Issue Papers

Environmental Change, Natural Disasters and Stability in Central America and the Caribbean Ms Marcela Ramirez Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Threats to state and human security result from a variety of areas and issues such as criminal gangs, political and military sources, as well as from social, economic and environmental issues. A wide array of factors contribute to making people feel insecure, from the proliferation of small arms and drug trafficking, to transnational threats like water pollution, natural disasters, the spread of diseases and climate change."

The International Conference of Military Engineers and the Environment Arthur L Bradshaw, Ms Marcela Ramirez Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Building trust and cooperation between the military and civilian sectors in the nations of South America is an essential step in their continuing evaluation as democracies. To that end, the United States Army Southern Command Engineers and the Chilean Army Engineers co-sponsored an event entitled “The International Conference of Military Engineers and the Environment,” 3-7 August 2009, in Santiago, Chile. The conference was opened by General Oscar Izurieta Ferrer, Commander in Chief of the Army, Chile, and Mr. Thomas Schoenbeck, Director, Enterprise Support, United States Army Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). It was hosted by Brigadier General Sergio Varela Solar, Commander of Army Engineers, Chile, and Colonel Norberto Cintron, Command Engineer, USSOUTHCOM. "

Integrating Civil-Military Relations into the Professional Military Education Curriculum within the Republic of Moldova's Military Institute LTC Vince Lindenmeyer, Dr Marybeth P Ulrich Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The Republic of Moldova’s Military Institute (MMI) has a bold vision to become the premier military training and academic institute for all levels of development for the Moldovan Armed Forces (MAF). The MMI currently conducts all professional development for MAF officers and non-commissioned officers. In February, 2010, United States Army War College (USAWC) conducted an assistance visit to help facilitate the development of MMI’s model for a professional development curriculum. A key aim of this visit was to provide the MMI with assistance on the development of a Professional Military Education (PME) curriculum as well as subject matter expertise in the area of civil-military relations."

Serbian Army Transformation and the Role of Human Capital Strategy Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "With the peaceful breakup of the Montenegro-Serbia confederation in 2006, Yugoslavia disappeared from the maps of Europe. Over the 15 year period that encompassed the breakup of the former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, each newly independent entity had to deal with its identity as a separate nation and the incumbent national requirements for security, economic stability, and political maturity. Complicating the security issue was forming multiple armies from one. Once a unified military force, the conscript-based Yugoslavian National Army (JNA) is now distributed across six independent Balkan states. This distribution was not based on military requirements, capabilities, or expertise, but on geography and ethnicity. "

War Is War? -- The utility of cyberspace operations in the contemporary operational environment Dennis M Murphy Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) defines cyberspace operations as “the employment of cyber capabilities where the primary purpose is to achieve military objectives or effects in or through cyberspace.” Cyberspace emerged as a national-level concern through several recent events of geo-strategic significance. Estonian infrastructure was attacked in the spring of 2007, allegedly by Russian hackers. In August 2008, Russia again allegedly conducted cyber attacks, this time in a coordinated and synchronized kinetic and non-kinetic campaign against Georgia. It is plausible that such complex excursions may become the norm in future warfare among nation-states having the capabilities to conduct them."

Migration and Border Security: The Military's Role Prof Bernard F Griffard, Prof Bert B Tussing Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "With the world’s population in constant motion, migration is an everyday reality. Much of this movement is voluntary, such as the surges at the end of World War II and following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Major natural disasters or fluctuations in the world’s economies also greatly influence human movement. In most circumstances, migration is initiated in search of a better life, perceived or real. This type of movement was recognized as a basic human right in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Food Security Mr Brent C Bankus, Jason Delosua Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "For a majority of Americans and western Europeans, sufficient food is readily accessible and its cost is a relatively small percentage of their annual income. This, however, is not the case for almost a billion people around the world, including large numbers in the strategically important states of Egypt, India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. In these countries, and in others, food insecurity has been or is a contributor to regional or domestic instability, "

Toward Making Practice More Perfect in Stability Operations COL George P McDonnell Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The U.S. Army’s history is replete with an aversion to stability operations regardless of the name, e.g., “operations other than war,” “peacekeeping,” or “small wars.” However, the publication of Army Field Manual 3-07, Stability Operations, in October 2008 signaled that a large category of missions – those characterized as neither strictly offensive or defensive operations – are not only part of the Army’s charter to engage in, but to win decisively and efficiently. In particular, Appendix F, Provincial Reconstruction Teams, in FM 3-07 is a significant step forward to codify an initiative from Operation ENDURING FREEDOM that the military now considers a best practice in stability operations..."

Should Military Governance Guidance Return to its Roots COL Hugh C Van Roosen II Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "A comparison of the 1943 United States Army and Navy Manual of Military Government and Civil Affairs with the most recent (2006) United States Army Civil Affairs Field Manual reveals major changes in doctrine in the intervening sixty three years. While to some degree changing national and international conditions make many of those changes understandable, after reading the two manuals one can argue a need to recapture the ‘military government’ essentials found in the 1943 document."