Recent Articles

Strategic Insights: Economic Power: Time to Double Down John F. Troxell Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "A recent editorial in The New York Times asked the question, “Who threatens America most?” It proceeded to compare recent pronouncements by incoming senior military leaders, the President, the FBI director, and finally the Director of National Intelligence. The major candidates included the usual nation states (Russia, North Korea, and China), a few nonstate terrorist organizations (ISIS and al-Qaeda), and a couple of unattributed capabilities (weapons of mass destruction and cyberattacks). The editorial concluded with the lament: 'If officials cannot agree on what the most pressing threats are, how can they develop the right strategies and properly allocate resources?' "

Collins Center Update - April-June 2015 James Shufelt, Professor Bernie Griffard, Mr. Steve Kidder, Lieutenant Colonel Brent Kauffman, Professor John Powell, Professor Bert B. Tussing Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership

United Nations Peacekeeping Missions Maritime 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) Maritime Task Force, focusing on maritime support to a UN Mission and Force Headquarters. Always scalable in size, modular in function and Mission-tailored, the UN Maritime Task Force’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. In UN Maritime Task Force operations, a common understanding of terms, standards and procedures is crucial to Mission success. Many maritime nations are already generally familiar with internationally accepted standards and procedures, but may not be familiar with the more specific requirements to operate with one another as part of a UN Maritime Task Force. This manual is designed to meet that need."

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

Cyber Defense: An International View Mr Keir Giles, Ms Kim Hartmann Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Despite the history of offensive cyber activity being much longer than is commonly thought, cyber defense is still considered a new discipline. It is only relatively recently that states have established formal structures to provide for cyber defense, and cyber security more broadly. In this context, each nation has developed its own mix of public, private, and military organizations active in the field."

The Ethics of Drone Strikes: Does Reducing the Cost of Conflict Encourage War? Dr Marcus Schulzke, Dr James Igoe Walsh Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

Developing Emerging Leaders: The Bush School and the Legacy of the 41st President Dr Joseph R Cerami Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Leadership remains at the core of the military profession. Gaining a reputation as an effective and ethical leader is the foundation for a successful career as a commissioned and noncommissioned officer. Naturally, a great deal of attention in pre-commissioning and professional military schools, as well as experiential learning in a variety of demanding positions, is necessary for advancement. Understanding the ideas and best practices of expert leaders as individuals and as a member of groups, teams, organizations, and institutions remain an important area of research and study for individual and organizational learning. Learning leaders and learning organizations are the focus of this monograph. Specific attention is placed on identifying the key ideas and actions, or best practices, in comparing the leadership studies and research literature that bridge the guiding civilian and military approaches, and compares ideas and practices across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. "

The Limits of Offshore Balancing Dr Hal Brands Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Should the United States undertake a fundamental strategic retrenchment? Should it roll back, and perhaps do away with, the system of overseas security commitments and military deployments that have anchored its international posture since World War II? Many academic and strategic studies observers have answered “yes” to these questions in recent years. They assert that America’s long-standing, postwar grand strategy has become both dispensable and self-defeating—dispensable because that grand strategy is no longer needed to sustain an advantageous global environment, and self-defeating because it wastes finite means while eliciting adverse behavior from allies and adversaries alike. The proper response to this situation, they believe, is to adopt a minimalist approach referred to as “offshore balancing.” Briefly stated, offshore balancing envisions a dramatic reduction in America’s overseas military deployments and alliance commitments, and a shift toward greater restraint and modesty in U.S. policy writ large. It is premised on the idea that this type of retrenchment will actually produce better security outcomes at a better price— that when it comes to grand strategy, less will actually be more."

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."