Recent Articles

A Hard Look at Hard Power: Assessing the Defense Capabilities of Key US Allies and Security Partners—Second Edition Mr Gary J Schmitt Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In a world where the United States faces two major revisionist powers—Russia and China—and additional security threats from Iran, North Korea, and jihadist terrorists, a critical edge for the United States is its global network of allies and strategic partners. As the 2018 National Defense Strategy notes, 'Alliances and partnerships are crucial to our strategy, providing a durable asymmetric strategic advantage that no competitor or rival can match.' "

Strategic Leader Meta-Competencies Stephen Banks, David Eckley, Colonel Silas G. Martinez, Mark Stackle, Prof Louis G Yuengert Publication from the US Army War College, Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, School of Strategic Landpower, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute "As the capability gap between the United States military and its global competitors continues to shrink, the Army has countered with the launch of a transformative talent management effort to maintain its competitive edge over its rivals. Officer assessments comprise a critical component of the Army’s effort. While doctrinal requirements and existing measurement tools facilitate implementation of assessments for junior and mid-grade officers, assessment strategies for senior leaders are underdeveloped. This report informs talent management at the strategic level."

Campaign Planning Handbook AY21 Col. Keith Burkepile, COL Matthew D. Morton, COL Veronica Oswald-Hrutkay Publication from the US Army War College, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, School of Strategic Landpower "The purpose of this document is to assist United States Army War College students during the Military Strategy and Campaigning (MSC) course. It also serves to assist commanders, planners, and other staff officers in combatant commands (CCMD), joint task forces (JTF), and service component commands. It supplements joint doctrine and contains elements of emerging doctrine as practiced globally by joint force commanders (JFCs). It portrays a way to apply draft doctrine awaiting signature, published doctrine, and emerging concepts, all at the higher levels of joint command, with a primary emphasis at the combatant command level."

Security Threats, American Pressure, and the Role of Key Personnel: How NATO’s Defence Planning Process is Alleviating the Burden-Sharing Dilemma Dr John R Deni Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Many say one of NATO’s greatest strengths is its ability to conduct multinational military planning through its integrated military command. If this statement is true, the quadrennial NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) is one of the alliance’s crown jewels. Through this process, the alliance strives to ensure it has the capabilities and capacity necessary to handle numerous threats and challenges across the alliance’s three mission areas: collective defense, crisis response, and cooperative security. For several allies, the NDPP is their only defense planning process. For the alliance, the NDPP represents a major element in the organization’s efforts to distribute fairly the burden of the member states’ common security requirements."

2019: A Changing International Order? Implications for the Security Environment Christopher Ankersen, Prof William G Braun III, Ferry de Kerckhove, Dr Carol V. Evans, Kathryn M. Fisher, Dr Samit Ganguly, Anna Geis, Sara K. McGuire, Kim Richard Nossal, Ben Rowswell, Stéfanie von Hlatky Colloquium report by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, From the Kingston Conference on International Security Series, Centre for International and Defence Policy, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University "Each year, the Kingston Consortium on International Security (KCIS)—a partnership of the academy and the military—organize a conference on international security. This conference seeks to inform debate and advance knowledge in the field of security and defence, by identifying priorities in military affairs and convening world-class experts to engage with a series of common questions. The partners—the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University, the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College, the Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Centre, and the NATO Defense College work together to develop a multifaceted program for what has become one of the leading international security conferences in North America."

Mission Command of Multi-Domain Operations Mark Balboni, John Bonin, Robert Mundell, Doug Orsi US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This project supports the US Army War College’s efforts to remain a recognized leader in the creation of invaluable ideas on strategic issues relating to the US Army and the global application of Landpower. The project was requested in 2018 by Headquarters, US Army Training and Doctrine Command, to describe a new or modified operational framework to enable successful visualization and mission command of Army forces and the Joint Force across all domains in multi-domain operations (MDO) against peer competitors."

A Policy Response to Islamic State Extremist Fighter Battlefield Migration Dr Robert J Bunker, Dr. Alma Keshavarz Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This monograph by Dr. Robert J. Bunker and Dr. Alma Keshavarz examines the important subject of extremist fighter migration by first providing an overview of the Islamic State’s pedigree along with its precaliphate and transcaliphate territorial strategies, postcaliphate strategic potential, and demographic information. These discussions are followed by problem identification related to returning extremist fighters, inflows into Syria and Iraq, outflows to the United States and new battlefields overseas, and the special case of women and children."

Rise and Fall? The Rise and Fall of ISIS in Libya Dr Azeem Ibrahim Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This report argues exploiting the military and political defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Libya to eradicate the group completely from the country and weaken its capacity to act elsewhere in North and sub-Saharan Africa is now possible. In addition, the Libyan conflict continues to have consequences for the political stability of Europe via the pressure the migration flows are putting on the political infrastructure of the continent. In turn, this instability has implications for the United States’ European strategy, both insofar as commercial interests are concerned and in US capacity to contain Russian assertiveness on the edges of NATO territory."

An Army Transformed: USINDOPACOM Hypercompetition and US Army Theater Design Prof William G Braun III, Mister Nathan P Freier, Mr John Schaus Document by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This study emerged in an environment marked by increased senior- and working level anxiety about the American military position in the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) area of responsibility (AOR), as well as a third attempt in two decades to refocus American defense and security strategy on the USINDOPACOM theater."