Recent Articles

The Challenge of Governance and Security Dr Max G Manwaring Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, with the U.S. Southern Command, the Latin American and Caribbean Center of Florida International University "A contemporary assessment of Latin American and Caribbean security must address a comprehensive, all-inclusive threat environment and consider the utility of all instruments of state power."

CU @ The FOB: How the Forward Operating Base is Changing the Life of Combat Soldiers Dr Stephen J Gerras, Dr Leonard Wong Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This inquiry has been conducted in the midst of increasing questioning by policymakers and scholars concerning the importance and role of alliances and other multilateral arrangements and legal norms affecting the use of force by the United States. Provoked in part by the transatlantic altercations surrounding Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, the questioning is driven by systemic developments—changes in the structure of world politics and changes in the shape of war—of which the Iraq-focused disputes were a symptom."

Multilateral Constraints on the Use of Force: A Reassessment Dr Seyom Brown Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This inquiry has been conducted in the midst of increasing questioning by policymakers and scholars concerning the importance and role of alliances and other multilateral arrangements and legal norms affecting the use of force by the United States. Provoked in part by the transatlantic altercations surrounding Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, the questioning is driven by systemic developments—changes in the structure of world politics and changes in the shape of war—of which the Iraq-focused disputes were a symptom."

Training Indigenous Forces in Counterinsurgency: A Tale of Two Insurgencies Dr James S Corum Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph examines the British experience in building and training indigenous police and military forces during the Malaya and Cyprus insurgencies. The two insurgencies provide a dramatic contrast to the issue of training local security forces. In Malaya, the British developed a very successful strategy for training the Malayan police and army. In Cyprus, the British strategy for building and training local security forces generally was ineffective. The author argues that some important lessons can be drawn from these case studies that apply directly to current U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine."

Irregular Enemies and the Essence of Strategy: Can the American Way of War Adapt? Dr Colin S Gray Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In this monograph, Dr. Colin S. Gray considers irregular warfare in the light of the general theory of strategy and finds that that theory is fully adequate to explain the phenomenon. Rather less adequate, Dr. Gray suggests, is the traditional American way of war. The monograph offers a detailed comparison between the character of irregular warfare, insurgency in particular, and the principal enduring features of “the American way.” It concludes that there is a serious mismatch between that “way” and the kind of behavior that is most effective in countering irregular foes."

Kim Jong Il and North Korea: The Leader and the System Dr Andrew Scobell Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In the first decade of the 21st century, few national security challenges facing the United States are as vexing as that posed by North Korea. North Korea is both a paradox and an enigma. It is a paradox because on the one hand, by some measures it appears to be a very powerful state—possessing the world’s fourth largest armed forces, a sizeable arsenal of ballistic missiles, and a worrying nuclear program—but on the other hand, it is an economic basket case in terms of agricultural output, industrial production, and foreign trade exports. North Korea is also an enigma because virtually every aspect of the Pyongyang regime is mysterious and puzzling."

Support to Civil Authority in Seismic Disasters: Regional Initiatives (U.S. Pacific Command Southeast Asia Seismic Disaster Preparedness Conference) Arthur L Bradshaw, Dr Kent H Butts, Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The “Ring of Fire” is a tough neighborhood. Fellow residents include over 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes, and along their fence line are a series of dynamic tectonic plates that produce frequent, and sometimes violent, seismic events. This delicate relationship between man and nature was brought home to Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004 when a 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra produced a Tsunami that devastated the region. "

Collins Center Update - Volume 8, Issue 1: September - December 2005 Tammy S. Schultz, M. J. Cross, Colonel Richard Dillon, Colonel Ken Smith, Colonel Phil Evans, Kent Hughes Butts, Professor Dennis Murphy Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership

Recognizing and Understanding Revolutionary Change in Warfare: The Sovereignty of Context Dr Colin S Gray Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph provides an audit, a not-unfriendly critical review, of the concept of revolutionary military change. It offers a review of what those who theorize about, and those who are committed by policy to execute, such a revolution ought to know about their subject. As the subtitle of the analysis announces, the leading edge of the argument is the potency, indeed the sovereign importance, of warfare’s contexts."