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Book Review: Obama and the Bomb: New START, Russia and the Politics of Post-Cold War Arms Control
June 1, 2026 — A close examination of how nuclear arms control shaped military planning, diplomacy, and domestic politics during a pivotal moment in post–Cold War relations. This review explores how treaty negotiations became a test of trust, strategy, and civil-military engagement at the highest levels of US national security decision making... MORE

Cover of Obama and the Bomb: New START, Russia and the Politics of Post–Cold War Arms Control by Frank Leith Jones

Book Review: The New Calculus of Escalation: Avoiding Armageddon in Great Power Conflict
June 1, 2026 — In The New Calculus of Escalation, Martin C. Libicki redefines how we understand the thresholds between peace, conventional war, and nuclear conflict in an era shaped by cyber warfare and emerging technologies. Drawing lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war and Cold War doctrines, he offers a fresh framework for managing escalation to prevent catastrophic outcomes. This timely and thought-provoking book is essential reading for strategists, policymakers, and anyone concerned with the future of great power conflict... MORE

cover of The New Calculus of Escalation: Avoiding Armageddon in Great Power Conflict by Martin C. Libicki

Review Essay: World War II Generals
June 1, 2026 — Two revealing studies shed light on overlooked World War II commanders whose leadership shaped key moments from Normandy to the early Cold War. These dual studies uncover the complexities of senior Army leadership—showing how personal relationships, hard‑won experience, and strategic insight shaped victory in Europe. ... MORE

Covers of Tubby: Raymond O. Barton and the United States Army, 1889–1963 by Stephen A. Bourque;
Patton’s Tactician: The War Diary of Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes Edited by James W. Holsinger Jr.

Parameters | Summer 2026
May 14, 2026 — Welcome to the Summer 2026 issue of Parameters, which consists of two In Focus special commentaries, three forums (Indo-Pacific, Strategy, and Historical Studies) and the Strategic Competition Corner... MORE

Cover for the Summer 2026 issue of Parameters

Book Reviews
May 14, 2026 — Parameters book reviews summer 2026... MORE

Closing the Gap Between Threat and Rival
May 14, 2026 — This essay explores the advantages and risks associated with leveraging interstate rivalry frameworks for strategy development and planning. Advantages include reducing strategic uncertainty and gaining efficiencies in some aspects of force planning. Risks include trusting the data and accepting the methodical pace of research. While US security documents typically describe adversaries as threats or competitors, they rarely acknowledge that the behavior patterns among America’s three current interstate rivals—China, Russia, and Iran—differ fundamentally from those of mere threats or competitors. This analysis will benefit defense professionals responsible for developing regional or global strategies and for directing war-gaming efforts... MORE

Turning Tactical Victories into Strategic Success: Counterinsurgency in the Irish Civil War, 1922–23
May 14, 2026 — The fundamentals the Irish National Army used in the Irish Civil War (1922–23) are a model for the successful application of a classic counterinsurgency which, if understood earlier, could have made a difference in the United States’ most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Irish Civil War has not been examined in-depth through the lens of modern counterinsurgency doctrine. This article draws on military history and recent counterinsurgency doctrines to provide US policymakers and military practitioners practical guidance for how counterinsurgent forces can foster trust and use appropriate tactics that lead to strategic success... MORE

A New Security Framework for NATO’s Eastern Flank
May 14, 2026 — This article argues for a NATO-EU–led security strategy to achieve long-term deterrence in Ukraine after the end of the Russia-Ukraine War. Unlike existing analyses, this article straddles the strategic level of deterrence, outlining an operational road map. Its historical example of the Iraq War shows that long-term security requires the development of plans before a conflict ends, long-term commitments, and multilateral—not unilateral—security efforts. The proposed solution provides strategic planners and policymakers with a low-risk, high-reward approach that leverages burden sharing through a multinational framework... MORE

How Is Going to War Like Buying a Car?: The Bargaining Model of War
May 14, 2026 — The bargaining model of war, a popular, yet complex international relations theory, emphasizes how nations communicate signals regarding military strength, resolve to fight, and foreign policy goals. Since the military plays a major role in communicating these signals, its leaders should understand this theory, despite its complexities. This article explains the model and its components through the used car sale bargaining process and supplements the analogy with real-world examples of international events. This article will help military and foreign policy professionals easily grasp the concepts of the model... MORE

Rethinking Power: E. H. Carr’s Enduring Lessons for Modern Strategists
May 14, 2026 — This article argues E. H. Carr’s classic conception of power provides enduring lessons for national security, but these lessons are easily lost in application. Unlike much of the existing literature, this article emphasizes how modern conceptions of power convey an illusion of balance, while the national security bureaucracy constrains the effective synchronization of power. The analysis leverages both historical and contemporary case studies to identify what a balanced conception of power looks like in practice, with the hope of informing US national security strategy and policy in today’s complex security environment... MORE