Strategic Issues

The Militarization of the Collective Security Treaty Organization COL John A Mowchan Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Russia has reenergized its efforts to evolve the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) from a largely symbolic political organization to a more cohesive militarized security alliance. At the forefront of these efforts is a Russian-led plan to create a new CSTO Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) and a larger Central Asian Military Group. While both initiatives are still in the initial phase of development, the militarization of the CSTO alliance and its transformation into a credible security organization could bolster the Kremlin’s ability to limit U.S. and Western influence in Eurasia. It could also allow Russia an enhanced ability to increase its control over former Soviet-controlled states and re-create an alliance similar to the Warsaw Pact."

Strategic Vision Workshop: Land Power in the 21st Century LTC Artur M Loureiro Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership, with Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA), National Security Faculty and Researchers at Texas A&M University, Bush School of Government, Scowcroft Institute "This iteration of the Strategic Vision Workshop was a continuation of previous workshops conducted in the greater Boston area that involved the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The results of these previous workshops were reported in a May 2008 CSL Issue Paper, Volume 5-08. This issue paper provided an overview of the discussions that took place in each of the academic institutions listed previously. The chief architect of the “Strategic Choices” Brief was Major General David Fastabend, now recently retired, who at the time was the G-3/5/7"

USSOUTHCOM Interagency Meeting on Food Security Mr Brent C Bankus, Ms Marcela Ramirez Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The 1994 United Nations Development Program’s “Human Development Report” surfaced the concept of human security, which suggests that global and regional stability increasingly turns on the welfare of the individual. Regional security is best achieved by providing “freedom from want and freedom from fear” for the people, for which food security is an essential component."

The New Chemistry of C2 Mr Kevin J Cogan, Mister William O Waddell Study by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "A necessary change in the military transition to the next generation of warfare is the maturing of “command and control” processes and semantics for leading and configuring the organization to meet emerging threats. In the book Understanding Command and Control, Drs. Alberts and Hayes state that the purpose of C2 “has remained unchanged since the earliest military forces engaged.” In a journal article, Dr. Alberts writes that agility, focus, and convergence might be the semantics that replace the linguistics of the term Command and Control. He suggests that Command and Control are terms that no longer fit the transformation in warfare paradigm for the 21st century. He calls for new approaches to thinking about C2 by removing the “restrictive legacy of language and connotation” and by so doing he proposes replacing C2 with the terms Focus & Convergence, where “agility is the critical capability that organizations need to meet the challenges of complexity and uncertainty.” This is particularly true when it is likely that future conflicts will necessitate coalitions which do not necessarily conform to a common semantic meaning of C2 terminology. "

China's Pursuit of Africa's Natural Resources Dr Kent H Butts Collins Center Study by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Africa is a vast continent with diverse geographic patterns and a relatively limited population. The resource base of Africa is enormous, with powerful rivers, world leading concentrations of strategic minerals, and important petroleum and uranium deposits. Nevertheless, it is comprised mainly of developing states, with limited capacity and infrastructure. Western development strategies have failed miserably in Africa, falling victim to Cold War politics, cultural differences and Africa’s colonial heritage. Long a friend of Africa in its self-declared role as leader of the developing world, China is in the midst of a resurgent African initiative based on a “politics free” development model aimed at securing access to Africa’s resource supplies. This chapter examines China’s African strategy, offers an assessment of its implications for United States (U.S.) national security, and suggests a proactive, interest based approach for dealing with this phenomenon."

Information Operations means different things to different people. Dennis M Murphy Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Back in 2006 Army Colonel Rob Baker published an article in Military Review entitled “The Decisive Weapon: A Brigade Combat Team Commander’s Perspective on Information Operations.” Any information practitioner who reads this excellent piece will immediately latch on to the fact that Baker’s brigade was not really conducting information operations (IO), but in fact was using strategic communication as its primary enabler. But wait…can you conduct strategic communication at the tactical level? And if, from the lofty ivory tower of academia or the hallowed halls of service doctrine organizations you told Baker that he was not conducting IO would he really care about your nuanced interpretation? In other words, does it really matter?"

Collins Center Update, Volume 11, Issue 2 (Spring '09) Ritchie Dion, Professor Bert B. Tussing, Professor Dennis Murphy, LTC Janice E. King Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership

Collins Center Update, Volume 11, Issue 1 (Winter 2009) Mr. Ritchie Dion, Mr. Harry Phillips, LTC Jim Harvey, Professor Bernard F. Griffard, Professor Dennis M. Murphy Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership

Strategic Planning in the Albanian Armed Forces COL Daniel G Grey, Prof Bernard F Griffard, Dr R Craig Nation Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "On July 9 2008 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies signed Accession Protocols with Albania and Croatia. This action opened the way for the full NATO membership of these two countries, and marked a major milestone in the continuing post-Cold War realignment of Europe. The event was especially significant for Albania, a country essentially isolated from its neighbors and the rest of Europe from 1948 to 1991. While there is still work to be done, most indications are that Albania will formally join the 26 nation pact in April 2009, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the founding of NATO."