Middle East & North Africa

India's Changing Afghanistan Policy: Regional and Global Implications Dr Harsh V Pant Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Since 2001, Afghanistan has allowed New Delhi an opportunity to underscore its role as a regional power. India has growing stakes in peace and stability in Afghanistan, and the 2011 India-Afghan strategic partnership agreement underlines India’s commitment to ensure that a positive momentum in Delhi-Kabul ties is maintained. This monograph examines the changing trajectory of Indian policy toward Afghanistan since 2001 and argues that New Delhi has been responding to a strategic environment shaped by other actors in the region. As the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014, India stands at a crossroads as it remains keen to preserve its interests in Afghanistan. This monograph underlines the ever-evolving Indian policy in Afghanistan by examining it in three phases before drawing out the implications of this change for the region and the United States. There has been a broader maturing of the U.S.-India defense ties, and Afghanistan is likely to be a beneficiary of this trend. Managing Pakistan and unravelling Islamabad’s encirclement complex should be the biggest priority for both Washington and New Delhi in the coming years if there is to be any hope of keeping Afghanistan a stable entity post-2014."

Beyond the Battlefield: Institutional Army Transformation Following Victory in Iraq LTC G Scott Taylor Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The U.S. Army goes to great lengths to capture lessons learned and preserve these lessons for current practitioners and future generations. Though the Army is one of the most self-critical organizations found in American society, a well-deserved reputation has also been earned for failing to inculcate those lessons by transforming the institutional Army. Change is achieved through a continuous cycle of adaptive innovation, experimentation, and experience. In Iraq, out of necessity while in contact with a dynamic enemy, the Army transformed on the battlefield with radical changes in doctrine, organization, training, and materiel, which significantly enabled battlefield success."

State-Building Challenges in a Post-Revolution Libya Dr Mohammed El-Katiri Monographs by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "A peaceful transition to a new form of government in Libya is of vital importance not only to the people of Libya, but to neighboring countries—and to security in the broad sense much farther afield. Yet, at the time of this writing, the new interim leadership remains fragile, with limited capacity and sovereignty, and the inability to enforce security is still a critical challenge. There is a risk of conditions being created that could lead to Libya becoming a fragile or indeed a failed state."

The Prospects for Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: A Year After the Revolution Dr Querine Hanlon Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In this monograph, Dr. Querine Hanlon of the National Defense University and the United States Institute of Peace finds that Tunisia is well poised to undertake serious security sector reform (SSR). SSR is a comprehensive tool for fixing the dysfunctional security sectors in fragile states emerging from conflict, developing capacities to meet the human security needs of their populations, or transitioning from authoritarian rule. In many fragile states, the security institutions are themselves a major source of insecurity. Dr. Hanlon argues that transforming the security sector into one that is democratically accountable and functions in accordance with the rule of law is an important step toward averting the recurrence of insecurity and conflict and preventing newly democratic or transitioning regimes from reverting to authoritarian rule."

Against All Odds: Relations between NATO and the MENA Region Dr Florence Gaub Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "While the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded in 1949 first and foremost to strengthen the transatlantic link in the wake of the Soviet threat, one of the immediate neighboring regions was left largely unnoticed for the Alliance’s first 4 decades. Although some of the Allies had recognized the importance of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, it was dealt with largely on a bilateral basis. Events such as the Suez crisis of 1956 and the wars of 1967 and 1973 did have an impact on NATO and its cohesion, overall its focus remained on the Central Front in Germany. This was where a Soviet attack would have likely occurred, and led to an Allied bias in geographic terms."

2012-13 Key Strategic Issues List Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Document by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press Unlike other lists that generally reflect issues which are operational or tactical in nature, the focus of the Key Strategic Issues List is strategic. The spotlight is, in other words, on those items that senior Army and Department of Defense leaders should consider in providing military advice and formulating military strategy. At present, the U.S. military is engaged in a changing situation in Iraq and an increasing presence in Afghanistan, as well as efforts to restore balance in force sizing and structure.

Peace & Stability Journal, Volume 2, Issue 4 Mister Robert C Browne Peace and Stability Journal by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "Today, a population’s expectations of the state for “security” are greater than national defense and protection from unlawful use of force internally. Expectations also include the social freedoms of economic opportunity, employment, education, health care, intellectual freedom, justice, and social mobility. Cultural form may vary by state, but the parameters of a modern social contract are clear and you need to look no further than the Arab Spring to see it..."

War, Law and Order, Case Study: Australian Whole-of-Government COL Marcus Fielding PKSOI Paper by US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute "This paper begins with a description of an Australian Special Forces raid in Afghanistan where civilians were killed and wounded. The subsequent White Paper prompted several questions...To answer these questions, this paper examines how the Australian Government can assist another state government to restore and maintain public security by developing capacity in its security and criminal justice sectors."

Disjointed Ways, Disunified Means: Learning from America's Struggle to Build an Afghan Nation COL Lewis G Irwin Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute Remarkably ambitious in its audacity and scope, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) irregular warfare and “nation-building” mission in Afghanistan has struggled to meet its nonmilitary objectives by most tangible measures. Put directly, the alliance and its partners have fallen short of achieving the results needed to create a stable, secure, democratic, and self-sustaining Afghan nation, a particularly daunting proposition given Afghanistan’s history and culture, the region’s contemporary circumstances, and the fact that no such country has existed there before. Furthermore, given the central nature of U.S. contributions to this NATO mission, these shortfalls also serve as an indicator of a serious American problem as well. Specifically, inconsistencies and a lack of coherence in U.S. Government strategic planning processes and products, as well as fundamental flaws in U.S. Government structures and systems for coordinating and integrating the efforts of its various agencies, are largely responsible for this adverse and dangerous situation.