Europe & Russia

Albania - Observations on a Changing Nation COL William R Applegate, COL Patrick O Carpenter, Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Today’s nation of Albania is the result of a long tortuous journey through history, during which it was mostly not treated well. Thought to be descended from the Illyrian Albanoi tribe, Albanians have been subjugated by Philip of Macedonia, Tiberius of Rome, the Ottoman Turks, and Mussolini’s Italian Army. Geographically, Albania has encompassed much of the area we know as the Balkans; it has also been partitioned and disappeared as an entity from the maps of Europe. To German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck at the 1878 Congress of Berlin Albania was no more than a “geographical expression.” It was not until 1913, with the end of the Second Balkan War and the conclusion of the Treaty of Bucharest, that the boundaries of today’s Albania took form."

The Evolution of U.S. Turkish Relations in a Transatlantic Context Dr Frances G Burwell Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Since World War II, the relationship between Turkey and the United States has been characterized by complexity and flux; there have been periods of remarkable cooperation, even when significant disagreements existed. Relations between the two countries are never merely bilateral, for the two are also linked to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). The relationship between those two organizations is also complicated because of differing core purposes and somewhat differing memberships. Current Turkey-U.S. diplomatic and military relations are more strained than in recent years, but both countries recognize how vital it is to address issues of mutual importance."

Towards a New Russia Policy Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "It is obvious that U.S.-Russian relations and East-West relations more broadly have recently deteriorated. Yet analyses of why this is the case have often been confined to American policy. The author of this monograph, Dr. Stephen Blank, seeks to analyze some of the key strategic issues at stake in this relationship and trace that decline to Russian factors which have been overlooked or neglected. At the same time, he has devoted considerable time to recording some of the shortcomings of U.S. policy and recommending a way out of the growing impasse confronting both sides."

Transforming to Effects-Based Operations: Lessons from the United Kingdom Experience Dr Andrew M Dorman Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The United Kingdom has remained one of the oldest and closest U.S. allies. It has continued to engage in a variety of operations across the globe in countries ranging from Afghanistan and Iraq to the Balkans and Sierra Leone and has undertaken these tasks within a defense budget that has continued to decline as a percentage of gross domestic product. This has meant a series of changes to the traditional approach to defense that has gone much further than that of the United States and many of its European counterparts. As part of this process, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces have officially sought to adopt an effects-based approach to operations within the context of an overall “comprehensive approach” that supposedly brings together the various organs of government. The author of this monograph, Dr. Andrew M. Dorman, evaluates the relative success the United Kingdom has had in adapting to this change, identifying a number of successes and pitfalls from which other countries could well learn."

The Evolution of U.S.-Turkish Relations in a Transatlantic Context Dr W Andrew Terrill Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, with The Atlantic Council of the United States "The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College and the Atlantic Council of the United States conducted a colloquium entitled “The Evolution of U.S.-Turkish Relations in a Transatlantic Context” on March 25, 2007. Additional support for this conference was provided by the Washington Delegation of the European Commission and the Heinrich-Boell Foundation. The colloquium brought together serving and retired academics, diplomats, and military officers from the United States, Europe, and Turkey."

Russian Security Strategy under Putin: U.S. and Russian Perspectives Dr R Craig Nation, Mr Dmitri Trenin Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The two papers grouped together here were delivered at the Strategic Studies Institute’s annual strategy conference for 2007. As the theme of the conference was global security challenges to the United States and proceeded on a region by region basis, these papers were delivered during the session devoted to security challenges issuing from what is now called Eurasia, i.e., to a large degree the former Soviet Union. The authors illustrate the degree to which great power rivalry in Eurasia has become a major security issue and source of growing Russo-American tensions. Whereas Dr. R. Craig Nation lays out some of the fundamental macro-strategic issues of this rivalry and U.S. goals in Eurasia, as well as the consequences of Russian resistance to Western and American pressures, Dr. Dmitri Trenin emphasizes the growing intensity of Russian threat perceptions."

The Eastern Dimension of America's New European Allies Mr Janusz Bugajski Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph provides a set of recommendations to the United States, NATO allies, and EU institutions in promoting a more consequential Eastern Dimension. Above all, the U.S. administration needs to clearly make the argument that progress toward stable states and secure democracies in a widening Europe and an expanding trans-Atlantic community that encompasses the Black Sea zone is in America’s national interests and serves its strategic goals. The eventual inclusion of all East European states that are currently situated outside NATO and the creation of a wider Alliance would help expand and consolidate democratic systems, open up new markets, stabilize Washington’s new allies, and increase the number of potential U.S. partners."

Transformation Under Fire: A Historical Case Study with Modern Parallels Major Raymond A Kimball Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The ideas of military transformation have been percolating within the U.S. military for more than a decade. Proponents of both “net-centric” and “fourth generation” warfare have been arguing for specific force constructs to meet what they perceive to be the unique demands of a new type of war. The heavy demands of current operations add to the pressure to bring some kind of closure to this debate."

The Reserve Policies of Nations: A Comparative Analysis Dr Richard Weitz Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "While the American defense community has naturally been preoccupied with the extensive transformation of the U.S. reserve components in recent years, equally critical developments in the reserve policies of the world’s other major military powers have received less attention. The inevitability of continued American engagement with these countries means that their changing policies are highly relevant to the United States. American defense planners should therefore keep abreast of ongoing alterations in these countries’ reserve components and, in certain cases, might wish to adjust their own forces and policies in response."