Recent Articles

MARO: Mass Atrocity Response Operations, A Military Planning Handbook Professor Dwight Raymond Guides and Handbooks by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School "The Mass Atrocity Response Operations (MARO) Project seeks to enable the United States and the international community to stop genocide and mass atrocity as part of a broader integrated strategy by explaining key relevant military concepts and planning considerations. The MARO Project is based on the insight that the failure to act in the face of mass killings of civilians is not simply a function of political will or legal authority; the failure also reflects a lack of thinking about how military forces might respond. States and regional and international organizations must better understand and prepare for the unique operational and moral challenges that military forces would face in a MARO."

Rethinking Leadership and “Whole of Government” National Security Reform: Problems, Progress, and Prospects Dr Joseph R Cerami, Dr Jeffrey A Engel Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "On June 24, 2009, the Bush School of Government and Public Service and Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at Texas A&M University, and the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College, conducted a conference on 'Leadership and Government Reform' in Washington, DC. One of two panels discussed 'Leader Development in Schools of Public Affairs,' the second discussed 'Leadership, National Security, and ‘Whole of Government’ Reforms.' "

Serbian Army Transformation and the Role of Human Capital Strategy Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "With the peaceful breakup of the Montenegro-Serbia confederation in 2006, Yugoslavia disappeared from the maps of Europe. Over the 15 year period that encompassed the breakup of the former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, each newly independent entity had to deal with its identity as a separate nation and the incumbent national requirements for security, economic stability, and political maturity. Complicating the security issue was forming multiple armies from one. Once a unified military force, the conscript-based Yugoslavian National Army (JNA) is now distributed across six independent Balkan states. This distribution was not based on military requirements, capabilities, or expertise, but on geography and ethnicity. "

Decisionmaking In Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: The Strategic Shift of 2007 Dr Steven Metz Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In Volume 1 of the Operation IRAQI FREEDOM Key Decisions Monograph Series, Dr. Steven Metz skillfully studied the 2003 decision to go to war in Iraq. The results of that decision are widely called disastrous. In this second volume of the series, Dr. Metz looks carefully at the 2007 decision to surge forces into Iraq, a choice which is generally considered to have been effective in turning the tide of the war from potential disaster to possible—perhaps probable—strategic success. Although numerous strategic decisions remain to be made as the U.S. military executes its “responsible withdrawal” from Iraq, Dr. Metz has encapsulated much of the entire war in these two monographs, describing both the start and what may eventually be seen as the beginning of the end of the war. In this volume, he provides readers with an explanation of how a decision process that was fundamentally unchanged—with essentially the same people shaping and making the decision—could produce such a different result in 2007. As the current administration tries to replicate the surge in Afghanistan, this monograph is especially timely and shows the perils of attempting to achieve success in one strategic situation by copying actions successfully taken in another where different conditions applied."

Towards a U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy for Success: Employing Talent LTC Michael J Colarusso, COL David S Lyle, COL Casey Wardynski Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In the Information Age, jobs are becoming more complex, requiring employees who are agile, inventive, and empathetic. Work is increasingly characterized by high levels of task interdependence, skill specificity, and uncertainty. In addition, today’s enormously competitive labor market gives educated professionals the option of seeking new employment whenever a company fails to give them sufficient voice in their work. In short, the industrial era, during which “bosses” unilaterally made employment decisions, is over. Today, the most successful enterprises unleash the talents of their workers by collaborating with them rather than dictating to them. In this more equitable environment, prospective employees and employers seek information about each other. Ideally, they will enter into mutually beneficial relationships characterized by high productivity and the initiative, innovation, and tenure born of true job satisfaction."

Sufism in Northern Nigeria: A Force for Counter-Radicalization? Dr Jonathan N C Hill Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In light of the ongoing threats issued by Al Qaeda against the United States and its allies, the need to prevent the radicalization of young Muslim men and women remains as pressing as ever. Perhaps nowhere is this task more urgent than in the countries of West Africa. The global expanse of the ongoing war on terror places these territories in the frontline. With large Muslim populations that have hitherto remained mostly impervious to the advances of Islamism, the challenge now confronting the Nigerian government and the international community is ensuring that this remains the case. But in recent years, Islamist groups have been highly active in the region. The aim of this monograph is to assess the potential of Nigeria’s Sufi Brotherhoods to act, both individually and collectively, as a force for counter-radicalization, to prevent young people from joining Islamist groups."

Implications of a Changing NATO COL Phillip R Cuccia Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "NATO officials plan to unveil the new North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Strategic Concept during the Alliance’s summit in Portugal at the end of 2010. This monograph focuses on the impact that the Strategic Concept will have on the Alliance. This analysis describes recent trends within NATO and their implications, and provides senior military and political leaders with a discussion of the changing composition of the NATO nations and the impact of these changes on the nature of the Alliance. The monograph describes four possible scenarios of what NATO could look like in the future so as to give senior leaders thoughts to consider while instituting NATO policy."

The State-Owned Enterprise as a Vehicle for Stability Mr Neil Efrid PKSOI Paper by US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "As providers of essential public or commercial services, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are important in modern economies. Since SOEs are ubiquitous in the global economy, they are likely to be present in conflict-prone societies. In such environments, the defining political and economic systems within which the SOEs exist are likely to embody the interests both of participants in the conflict and of those hoping for an end to the conflict. In stability operations, the imperative for SOEs is to become productive in a way that helps create stability."

The Goose and the Gander Dr Cori E Dauber Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "On November 10, 2008, David Rohde, a New York Times reporter, was kidnapped by the Taliban. At the request of the Times, the press “embargoed” that information—they did not report on it in any fashion—for 7 months, until Rohde escaped. To justify their request, the Times made the case to their colleagues that any publicity would put their reporter’s life in danger..."