Asia Pacific

Other People's Wars: PLA Lessons from Foreign Conflicts Mr Daniel Alderman, Mr Joe Narus, The National Bureau of Asian Research Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, The National Bureau of Asian Research "The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has not fought in a major war since 1979, but has studied the lessons of modern foreign conflicts from throughout the world. In some cases, those lessons have resulted in observable changes to the PLA’s strategic, tactical, or operational posture."

India in Africa: Implications of an Emerging Power for AFRICOM and U.S. Strategy Dr J Peter Pham Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)—whose mission, “in concert with other U.S. government agencies and international partners,” is to conduct “sustained security engagement through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities, and other military operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environment”—is not alone in recognizing the strategic importance of Africa. This continent, in fact, has increasingly attracted significant attention from the major powers. While the extensive network of economic, political, and military ties that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has constructed across Africa in recent years, is relatively well known, India’s own rapidly expanding network of connections to the continent have gone largely unexamined."

A Continuation of Politics by Other Means: The "Politics" of a Peacekeeping Mission in Cambodia (1992-93) Boraden Nhem PKSOI Paper by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, Strategic Studies Insitute "Since the establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945, 63 peacekeeping missions have been authorized by UN mandate. Some fell directly under the UN, and others were conducted under UN authorization by lead nations. The mandates have been justified under UN Charter VI, “Pacific Settlement of Disputes,” and Chapter VII, “Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression.”1 Regardless of intent, the UN record in peacekeeping is one of mixed success."

The Coming of Chinese Hawks Dr David Lai Op-ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "A new feature in U.S.-China relations is taking shape these days—it is the Chinese hawkish take on controversial issues between the two nations. The most recent Chinese objections stem from U.S. joint military exercises with South Korea and Vietnam in the East and South China Seas. The joint U.S.-South Korea military exercise was unmistakably intended to put North Korea on notice for its putative sinking of a South Korean warship in March 2010; the U.S.-Vietnam joint naval exercise was to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the normalization of relationships between the two countries. However, the Chinese interpreted both military exercises as a U.S. show of force directed toward China."

Got Vision? Unity of Vision in Policy and Strategy: What It Is and Why We Need It Dr Anna Simons Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "What do we need when confronted by adversaries who do not adhere to our rule set or social code? Drawing on India’s extensive counterinsurgency experiences, as well as British and American examples of cross-culturally astute strategists, this monograph makes the case for frontloading selection. Its premise is that with the right individual(s) devising strategy, everything else should fall into place. The author contends that certain intuitive abilities are key—abilities that no amount of doctrine can instill or teach."

The PLA at Home and Abroad: Assessing the Operational Capabilities of China's Military Mr Roy Kamphausen, Dr David Lai, Dr Andrew Scobell Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The final years of the 2000s turned out to be quite eventful for the People’s Republic of China (PRC and China interchangeably) and its armed forces, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). While there were exciting events for them to celebrate, there were disturbing ones for them to worry about as well."

Endgame for the West in Afghanistan? Explaining the Decline in Support for the War in Afghanistan in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, France and Germany Mr Charles A Miller Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Domestic support for the war is often mentioned as one of the key battlegrounds of the Afghan conflict. A variety of explanations have been put forward in the media and in the political realm to explain why this war, which once commanded overwhelming popular support in almost all participating countries, is now opposed by a majority, even in the United States itself. Casualties, lack of equitable multilateral burden sharing, confused and shifting rationales on the part of the political leadership for the war and a “contagion” effect from the unpopularity of the Iraq war have all been cited at one time or another."

Lashkar-I-Taiba: The Fallacy of Subservient Proxies and the Future of Islamist Terrorism in India Dr Ryan Clarke Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This work provides a discussion of the foundation of Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) and the development of its modus operandi, and it engages in an investigation of LeT activities in India, Pakistan, and the Kashmir region. Further, LeT fundraising methods are touched upon and LeT relationships with regional state and nonstate actors such as Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company are analyzed. Also, the impact that these developments have on domestic Islamist terrorism in India are addressed."

Criminal Sovereignty: Understanding North Korea's Illicit International Activities Dr Bruce E Bechtol Jr, Mr Robert M Collins, Dr Paul Rexton Kan Monograph by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The authors of this monograph have exposed a key piece of the puzzle which helps to provide a better understanding of North Korea’s surreptitious international behavior. For years, North Korea’s military provocations have been obvious to the world, however, much of its decisionmaking is shrouded in secrecy, particularly that of a wide-range of clandestine activities. This monograph is unique in the way that it sheds light on the illicit activities of the regime, and how those illegal activities are used to support its military programs and the government itself."