Strategy & Policy

Shortening The Defense Acquisition Cycle: A Transformation Imperative Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Today’s compelling need for all Services to respond rapidly and decisively across the full spectrum of military operations requires revolutionary, not evolutionary acquisition strategies. Initiatives must be taken to bring defense cycle times closer to those of the commercial sector."

Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy Dr Stephen D Biddle Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The defense debate tends to treat Afghanistan as either a revolution or a fluke: either the “Afghan Model” of special operations forces (SOF) plus precision munitions plus an indigenous ally is a widely applicable template for American defense planning, or it is a nonreplicable product of local idiosyncrasies. In fact, it is neither. The Afghan campaign of last fall and winter was actually much closer to a typical 20th century mid-intensity conflict, albeit one with unusually heavy fire support for one side. And this view has very different implications than either proponents or skeptics of the Afghan Model now claim."

China and Strategic Culture Dr Andrew Scobell Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The author of this monograph, Dr. Andrew Scobell, examines the impact of strategic culture on 21st century China. He contends that the People’s Republic of China’s security policies and its tendency to use military force are influenced not only by elite understandings of China’s own strategic tradition, but also by their understandings of the strategic cultures of other states."

Facing the Hydra: Maintaining Strategic Balance while Pursuing a Global War against Terrorism Dr Conrad C Crane Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Dr. Conrad Crane analyzes the impact of the war on terrorism and the requirements of the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review on the many essential missions conducted by the U.S. Armed Forces. Focusing primarily on the Army, he highlights the requirements associated with combat operations against terrorists, accelerating transformation and the new emphasis on homeland security and force protection. At the same time, he points out that the Army and the other Services must remain involved worldwide in day-to-day assurance, dissuasion, and deterrence activities; execution of peace operations and other smaller-scale contingencies; and remaining ready for other major combat operations."

Defining and Achieving Decisive Victory Dr Colin S Gray Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In this monograph, Dr. Colin Gray, one of the world’s leading strategic thinkers, explores the concept of victory in the war in terrorism, but he does so by placing it within the larger currents of change that are sweeping the global security environment. He contends that the time-tested idea of decisive victory is still an important one, but must be designed very carefully in this dangerous new world. To do so correctly can provide the foundation for an effective strategy. To fail to do so could be the first step toward strategic defeat."

U.S. Military Presence in the Persian Gulf: Challenges and Prospects Dr Sami G Hajjar Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The author of this monograph, Dr. Sami Hajjar, considers the critical questions of U.S. military presence in the Gulf, the challenges it faces, and the prospects that lay ahead. He relies, in his presentation and analysis, on a variety of regional sources including newspaper reports and personal interviews conducted in the United States and the Gulf region, as well as on government and academic sources. The result is a comprehensive study, including policy recommendations for U.S. military and civilian decisionmakers, that makes intelligible the complex subject of U.S.-Gulf relations."

The Intervention Debate: Towards a Posture of Principled Judgment Dr John Garofano Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Deciding when and how to use force is one of the central elements of strategy. Throughout American history, debate has raged over whether force is appropriate only in defense of the homeland and vital national interests or whether it should also be used to promote more expansive objectives like regional security and stopping humanitarian disasters in regions with few tangible U.S. interests."

Budget Policy and Fiscal Risk: Implications for Defense Dr Dennis S Ippolito Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The fate of defense budgets is closely tied to the size, composition, and balance of the federal budget. Over the past decade, efforts to reduce the relative level of federal spending and to eliminate deficits yielded disproportionate cuts in defense. Now that the federal budget is in surplus, and expected to remain so for the next decade, the prospects for more adequate defense funding appear more positive."

Toward a Strategy of Positive Ends Dr Antulio J Echevarria II, BG Huba Wass de Czege Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Defense planners and strategists have recently proposed a variety of alternatives for America’s role in what many see as a dramatically different international situation. Most of those proposals, though, continue with a Cold War paradigm of trying to foresee what the next threat might be and how the United States might best prepare itself to respond to it. Consequently, the possibility of taking advantage of the intrinsic dynamism of the new security environment in order to create conditions that might promote positive ends—long-term peace, stability, and prosperity—has remained largely overlooked."