Strategic Issues

  •  U.S. Foreign Policy and Regime Instability

    U.S. Foreign Policy and Regime Instability

    U.S. Foreign Policy and Regime Instability Dr James Meernik Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This Letort Paper examines the relationship between U.S. military ties with foreign states and the extent to which the depth of these ties influences the level of political instability and violence in those states. Many pundits and scholars have criticized U.S. foreign policy for its reliance on military means of influence and have argued that other foreign policy tools, such as economic aid, cultural exchanges, and diplomacy can better promote American interests. Yet, few scholars have chosen to evaluate empirically whether the military relationship encourages or discourages political instability and violence in these nations. The author, Dr. James Meernik, analyzes these issues in a systematic and objective fashion and finds that the relationships between a U.S. military presence, U.S. military aid, the use of military force, and other factors are much more complex and subtle than many have believed."
    • Published On: 5/1/2008
  •  Albania - Observations on a Changing Nation

    Albania - Observations on a Changing Nation

    Albania - Observations on a Changing Nation COL William R Applegate, COL Patrick O Carpenter, Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Today’s nation of Albania is the result of a long tortuous journey through history, during which it was mostly not treated well. Thought to be descended from the Illyrian Albanoi tribe, Albanians have been subjugated by Philip of Macedonia, Tiberius of Rome, the Ottoman Turks, and Mussolini’s Italian Army. Geographically, Albania has encompassed much of the area we know as the Balkans; it has also been partitioned and disappeared as an entity from the maps of Europe. To German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck at the 1878 Congress of Berlin Albania was no more than a “geographical expression.” It was not until 1913, with the end of the Second Balkan War and the conclusion of the Treaty of Bucharest, that the boundaries of today’s Albania took form."
    • Published On: 4/15/2008
  •  Collins Center Quarterly Update, Vol 10, Iss. 2 (Jan-Mar 08)

    Collins Center Quarterly Update, Vol 10, Iss. 2 (Jan-Mar 08)

    Collins Center Quarterly Update, Vol 10, Iss. 2 (Jan-Mar 08) Colonel Brad Ward, Harry V. Phillips, Ritchie L. Dion, John Auger, Bill Waddell, Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership
    • Published On: 4/10/2008
  •  The Strategy Deficit

    The Strategy Deficit

    The Strategy Deficit Mr Nathan P Freier Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "An honest survey of post-Cold War national security policy exhibits a dangerous strategy deficit. The word “strategy” is overused. The concept, too, is poorly applied. It is many things to contemporary policymakers except, well—strategy. In the current environment, strategic communications and strategy have become synonymous. Strategic communications is the carefully crafted but overly general and widely consumable articulation of key political messages—“assure, deter, dissuade, defeat”; “as they stand up, we’ll stand down”; “clear, hold, build”; “phased strategic redeployment”; etc, etc, etc..."
    • Published On: 3/20/2008
  •  New Media and the Warfighter: Workshop Initial Impressions

    New Media and the Warfighter: Workshop Initial Impressions

    New Media and the Warfighter: Workshop Initial Impressions Dennis M Murphy Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Managing media and “information effects” is a hallmark of the current geo-strategic environment in which the U.S. military fights. The global information revolution and rapid spread of the Internet and other digital media have leveled the playing field between nation-states, non-state actors, multinational corporations and individuals. Anyone armed with mobile technologies such as a camera cell phone and access to the Internet is capable of affecting strategic outcomes at very low cost, using a minimal information infrastructure. The U.S. military has increasingly leveraged advances in information technology to gain advantages in the modern battlefield and to tell their story on a macro level, but has just recently begun to exploit the exploding technology realm at the micro level by co-opting the use of YouTube and blogs to help achieve objectives. Clearly, managing the “message” while controlling the necessary technological “means” represent critical challenges in today’s military operating environment."
    • Published On: 3/15/2008
  •  Collins Center Update Volume 10, Issue 1 Winter 2008

    Collins Center Update Volume 10, Issue 1 Winter 2008

    Collins Center Update Volume 10, Issue 1 Winter 2008 Colonel Phil Evans, Ritchie L. Dion, Colonel (Ret.) Eugene L. Thompson Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership
    • Published On: 3/14/2008
  •  Intelligence Scotomas in Central and South America, The Proteus Monograph Series, Volume 1, Issue 4

    Intelligence Scotomas in Central and South America, The Proteus Monograph Series, Volume 1, Issue 4

    Intelligence Scotomas in Central and South America, The Proteus Monograph Series, Volume 1, Issue 4 John B Alexander Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership, Proteus Monograph Series Fellows Program " 'Why should I care?' This response from a U.S. Army staff officer may seem like a strange introduction to a monograph on national security issues, but it actually strikes at the crux of the problem. The comment was made by a lieutenant colonel assigned to the Department of the Army’s G-3 office when told that there were significant problems emerging in South America. He is far from alone in his reflexive analysis, or lack thereof. It is indicative of the understaffed, overworked, and terminally focused attitude that permeates everything in the Pentagon. Combat pilots call this target fixation, and for the Department of Defense, the current target is Iraq and the Middle East."
    • Published On: 3/1/2008
  •  Dissent and Strategic Leadership of the Military Professions

    Dissent and Strategic Leadership of the Military Professions

    Dissent and Strategic Leadership of the Military Professions Dr Don M Snider Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Vice Admiral James Stockdale, Vietnam prisoner of war and Medal of Honor recipient, once said, 'Even in the most detached duty, we warriors must keep foremost in our minds that there are boundaries to the prerogatives of leadership, moral boundaries.' In this monograph, the author delineates a segment of these boundaries as they are understood from the study of military professions and as derived from the roles and responsibilities of those seniors privileged to be the profession’s temporary stewards—the colonels/captains and Flag Officers who comprise the strategic leadership. Such boundaries mean that the decision to dissent can never be a purely personal matter. Rather it will reverberate outward impinging at a minimum the three critical trust relationships of the military profession—those with the American people, those with civilian and military leaders at the highest levels of decisionmaking, and those with the junior corps of officers and noncommissioned officers of our armed forces."
    • Published On: 2/1/2008
  •  The Trouble With Strategic Communication(s)

    The Trouble With Strategic Communication(s)

    The Trouble With Strategic Communication(s) Dennis M Murphy Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Recently the U.S. Southern Command’s Admiral James Stavridis paraphrased World War II’s great naval commander and strategist Ernest King: 'I don’t know what the hell this [strategic communication] is that Marshall is always talking about, but I want some of it.' This past summer over 200 strategic communication practitioners and academics met at the National War College for the first annual Worldwide Strategic Communication Seminar. Senior government officials urged attendees to get on with the business of strategic communication, noting that 'we will be flying the plane while we’re building it'..."
    • Published On: 1/15/2008
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