Strategic Issues

The Global War on Terror: Mistaking Ideology as the Center of Gravity LTC Cheryl L Smart Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The Cold War was portrayed as an epic clash of two ideologies – Western Democracy versus Communism. Section IV of the defining cold war document, National Security Council 68 (NSC 68), was entitled “The Underlying Conflict in the Realm of Ideas and Values between the U.S. Purpose and the Kremlin Design,” and it argued that the basic conflict was between ideas – “the idea of freedom under a government of laws, and the idea of slavery under the grim oligarchy of the Kremlin.” The adversary resided in the Soviet Union and violence in other regions in the world – including terrorist violence – was exported from or used by this center of Communism. Today, the war of ideas is Western Democracy versus Salafi Islam..."

The State Department Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization and its Interaction with the Department of Defense COL John C Buss Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Over the past 15 years, the United States has been involved in seven major post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization operations. The ad hoc responses that characterized U.S. stabilization efforts in these missions have often proven inadequate. On each mission, our government has struggled to provide a responsive and enduring solution. The consequences have been the unnecessary loss of life, damage to infrastructure, and higher eventual costs for reconstruction and stabilization. Our unpreparedness to respond to the instability in post-war Iraq has met with sharp criticism. In response to these failings, the Bush administration established the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS). This paper will analyze the functions of S/CRS, examine the organization’s relationship with the military, and offer Department of Defense (DOD) policy recommendations to improve the interagency cooperation with this new organization."

U.S. Pacific Command Combating Terrorism Symposium: Addressing the Underlying Conditions of Terrorism Dr Kent H Butts, Prof Bert B Tussing Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "In sponsorship with the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), the National Intelligence Council (NIC), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Army War College’s Center for Strategic Leadership (CSL) conducted a symposium-workshop entitled Addressing the Conditions that Foster Terrorism at the Collins Center, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, on June 8-10, 2005. The symposium examined the strategies, coordination efforts, and processes devoted to diminishing the underlying conditions of terrorism and demonstrated the pressing need for greater emphasis on this key element of the United States (U.S.) combating terrorism (CT) policy."

U.S. Defense Strategy After Saddam Dr Michael E O'Hanlon Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In this defense strategy and budget monograph, Michael O’Hanlon argues that America’s large defense budget cannot be pared realistically in the years ahead. But given the extreme demands of the Iraq mission, particularly on the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, he suggests how reductions in various weapons modernization programs and other economies might free up enough funds to add at least 40,000 more ground troops to today’s military. O’Hanlon also addresses the important question of how the United States might encourage and help other countries to share more of the global military burden. Finally, he sketches other cost cutting measures such as privatization. These cost saving ideas all require serious consideration because of the enormous strain being placed on the size and cost of the U.S. ground forces."

Democratization Vs. Liberalization in the Arab World: Dilemmas and Challenges for U.S. Foreign Policy Dr Daniel Brumberg Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph looks at the political origins and dynamics of “liberalized autocracy” in the Arab world. Liberalized autocracy is a system of rule that allows for a measure of political openness and competition in the electoral, party, and press arenas, while ultimately ensuring that power rests in the hands of ruling regimes. This mix of control and openness has not only benefitted ruling elites, but oppositions as well. It gives them room to “let off steam,” to criticize regimes, and occasionally to affect public policy. Moreover, given the absence of consensus in many Arab states over national identity, liberalized autocracy has provided an umbrella by which competing groups―Islamists, secularists, Kurds, and Berbers―can achieve a measure of peaceful coexistence precisely because no group actually wields power. The United States largely has supported such hybrid systems, a fact of political life that has not changed dramatically under the Bush administration despite its rhetorical commitment to democracy. Whether the gap between words and deeds should or can be closed or narrowed is a complex question, since a sudden move from state managed liberalization to democracy could open the door to Islamist power."

The Collins Center Update Volume 7, Issue 3: April-June 2005 Professor Doug Campbel, Professor Bert Tussing, Dr. Kent Hughes Butts, Colonel Eugene Thompson, Professor James Kievit, Colonel Ken Smith, Mr. Bill Waddell, Professor Bert Tussing Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership

Budget Policy, Deficits, and Defense: A Fiscal Framework for Defense Planning Dr Dennis S Ippolito Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The transformation of the U.S. military is entering a critical stage. The Department of Defense is initiating the most far-reaching changes in its worldwide bases and deployments since the 1950s. Parallel efforts to consolidate domestic bases and defense facilities are likely as well, now that the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission has begun its work. And the Quadrennial Defense Review currently underway could have a profound impact on the size and shape of future forces."

The New RC: Will it Please Anyone? Dr Dallas D Owens Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "To their credit, the Army National Guard (ARNG) and the Army Reserve (USAR) have proposed sweeping changes to make their components capable of meeting future Army requirements. Predictions for those future requirements come from a variety of Department of Defense (DoD) offices and envision a near- to mid-term strategic environment requiring constant mobilization at levels less than, but near, those currently experienced. In turn, the ARNG and USAR know they cannot meet that need unless significant changes are made to their force structure, training, and mobilization process. Central to their proposed changes is the notion of a rotational force."

Transformation and Strategic Surprise Dr Colin S Gray Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In this monograph, Dr. Colin Gray takes a broad view of strategic surprise, and relates it to the current military transformation. He argues that the kind of strategic surprise to which the United States is most at risk and which is most damaging to our national security is the deep and pervasive connection between war and politics. Although America is usually superior at making war, it is far less superior in making peace out of war. Dr. Gray concludes that the current military transformation shows no plausible promise of helping to correct the long-standing U.S. weakness in the proper use of forces as an instrument of policy."