Collections

Corruption, Legitimacy, and Stability: Implications for the U.S. Army Dr Shima D Keene Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Corruption increases the level of instability and the risk of conflict by undermining the legitimacy and credibility of state institutions as well as of peacekeeping and state-building interventions by the international community, to include the U.S. Army. Post-conflict states, or states emerging from conflict, are particularly vulnerable to corruption, due to the lack of good governance infrastructures, which makes it difficult to detect, disrupt, or bring about successful prosecutions against those who are involved in activities such as bribery, extortion, false accounting, and embezzlement."

21st-Century Challenges of Command: A View from the Field Dr Anna Simons Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Among lessons said to have been learned over the past decade and a half is that the United States should never again use force absent a coherent strategy. Yet, no matter how necessary a coherent strategy is, it will prove insufficient unless the problem of too many competing hierarchies is likewise addressed. A second complicating challenge for those in 21st-century command is churn: churn of personnel, of units, and of responsibility. Without there being a commanding general, a supreme commander, or some “one” individual placed in charge for the duration, decisive results will remain elusive."

The Turning Point for Russian Foreign Policy Mr Keir Giles Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This Letort Paper examines the background to Russia’s use of military force in Ukraine in 2014 and Syria in 2015, and investigates the roots of Russia’s new assertiveness and willingness to resort to direct military action to resolve foreign policy challenges. This Letort Paper identifies two long-standing trends that led to this increased willingness: first, a greater and more urgent perception of threat, whether real or imagined, to Russia’s own security; and second, a recognition that Russia itself had regained sufficient strength, military and otherwise, to assert itself and counter this threat."

Strategic Insights: Caribbean Security Issues R. Evan Ellis Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Outside of military, law enforcement, and some academic circles, security issues are rarely part of the discourse about the Caribbean. Yet, during the Cold War, the region’s contiguity with the United States made its largest island, Cuba, the focal point of the world’s closest publicly known approximation to nuclear war. Today, the Caribbean is at peace and continues to be a strategically important region to the United States and its geopolitical rivals, transnational criminal organizations, and those who live there. Currently, the security environment of the Caribbean is subject to multiple interacting stresses, influences, and potentially transformative events posing significant consequences for the United States and the region."

Social Media—The Vital Ground: Can We Hold It? Dr Steve Tatham, Mr. Ian Tunnicliffe Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In this timely and realistic examination of social media, two world-class British experts examine exactly, in the defense context, what social media is and what it should and should not be used for in the future..."

Peace & Stability Journal, Volume 7, Issue 1 Mister Robert C Browne Peace and Stability Journal by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "North Korea’s hereditary rulers have been on “death watch” for decades, with many pundits regularly predicting the demise of the “Kim Family Regime.” Recent collapse scenarios are based on two potentially inter-related events: first, the sudden death of Kim Jong-un, the 32-year-old Supreme Leader (so far in reasonably good health but without a male heir) and second, the emergence of alternative power centers either within the secretive Kim family clan itself or among key security organizations. In turn, these power elites ultimately clash and break up the brittle, centralized regime."

Strategic Insights: Strategic Questions Loom Large for President Trump in the Middle East LTC Anthony Abbott, Mr Kenneth Michael Absher, COL Gregory A Adams, Dr Christopher J Bolan Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

Strategic Insights: Getting Comfortable with Conflicting Ideas Prof William G Braun III Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

Antiquities Destruction and Illicit Sales as Sources of ISIS Funding and Propaganda Dr W Andrew Terrill Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The United States is currently a leading player in the military coalition waging war against the Islamic State Organization (often called by its older name of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham or ISIS) in Iraq and Syria. The purpose of this coalition was initially to rollback and degrade ISIS capabilities and then ultimately to destroy the organization. This effort has been made in coordination with the Iraqi government, regional allies, allies from outside of the region, and local anti-ISIS groups including various Kurdish organizations."