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The Philippines’ Security in the Face of China’s Rising Threats
November 21, 2024 — This article contends that the United States has insufficiently acknowledged the extent of the Philippines’ vulnerability and its importance in preserving the balance of power. While many scholars have focused on Taiwan’s strategic importance, few have considered the state of the Philippines’ military capabilities in maintaining the region’s status quo. This article traces the modern history of the Philippines’ military and defense capabilities and examines the current state of the country’s defenses and the likely outcomes of different military scenarios. It concludes by providing practical recommendations on how the United States can help the Philippines within the constraints of its existing commitments... MORE

Weapons of Influence: Unpacking China’s Global Arms Strategy
November 21, 2024 — This article explores the strategic motivations behind China’s arms sales and uses Chinese-language analyses from influential party and military institutions to identify five main interests driving Chinese arms exports: protecting economic investments, gaining influence in conflict zones, enhancing partner military capabilities, building diplomatic relationships, and offsetting research and development costs. The article integrates primary sources to reveal how arms sales advance Beijing’s geopolitical aims. The findings highlight how China’s arms trade shapes partner and adversary military capabilities and underscore the need for the United States and its allies to compete in the arms trade to mitigate China’s growing influence... MORE

Korea: The Enduring Policy Blindspot
November 21, 2024 — The threat posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a neglected and under-prioritized problem across the US government, requiring a dramatic change of approach. Most proposals for Goldwater-Nichols reform focus on geography, either increasing or decreasing the number of geographic commands. Based on our personal experience as Joint military planners at strategic-level headquarters, we argue that the change needs to go further, focusing on global national security problems instead of geography. This article’s analysis and conclusions will provoke conversation across the national security enterprise about how the United States competes with multiple global threats... MORE

The American Way of Studying War: What Is It Good For?
November 21, 2024 — Academic military historians, government institutions, and defense practitioners have unique purposes for advancing the study of war that influence the way they consume and produce history. Although there is substantial scholarship covering how the discipline of military history has changed since the late nineteenth century, the literature surrounding why it changes and how it is used is less plentiful. Using primary and secondary sources to contextualize debates between historians, this study traces major developments in military historiography, considers the US Army’s relationship with its history, and explores potential connections between a history’s purpose and its use for military professionals... MORE

From the Acting Editor in Chief
November 21, 2024 — Welcome to the Winter 2024–25 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific, Security Cooperation, and Historical Studies), and the regular Civil-Military Relations Corner installment... MORE

Book Review: A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force
October 8, 2024 — John C. Erickson and Timothy S. Martin review one of the US Army War College Press’s most-downloaded publications, A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force, an integrated research project that covers the first year of the Russia-Ukraine War. Erickson and Martin provide a useful overview and analysis, highlighting 10 key themes, with a special focus on the “Clausewitzian triad” and “mission command,” and explaining why members across the “national security enterprise” can benefit from reading the book... MORE

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Book Review: The Ballad of Roy Benavidez: The Life and Times of America’s Most Famous Hispanic War Hero
October 2, 2024 — Dr. Wylie W. Johnson presents a review of a recent publication on one of the most celebrated Hispanic war heroes in US history—Medal of Honor recipient Roy Benavidez. Johnson overviews author William Sturkey’s biography of Benavidez, which discusses Benavidez’s “perseverance against racial prejudice, poverty, substandard education, bureaucratic inertia, popular bias against patriotism, anti-military sentiment, and physical disabilities” and also his heroism in the Vietnam War and his lifetime of service afterward. Johnson recommends the book as “military leaders need to be reminded about our heroes and honor the examples they set.”... MORE

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Review Essay: Exploring Strategy in India
September 25, 2024 — Dr. Vinay Kaura reviews two similarly named books that Kaura writes will be “an indispensable reference for South Asian security for years to come.” He praises Rajesh Basrur’s Subcontinental Drift for “incorporating domestic factors to explain Indian’s foreign policy” and provides a helpful overview of Basrur’s three case studies and “policy drift.” Kaura also overviews Feroz Hassan Khan’s book, centered on how India and Pakistan “are shaping the political order in South Asia” and appreciates Khan’s “remarkable objectivity.” Overall, Kaura offers a thoughtful and compelling account of the books, which he writes “significantly outrank others that often deal with great-power South Asian policies rather than with the two nuclear-armed neighbors locked in a hostile relationship and constantly drifting from crisis to crisis.”... MORE

Cover from the Review Essay: Exploring Strategy in India: Rajesh Basrur's Subcontinental Drift: Domestic Politics and India’s Foreign Policy and Feroz Hassan Khan's Subcontinent Adrift: Strategic Futures of South Asia

Book Review: The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century
September 25, 2024 — Dr. Thomas Spahr presents a compelling review of General Kenneth McKenzie’s The Melting Point, providing an overview of the book’s three main points and its unique scope compared to other generals’ memoirs. Spahr praises McKenzie’s writing on Afghanistan, in particular, calling it “the best [description] I have read of the strategic events that led to that dramatic end.” Spahr presents a compelling case for why the book “should be required reading at senior levels of professional military education.”... MORE

cover of The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century

Book Review: The Making of a Leader: The Formative Years of George C. Marshall
September 25, 2024 — Dr. Wylie Johnson provides a thoughtful review of Rhodes Scholar Josiah Bunting’s new book on the early life and career of General George Marshall. As Johnson notes, there are many books about Marshall, and Johnson highlights the value of Bunting’s book, which contextualizes Marshall’s early career—from experience as a staff officer (rather than leading troops in combat), to having authority in overseas assignments, to recreation. Johnson notes that “Marshall had a different military career than that which is usually lauded today.” He writes that the book is “a well-written introduction to the art of leadership that senior leaders can recommend to rising junior officers.”... MORE

cover of The Making of a Leader: The Formative Years of George C. Marshall