Issue Papers

Belize 2021: Developing a National Security Strategy for the Future Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Enhancing hemispheric stability and security in the Central America and Caribbean regions is dependent on the development of cohesive Regional Security Strategies. To achieve this goal the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) is setting a foundation by building regional partnerships one nation at a time. "

Military Role in Addressing the Underlying Conditions of Terrorism Arthur L Bradshaw, Dr Kent H Butts, Prof Terry Klapakis Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The Department of Defense’s (DOD) review of the United States (U.S.) capability and capacity for combating terrorism (CT) has identified significant gaps and areas for improvement. One of these critical areas is the need to effectively Counter Ideological Support to Terrorism (CIST) and address the underlying conditions that terrorists seek to exploit. In an effort to bring interagency focus to this important CT element, the U.S. Army War College (USAWC), in collaboration with the National Intelligence Council (NIC), the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) conducted a conference at the Army War College in June 2005 that examined its critical elements."

Proteus Insights and the Protean Media Critical Thinking Game COL William L Wimbish III Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "As our Nation continues to deal with the aftermath of 9/11, the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), and subsequent supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it has become harshly apparent that we have entered a new age of complexity. Leaders are going back to the drawing board to rethink how we deal and cope with future challenges spawned by the age of knowledge. Technology has enabled our foes to adapt and attack the fabric of our fundamental values, beliefs and foundations which have made our nation the global power it is today. These new-age threats have and will continue to be aimed at our vulnerabilities and seams. Using idiosyncratic methods and asymmetric techniques, super empowered groups and individuals are able to hide, adapt, and strike quickly, with precision."

Support to Civil Authority in Seismic Disasters: Regional Initiatives (U.S. Pacific Command Southeast Asia Seismic Disaster Preparedness Conference) Arthur L Bradshaw, Dr Kent H Butts, Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The “Ring of Fire” is a tough neighborhood. Fellow residents include over 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes, and along their fence line are a series of dynamic tectonic plates that produce frequent, and sometimes violent, seismic events. This delicate relationship between man and nature was brought home to Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004 when a 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra produced a Tsunami that devastated the region. "

Information Operations and Winning the Peace: Wielding the Information Element of Power in the Global War on Terrorism Dennis M Murphy Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Perhaps more than ever before Information Operations (IO) is (or at least should be) the main effort tactically, operationally, and strategically in the current phase of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). This national effort is in fact about winning the “war of ideas.” However, it’s important to understand that this way of fighting is new to the United States and new to the world for that matter. Counterinsurgencies (COIN) have been fought in the past but the U.S. has never fought a counterinsurgency in an information environment so favorable to the enemy. This information environment favors the enemy’s strengths and exploits our vulnerabilities (truth, bureaucratic layers and clearances, real time press reporting, etc.). Thus, both of these factors (IO as the main effort in COIN and the current information environment) present new and unique dilemmas that must be examined and overcome."

The Fourth Annual USAWC Reserve Component Workshop: The Role of the National Guard in Critical Infrastructure Protection COL Richard W Dillon, Prof James O Kievit, Prof Bert B Tussing Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The Department of Defense (DoD) Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support asserts that one of the most essential and promising areas of employment for the National Guard in defense of the homeland is Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP). The strategy’s authors believe that the comprehensive assessment of critical infrastructure sites (both DoD and non-DoD), and the protection of those sites as required, are both areas in which the Guard could serve vital functions. Concurrently, the strategy reminds us that the modern threat against our country will call for an “unprecedented degree of shared situational awareness” between the interagency, state, local, tribal and private entities – a requirement that could be greatly facilitated by the traditional relationship between the Guard and the communities it serves."

Peace and Stability Education Workshop M J Cross, Tammy S Schultz Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, Center for Strategic Leadership "The U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) conducted a Peace and Stability Education Workshop 13-15 September 2005 at the Center for Strategic Leadership, Collins Hall, Carlisle Barracks, PA. Educators and key leaders from the military services, the Joint Staff, the United Nations, international and non-government organizations (IO/NGOs), interagency offices, and centers of higher education met to explore possible strategies to improve education for senior leaders engaged in peacekeeping, stability and reconstruction operations (PS&RO)."

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."

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..."