Regional Issues

Political Warfare in Sub-Saharan Africa: U.S. Capabilities and Chinese Operations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa Dr Donovan C Chau Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In this monograph, Dr. Donovan Chau considers one nonviolent instrument of grand strategy in particular, political warfare. Retracing the origins and mischaracterizations of political warfare, Dr. Chau suggests that the PRC has used political warfare as its leading grand strategic instrument in Africa. The monograph offers a concise, detailed overview of U.S. capabilities to conduct political warfare in Africa. It then examines PRC political warfare operations in four regional “anchor” states—Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa."

Georgia After the Rose Revolution: Geopolitical Predicament and Implications for U.S. Policy Dr Svante E Cornell Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Since its independence, Georgia has been the most vocally independent-minded country in the former Soviet Union. Russia countered Georgia’s independence by strong support for secessionist minorities such as those in Abkhazia and south Ossetia. Since President Vladimir Putin’s coming to power, Russian pressure on Georgia to reverse its pro-Western course has grown measurably. Following the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia, relations with Russia turned sour as the new government proved both democratic and single-mindedly focused on rebuilding the Georgian state, resolving the secessionist conflicts, and seeking NATO membership—all anathema to Moscow."

Russia and the European Union: The Sources and Limits of "Special Relationships" Dr Cynthia A Roberts Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The topic of Russo-European Union (EU) relations is one of the most important security issues in Europe and Russia because this relationship will help determine the security situation throughout Eastern and Central Europe well into the future. The course of this relationship also will influence in large measure the extent to which Russia moves toward realizing its historic European vocation and its proclaimed ambition to become a democracy. On the other side, the relationship will influence significantly the capability of the EU to function effectively as a union of European states, possibly including Russia, and other European members of the Commonwealth of Independent States like Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia.'

Russia, the United States, and the Caucasus Dr R Craig Nation Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The Caucasus region consists of the new independent states of the Southern Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) and the Russian federal region of the Northern Caucasus, including war-torn Chechnya. In the post-Soviet period, it has become one of the most volatile and potentially unstable regions in world politics. Fragile state structures, a series of unresolved or “frozen” secessionist conflicts, and widespread poverty generate popular dissatisfaction and political instability. The region covers a major “fault line” between Christian and Islamic civilizations, and confessional rivalry, together with the rise of Islamic radicalism, have become sources of friction. Despite these inherent challenges, the hydrocarbon reserves of the Caspian basin also have attracted significant great power competitive engagement."

The NATO-Russia Partnership: A Marriage of Convenience or a Troubled Relationship? Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Four years after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-Russia Council came into being, it represents a picture in ambivalence and incomplete realization of partnership. This monograph focuses on the Russian side of this growing estrangement. It finds the Russian roots of this ambivalence in the increasingly visible manifestations of an autocratic and neo-imperial Russian state and foreign and defense policy. These strong trends in Russian policy inhibit the formation of a genuine security partnership that can provide for Eurasian security in the face of multiple contemporary threats."

Russia, Iran, and the Nuclear Question: The Putin Record Dr Robert O Freedman Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Vladimir Putin inherited a strong Russian-Iranian relationship from his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. Russia made major arms agreements with Iran under Yeltsin, selling Tehran jet planes, tanks, and submarines, and also began building a nuclear reactor for Iran at Bushehr. The two countries also cooperated on regional issues such as Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and Yeltsin valued the low Iranian profile during the first Chechen war (1994-96)."

Iran, Iraq, and the United States: The New Triangle's Impact on Sectarianism and the Nuclear Threat Dr Sherifa D Zuhur Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Many observers are concerned about the best means of discouraging sectarian conflict in Iraq while still waging counterinsurgency efforts. Another tension between regional policy goals concerns American and Iraqi desires to constrain growing Iranian influence in Iraq, and in the region as a whole, and advocating more scrutiny over transnational dealings and control over weapons proliferation, while also promoting peaceful co-existence and stricter observance of sovereignty in the Middle East. One pole around which these tensions circumambulate is the tensions between Sunni and Shi`a political and religious entities. Bilateral state relations are one level of consideration, to which must be added American concerns and those of other nations of the region. This monograph explores the various doctrinal, historical, and political facets of these issues."

Russian Defense Reform: Current Trends Dr Irina Isakova Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph is another in the series of studies on aspects of Russian defense and foreign policy being published by the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI). These monographs derive from a conference that was jointly sponsored by the Strategic Studies Institute; the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies at the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington; the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Pacific Northwest Center for Global Studies; and the Institute for Global and Regional Security Studies. This conference, titled “The U.S. and Russia: Regional Security Issues and Interests,” was held in Washington, DC, on April 24-26, 2006, and examined many different regional dimensions of this bilateral relationship."

Shaping China's Security Environment: The Role of the People's Liberation Army Dr Andrew Scobell, Dr Larry M Wortzel Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "For 2 decades after the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established, there was no question that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had a central role in shaping China’s security and foreign policy. Indeed, the PLA also was a major actor in domestic policy. The new leaders that took over China in 1949 all came from the military or Communist Party cadre who fought the Nationalists from 1927 through the Anti-Japanese War, and then fought the final battles of the civil war. At the local, provincial, and national level, the Party, the Army, and the government were almost synonymous. The PLA’s influence in national policy declined in subsequent decades, however. Today, one must carefully count the number of senior leaders with military connections in the Communist Party Politburo to debate the extent of PLA influence in China. "