Strategic Issues

The Causes and Implications of the 2008 Financial Crisis COL Robert D Bradford III Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The financial crisis of 2008 shocked markets and led to a global recession. Failure of the financial markets caused economies to shrink resulting in hardship and loss around the world. In our modern connected world, few nations escaped the consequences of the crisis. This huge financial crisis diminished the economic strength of our nation, with significant implications for our national defense. This paper will address competing views of the causes of the crisis, and will discuss some of its potential impacts, including its impact on U.S. national security."

The Strategic Importance of Shale Gas Nathaniel Freeland Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Fuel powers the industrial production that strengthens the economy and provides the means to project national power. Reliable sources of energy are imperative to the security of the United States. Aside from coal, conventional natural gas deposits have been the most practical and easiest to recover. Approximately 24% of the United States energy is supplied by natural gas. Broken down by sector, it is a major fuel source for a wide range of industries to include paper, metals, chemicals and food processing. In addition to its industrial uses, natural gas is used to heat, cool, and cook in the residential and commercial sectors of the United States. Due to its cleaner-burning properties, economic availability, and equivalent power to quantity ratio, it has become a favored alternative. In terms of energy output natural gas provides one and one-third times as much energy as gasoline, which is very important in considering alternative fuel sources. However, natural gas supply has been overtaken by the demand of the U.S. economy. "

Economics of National Security: "Unfunding" Terror LTC Mark W Holzer Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The discussion of how best to deprive terrorist organizations of funding is necessarily broad because of the numerous means people have devised to acquire and move funds for whatever purpose they intend. How seriously the United States takes this issue can be seen just in the number of statutory provisions that have been adopted and the diligence with which we update terror-associated lists that are aimed at depriving terrorists of funds. While it is clearly a matter of concern, the National Security Strategy’s treatment of this topic is very broad and is discussed only within fairly limited contexts. The muted language of the National Security Strategy (NSS) may simply be a realistic assessment of the difficulties we face in trying to dry up terrorist funding streams and the challenges of evaluating our efforts in spite of the fairly broad approach that has been undertaken in the past decade."

Collins Center Update, Volume 13, Issue 4 (Fall 2011) Professor (COL, Ret.) George E. Teague, Professor (COL, Ret.) Alan G. Bourque, Professor (COL, Ret.) Eugene L. Thompson, Professor Bernard F. Griffard, Professor John Patch, Colonel Steven P. Carney, Prof Bert B. Tussing, Mr. Brent Bankus, Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership

Environmental Security in Botswana Mr Brent C Bankus Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The continent of Africa is important to U.S. national security interests. Long known for its influence over critical choke points and sea lines of communication, Africa is increasingly known as a land of vast stretches of under-governed spaces, burgeoning terrorist groups, world-class deposits of strategic minerals and petroleum, and the continent most affected by climate change. It is also known for high population growth rates and troubled governments struggling to maintain legitimacy. Many of the challenges to these governments originate with environmental change and a resource base eroded by high population growth rates, bad governmental policy, and environmental degradation. To maintain legitimacy, and preserve political stability, governments must satisfy demands placed on the political system by the population. In Africa, state security increasingly depends upon human security. One country in southern Africa that has succeeded in addressing this paradigm with a whole of government concept is dry and landlocked Botswana."

U.S. Pacific Command Pacific Environmental Security Conference COL Douglas Charney, COL Philip D Jones, COL Cheryl A Ludwa, Mr Todd M Wheeler Study by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Environmental issues are widely recognized as contributing factors to instability and conflict. The Center for Strategic Leadership of the US Army War College has been known for its subject matter expertise in the area of environmental security for nearly two decades and in particular has had the opportunity to work with the Geographic Combatant Commands to embed environmental security in their engagement and security cooperation programs."

Assessing the Strategic Environment: Developing Critical Thinking Skills at the Ethiopian Defense Command and Staff College Prof Bernard F Griffard Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "A government’s failure to understand the impact of global variables on the domestic environment can result in major destabilizing events. Emperor Tewodros II of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) learned this lesson the hard way. In 1862, after a snub by the British Government, the Emperor took the British Consul and other Europeans hostage to pressure the Crown to meet his request for equipment and training support. Being a somewhat impatient ruler, he also detained the British delegation sent to negotiate the initial hostages’ release. Because Britain’s ruling Liberal Party was reluctant to engage in “imperial adventures,” the hostages were still in loco Abyssinia into 1867."

Collins Center Update Volume 13 Issue 3 Professor Bernard F. Griffard, Colonel Sam White, Jr, LTC Vince Lindenmeyer, Professor Dennis Murphy, Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership

Strategic Minerals: Is China's Consumption a Threat to United States Security? Mr Brent C Bankus, Dr Kent H Butts, LT Adam Norris Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "The vitality of a powerful nation depends upon its ability to secure access to the strategic resources necessary to sustain its economy and produce effective weapons for defense. This is especially true for the world’s two largest economies, those of the United States and China, which are similarly import dependent for around half of their petroleum imports and large quantities of their strategic minerals. Because China’s economy and resource import dependence continue to grow at a high rate it has adopted a geopolitical strategy to secure strategic resources. China’s resulting role in the mineral trade has increased Western security community concern over strategic minerals to its highest point since the end of the Cold War. "