Europe & Russia

European Security: Washington's Shaping Strategy in Action Dr Stephen J Blank, Dr William T Johnsen, Dr Thomas-Durell Young Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Notwithstanding the claims of some in the United States, European affairs continue to dominate U.S. foreign policy and strategic thinking. The end of the Cold War has not seen any blurring of the focus of U.S. officials on European affairs. Managing the implications of the break-up of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, the seemingly never-ending conflicts in the Balkans, encouraging the growth of Western norms and institutions in Central and Eastern Europe, and expanding and reforming the North Atlantic Alliance are just some of the issues that require firm and consistent U.S. leadership."

America's Army in Transition: Preparing for War in the Precision Age Maj Gen Robert H Scales Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This Issue Paper has been developed to provide some insights into the possible course of future limited wars and to suggest how we should fight them. The ColdWar is over. Thankfully it will be some time before we will have to face the prospect of fighting a major military competitor who can threaten our vital national interests. But recent events such as Kosovo seem to be telling us that lesser conflicts fought for less than vital interests will continue to challenge us. We must develop an understanding of these conflicts. We must also develop a realistic doctrine for winning them based on our own practical experience."

Warriors in Peace Operations Dr Douglas V Johnson II Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This collection of monographs has been assembled from the 42 Personal Experience Monographs written by the U.S. Army War College (USAWC) Class of 1998."

The Economic Crisis and ASEAN States' Security Dr Sheldon W Simon Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Asia’s financial crisis has quickly become a global one. Its implications far transcend purely economic or financial considerations. In fact, the crisis that began with the fall of Thailand’s Baht in 1997 now embraces the entire world and has caused governments to fall in Asia and Russia. To understand the dynamics of the crisis and its consequences for U.S. security, the Strategic Studies Institute and the National Bureau of Research on Asia organized a conference in Seattle, Washington, on June 9-10, 1998. At that conference Professor Sheldon Simon presented this paper."

Opening Pandora's Box: Ethnicity and Central Asian Militaries LTC Dianne L Smith Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Studies on ethnicity and the armed forces flourished during the Soviet era, but relatively little attention has been paid to the issue within the successor states. The republics of Central Asia are ostensibly ethnic—they are named after the “titular” ethnic group that supposedly predominates in each. But, in truth, they are artificial creations, the product of Soviet gerrymandering and various waves of ethnic emigration."

NATO After Enlargement: New Challenges, New Missions, New Forces Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In 1999 NATO will formally admit three new members and adopt a new strategic concept. In so doing, it will take giant strides towards effecting a revolutionary transformation of European security. On the one hand, it could be said that NATO enlargement closes the immediate post-Cold War period that began with the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But on the other hand, enlargement raises a host of serious new issues for the Alliance and for U.S. policymakers that they must begin to address now. Bearing this fact in mind, the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) organized a conference with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in January 1998 to explore the new challenges confronting the NATO Alliance. These essays are the product of that conference."

Breaking Away from the Bear LTC Dianne L Smith Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian states preferred to ensure their security through the unified command of the Commonwealth of Independent States and collective security. But, the decision of Ukraine, and then Russia, to create independent republican forces compelled the Central Asian states to create their own armed forces. Depending on their relative success at developing viable military forces, each state has compensated with other tools of national power. Budgetary considerations and assessment of real-world threats have compelled each state to make hard decisions concerning relative investment in conventional armed forces, security forces, or border guards..."

European Security and NATO Enlargement: A View from Central Europe Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "NATO’s enlargement represents a watershed event in European security. It closes the so-called “post-Cold War” epoch that began with the fall of the Soviet empire and opens the way to a new stage in European and American history. The tendencies that are now pushing Europe towards greater integration have received a new injection of energy. NATO has not only proven itself the only truly effective security provider among European institutions, it has also shown itself to be the moving force behind Europe’s other security agencies, particularly the European Union (EU)..."

Russia's Armed Forces on the Brink of Reform Dr Stephen J Blank Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The Russian armed forces, by all accounts, are fast approaching a point of no return. The crisis in the armed forces is directly traceable to the policies of the Yeltsin government which have alternated among politicization, fragmentation of those forces into multiple, contending militaries, and the creation of a quasi-authoritarian political process where military policy is decided by irregular institutions that account to and answer to nobody other than President Yeltsin. Similar problems plague the defense economy which is probably still too large and at the same time misdirected, while being unable to support the forces presently under arms. In any case, nobody knows how many men are under arms or the cost of maintaining them, or where defense allocations go."