Army War College - Publications News

A Human-Centric Framework: Employment Principles for Lethal Autonomous Weapons

Pentagon News — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 17:24:42 GMT

As lethal autonomous weapon systems become a battlefield reality, the Department of War must establish unambiguous employment criteria to allow war fighters to use these controversial systems ethically and responsibly. The updated policy should shift the conversation from the weapon system to humans by defining pre-deployment judgment and emphasizing accountability.

More Than a Numbers Game: Comparing US and Chinese Landpower in the Pacific Requires Context

Pentagon News — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 16:00:14 GMT

As the US Army organizes, trains, and equips for an unforeseen future, service decisions should create or amplify relative operational advantages over the US military’s rising foe—the People’s Liberation Army. Discerning critical differences between American and Chinese land forces is a prerequisite for such efforts.

Weaponizing Risk: Recalibrating Western Deterrence

Pentagon News — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 14:51:18 GMT

Can NATO increase the risks and costs of war for an adversary without unduly raising the alliance’s own? Can the alliance strengthen the credibility of NATO’s extended deterrence through a proxy strategy of “waging war without going to war”?

Thompson’s Rifle Battalion: The Original Unit of the Army of the United Colonies (Now the United States Regular Army)

John A. Bonin — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 17:13:00 GMT

Why is 1775 depicted on the official flag of the US Army? Why did Congress form the Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion as the first non-militia unit in the army of the United Colonies? Who was the battalion’s commander, William Thompson? What happened to Thompson and his rifle battalion during the rest of the American Revolution?

Toward a More Effective DoD Contribution to Strategic Competition in the Western Hemisphere

R. Evan Ellis — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 20:17:00 GMT

Innovative new thinking is needed on the security challenges the People’s Republic of China poses in Latin America and the Department of Defense’s role in the US response, including (1) enhanced security cooperation that helps key democratic partners succeed and provides the United States leverage and situational awareness, and (2) anticipating how the People’s Republic of China may exploit its commercial and other activities in the region in times of war.

Pretexts for War and the Preinvasion Crisis in Ukraine

the US Army War College Press — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 16:23:08 GMT

The US strategy in the lead-up to the invasion of Ukraine undermined Russian efforts to justify the war. This monograph derives lessons about counterjustification strategy through an exhaustive study of US military, diplomatic, and informational activities during the crisis.

Bargaining for Justice: Ukraine, Gaza, and the Ethics of Conflict Termination

the US Army War College Press — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 13:34:00 GMT

This book, drawing on the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, offers a unique perspective by combining insights from bargaining theory and the just-war tradition. It demonstrates how moral commitments can serve as a framework for war termination, a topic relevant to scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in international relations and conflict resolution.

The Role of America’s European Allies in the Russia-Ukraine War, 2022–24

the US Army War College Press — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 13:08:00 GMT

What more can US allies in Europe do to assist Ukraine militarily? More broadly, what can the United States expect from its closest allies in Europe in strategic competition with Russia and China? The authors assess steps Washington can take to ensure its allies fulfill their potential now and in the future.

Satellites in the Russia-Ukraine War

US Army War College Press — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 13:28:00 GMT

Satellites and counterspace systems have shown themselves to be important parts of modern warfare in the Russia-Ukraine War. This monograph examines the role of space and counterspace systems in the war, the effects of satellite proliferation and commercialization, and the restrictions placed on the use of space-based capabilities to prevent escalation.

Lieutenant General Robert C. Richardson Jr.: Central Pacific Theater Army Commander for Admiral Chester W. Nimitz 1943–45

the US Army War College Press — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 17:39:00 GMT

Lieutenant General Robert C. Richardson Jr. commanded US Army Forces in Central Pacific Area and US Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas. He served as de facto theater Army commander to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz from August 1943 to June 1945, executing the range of what are now the Army war-fighting and Joint functions.

Deterrence Gap: Avoiding War in the Taiwan Strait

Jared M. McKinney and Peter Harris — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 18:25:00 GMT

The various deterrents that used to discourage Beijing from invading Taiwan have decayed, and at the same time China’s leaders face fewer restraints than ever before. Even so, if interlocking deterrents can be developed for the short, medium, and long terms, and peace reinvigorated, war may yet be avoided.

Americans and the Dragon: Lessons in Coalition Warfighting from the Boxer Uprising

Pentagon News — Wed, 17 May 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Mitchell G. Klingenberg — Monograph by the US Army War College, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute — "Drawing from archival materials at the US Army Heritage and Education Center and the United States Military Academy at West Point, numerous published primary sources, and a range of secondary sources, this monograph offers an overview of the China Relief Expedition from June 1900 to the moment of liberation in August. Its considerations range from the geopolitical to the strategic and down to the tactical levels of war. US forces partnered alongside the combined naval and land forces of multiple nations, thus constituting the first contingency, expeditionary, and multinational coalition in American military history..."

China's Future Military Capabilities

Pentagon News — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Roger Cliff — Monograph by the US Army War College, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute — "The 2022 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America identifies China as the “pacing challenge” for the US military. This monograph examines the process by which China’s military capabilities are developed, the capabilities China’s military is seeking to acquire in the future, and the resulting implications for the US military. To date, all the extant studies have merely described the capabilities the People’s Liberation Army is currently acquiring. This monograph goes further by drawing on the Chinese military’s publications to identify and discuss the capabilities the People’s Liberation Army seeks to acquire in the future..."

Coercing Fluently: The Grammar of Coercion in the Twenty-first Century

Pentagon News — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 14:16:00 GMT

Dr. C. Anthony Pfaff — Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press — To illustrate the logic and grammar of coercion, this analysis relies on decision-theory methods, such as game theory, that examine the strategic decision-making process in interactions with adversaries and partners. The intent here is not to offer predictive models of rational-actor behavior. Rather, the intent is to use game-theory and similar approaches to understand how coercion works better. This analysis considers competitive interactions between actors that have discrete and qualifiable, if not quantifiable, preferences and who behave rationally, though this analysis acknowledges the behavior that is considered rational is frequently informed by nonrational social, cultural, and psychological factors. Considering these competitive interactions allows one to identify “rules of thumb” that can orient and guide actors as they compete.

The Grand Strategy of Gertrude Bell: From the Arab Bureau to the Creation of Iraq

Pentagon News — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 04:00:00 GMT

Heather S. Gregg — Monograph by the US Army War College, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute — The remarkable life of early-twentieth-century British adventurer Gertrude Bell has been well documented through her biographies and numerous travel books. Bell’s role as a grand strategist for the British government in the Middle East during World War I and the postwar period, however, is surprisingly understudied. Investigating Gertrude Bell as both a military strategist and a grand strategist offers important insights into how Great Britain devised its military strategy in the Middle East during World War I—particularly, Britain’s efforts to work through saboteurs and secret societies to undermine the Ottoman Empire during the war and the country’s attempts to stabilize the region after the war through the creation of the modern state of Iraq. As importantly, studying the life and work of Bell offers a glimpse into how this unique woman was able to become one of the principal architects of British strategy at this time and the extraordinary set of skills and perspectives she brought to these efforts—particularly, her ability to make and maintain relationships with key individuals. Bell’s life and work offer insights into the roles women have played and continue to play as influencers of grand strategy.

Framing the Future of the US Military Profession

Pentagon News — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Richard A. Lacquement Jr., Thomas P. Galvin — Monograph by the US Army War College, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute — "The military profession needs to be redefined by examination of its expertise and jurisdictions of practice, whereas previously the focus was on securing its professional identity. Twenty years ago, the original Future of the Army Profession research project responded to growing concerns among officers that the Army was no longer a profession in light of the post–Cold War drawdown and the onset of global operations including Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, the profession faces recurrent challenges raised by the changing character of war, the renewal of great-power competition, crises surrounding issues of sexual harassment and assault, the effects of a major global pandemic and associated social and political unrest, and the growing societal distrust toward professions in general..."

Veteran Disability Compensation and the Army Profession: Good Intentions Gone Awry

Pentagon News — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 19:28:00 GMT

Veteran Disability Compensation and the Army Profession: Good Intentions Gone Awry — Dr Wong Leonard, Dr Gerras Stephen — Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press — "For 40 years, from 1960 to 1999, about 8 percent of the veteran population received disability compensation. In 2000 the percentage edged up to 9 percent or 2.3 million veterans. By 2018 the percentage had tripled to 24 percent or 4.7 million veterans. Although many researchers attribute this upward trend to the influx of wounded from the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War, the authors show that favorable legislative action, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy changes, societal developments, and improved information flow enabled and encouraged many more veterans to file for disability. The rise in the number of veterans receiving disability compensation signaled a cultural transformation concerning disability compensation that would eventually spread throughout the US Army and the other services."