degree."

Strategic Stability: Contending Interpretations Mr. Elbridge A Colby, Mr. Michael S Gerson Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

Peace & Stability Journal, Volume 3, Issue 2 Mister Robert C Browne Peace and Stability Journal by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "The Joint communities need to clearly articulate the practice and integration of stability operations in order for the Army to optimize efficiencies in applying the war-fighting functions across the range of military operations (ROMO) in support of Unified Action. Specifically, stability operations, as part of the Army’s decisive action, lack the clarity of a definitive relationship within the mosaic of building partner capacity, security cooperation, irregular warfare, counterinsurgency, security assistance, security force assistance and foreign internal defense."

SOLLIMS Sampler - Protection of Civilians Mister David A Mosinski PKSOI SOLLIMS Sampler by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "Civilian protection efforts have gained considerable momentum over the course of recent peacekeeping and stability operations. United Nations and African Union peacekeeping forces engaged in missions across Africa, as well as the International Security Assistance Force working to bring stability to Afghanistan, have recognized more and more the importance of civilian protection efforts. Accordingly, these international organizations and international forces have implemented an array of new policies, programs, strategies, and tactics for the sole purpose of improving civilian protection and reducing civilian casualties."

Protection of Civilians Military Reference Guide Professor Dwight Raymond Guides and Handbooks by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "Protection of Civilians (PoC) must be considered and integrated during all military operations, including Peace Support Operations (PSO) and Major Operations during Armed Conflict (MOAC). Civilians are protected persons under international law, and parties to a conflict have a legal obligation to protect civilians from the conflict’s effects. Additionally, PoC is a major objective of many military operations and is frequently included in peace support mandates."

Smart Research, Leveraging Interns and Fellows to Enhance your Research Program Doctor Karen J. Finkenbinder, Richard Parsons PKSOI Paper by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "The success of PKSOI’s program led to requests from other institutions for assistance in establishing a similar internship venture. In response to these repeated requests, authors Karen Finkenbinder and Rick Parsons have captured their collective wisdom to build and sustain a program to leverage the talent available from intelligent and engaged college students."