Recent Articles

State of the U.S. Military Reserve Components Dr Dallas D Owens, Mr Ralph Wipfli Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, 21st Century Defense Initiative of The Brookings Institution "The “Future Defense Dilemmas” seminar series is a partnership between the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution and the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. Its goal is to bring together defense experts and policy leaders from academia, the military and defense community, other governmental organizations, and nongovernmental institutions for discussions on looming defense questions and dilemmas."

Wars of Ideas and the War of Ideas Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Despite widespread emphasis on the importance of winning the war of ideas in recent strategic literature, we find few analytical studies of wars of ideas as such. With that in mind, this monograph offers a brief examination of four common types of wars of ideas, and uses that as a basis for analyzing how the United States and its allies and strategic partners might proceed in the current war of ideas. "

From the New Middle Ages to a New Dark Age: The Decline of the State and U.S. Strategy Dr Phil Williams Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Security and stability in the 21st century have little to do with traditional power politics, military conflict between states, and issues of grand strategy. Instead, they revolve around governance, public safety, inequality, urbanization, violent nonstate actors, and the disruptive consequences of globalization. This monograph seeks to explore the implications of these issues for the future U.S. role in the world, as well as for its military posture and strategy."

Adaptability of Land Forces to 21st Century Security Challenges Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Transforming a nation’s military to face 21st century challenges requires recognition of the need for change and then taking action to accomplish that change. Neither component of this two-step process is easy, but adapting the national military culture and equipping the force for full spectrum operations is the hardest part. With this in mind, the 2008 Land Forces Symposium brought together Army commanders or their representatives from 23 countries within the U.S. Central Command region to discuss the Adaptability of Land Forces to 21st Century Security Challenges. "

Strategic Vision Workshop; National Grand Strategy – A Constellation of Choices Prof Douglas B Campbell, Prof Philip M Evans, LTC Artur M Loureiro, MG Robert M Williams Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The United States Army War College (USAWC), in support of the Army Staff and in cooperation with national security faculty and researchers at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Security Studies Program, and Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, conducted a series of workshops from 7-10 April 2008 entitled Strategic Vision Workshop: National Grand Strategy. The Strategic Vision Workshop was organized to assist the Department of the Army in the understanding of Grand Strategy and future policy options that will prepare the Army to meet challenges in a world of persistent conflict."

The Second Berlin Wall LTC Raymond A Millen Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The latest contretemps in NATO regarding burden sharing in Afghanistan has the distinguishing feature of being altogether pedestrian. European reluctance to contribute more troops and funding to Afghanistan has less to do with disagreements over strategy than it does with a pattern of behavior stemming back to the birth of the Alliance."

Borders: Technology and Security--Strategic Responses to New Challenges Dr Douglas V Johnson II Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, New Mexico State University "The New Mexico State University Government Department, in cooperation with the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, conducted a 2-day colloquium, “Borders: Technology and Security—Strategic Responses to New Challenges,” on April 1-2, 2008. Approximately 60 invitees attended the event, which took place in Las Cruces, New Mexico. "

U.S. Foreign Policy and Regime Instability Dr James Meernik Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This Letort Paper examines the relationship between U.S. military ties with foreign states and the extent to which the depth of these ties influences the level of political instability and violence in those states. Many pundits and scholars have criticized U.S. foreign policy for its reliance on military means of influence and have argued that other foreign policy tools, such as economic aid, cultural exchanges, and diplomacy can better promote American interests. Yet, few scholars have chosen to evaluate empirically whether the military relationship encourages or discourages political instability and violence in these nations. The author, Dr. James Meernik, analyzes these issues in a systematic and objective fashion and finds that the relationships between a U.S. military presence, U.S. military aid, the use of military force, and other factors are much more complex and subtle than many have believed."

Albania - Observations on a Changing Nation COL William R Applegate, COL Patrick O Carpenter, Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Today’s nation of Albania is the result of a long tortuous journey through history, during which it was mostly not treated well. Thought to be descended from the Illyrian Albanoi tribe, Albanians have been subjugated by Philip of Macedonia, Tiberius of Rome, the Ottoman Turks, and Mussolini’s Italian Army. Geographically, Albania has encompassed much of the area we know as the Balkans; it has also been partitioned and disappeared as an entity from the maps of Europe. To German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck at the 1878 Congress of Berlin Albania was no more than a “geographical expression.” It was not until 1913, with the end of the Second Balkan War and the conclusion of the Treaty of Bucharest, that the boundaries of today’s Albania took form."