Recent Articles

Ground Truth in Building Human Security Douglas Batson PKSOI Paper by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "Land has been at the center of human conflict throughout recorded history. Although there are now fewer interstate conflicts concerning land, we increasingly see conflict fueled by land tenure issues exacerbated through the inability of failing states to address such fundamental concerns of their populace."

Peace & Stability Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1 Mister Robert C Browne Peace and Stability Journal by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "With a decade of gender mainstreaming under its belt, the United Nations has well documented its efforts and difficulties in achieving gender parity in the Secretariat, and its Departments and Offices. Although it was hoped that UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security would result in a surge of women’s participation at all levels of peace processes and, de facto, at all levels of the UN, the gap between aspiration and action is still wide."

A "Hollow Army" Reappraised: President Carter, Defense Budgets, and the Politics of Military Readiness Prof Frank L Jones Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The term “hollow army” became a part of the American political vocabulary more than 30 years ago, in another election year, 1980. Highlighted by a reporter in an article about the U.S. Army Chief of Staff’s congressional testimony concerning the fiscal year 1981 defense budget, the term became a metaphor for the Jimmy Carter administration’s alleged neglect of U.S. national security by political opponents as well as disapproving members of his own party in Congress, who believed him to be a liability..."

State-Building Challenges in a Post-Revolution Libya Dr Mohammed El-Katiri Monographs by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "A peaceful transition to a new form of government in Libya is of vital importance not only to the people of Libya, but to neighboring countries—and to security in the broad sense much farther afield. Yet, at the time of this writing, the new interim leadership remains fragile, with limited capacity and sovereignty, and the inability to enforce security is still a critical challenge. There is a risk of conditions being created that could lead to Libya becoming a fragile or indeed a failed state."

The Future of American Landpower: Does Forward Presence Still Matter? The Case of the Army in Europe Dr John R Deni Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In this monograph, Dr. John R. Deni explores the utility of forward presence in Europe, placing the recent decisions—and, in particular, the arguments against forward presence—in the context of a decades-long tradition on the part of many political leaders, scholars, and others to mistakenly tie the forward-basing of U.S. forces to more equal defense burden sharing across the entire North Atlantic alliance. In assessing whether and how forward presence still matters in terms of protecting U.S. interests and achieving U.S. objectives, Dr. Deni bridges the gap between academics and practitioners by grounding his analysis in political science theory while illuminating how forward-basing yields direct, tangible benefits in terms of military operational interoperability..."

How Nation-States Craft National Security Strategy Documents Dr Alan G Stolberg Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In some manner, shape, or form, every nation state in the international system has a national security strategy or strategies. These strategies are intended to guide the state as it makes its way through the labyrinth of challenges that every nation state faces in the 21st century. The strategy could represent the nation’s overall grand strategy or it could be a national security-related strategy for one particular issue, like force structure development for the armed forces. Strategy making is an art; not a science. Sometimes these strategies work and sometimes they do not. Some are effective and efficient as desired and others are less so..."

Russia's Homegrown Insurgency: Jihad in the North Caucasus Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The United States has had a bitter set of experiences with insurgencies and counterinsurgency operations, but it is by no means alone in having to confront such threats and challenges. Indeed, according to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the greatest domestic threat to Russia’s security is the ongoing insurgency in the North Caucasus. This insurgency grew out of Russia’s wars in Chechnya and has gone on for several years, with no end in sight. Yet it is hardly known in the West and barely covered even by experts. In view of this insurgency’s strategic importance and the fact that the U.S. military can and must learn for other contemporary wars, the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) felt the need to bring this war to our readers’ attention and shed more light upon both sides, the Islamist (and nationalist) rebels and Russia, as they wage either an insurgency or counterinsurgency campaign."

2012-2013 Key Strategic Issues List Update No. 2 Dr Antulio J. Echevarria Document by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute

Hidden Dragon, Crouching Lion: How China's Advance in Africa is Underestimated and Africa's Potential Underappreciated Mr David E Brown Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) has maintained close and positive professional ties with our colleagues at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) in Washington, DC, since ACSS’s founding in 1999. The Africa Center is the preeminent U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) institution for strategic security studies, research, and outreach in Africa. I am pleased that SSI and ACSS are once more able to collaborate in the publication of this monograph, entitled Hidden Dragon, Crouching Lion: How China’s Advance in Africa is Underestimated and Africa’s Potential Underappreciated. Its author, David E. Brown, is currently the Senior Diplomatic Advisor at ACSS. He brings unique perspectives to the important foreign policy issue of China’s rapid commercial and political advance in Africa, having served eight times in China and Africa as a Foreign Service Officer at U.S. Embassies, U.S. Consulates, and the American Institute in Taiwan."