Using Target Audience Analysis to Aid Strategic Level Decisionmaking Dr Steve Tatham Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Albert Einstein famously stated that: “Any fool can know; the point is to understand.” Over the past 20 years, the United States has known that there exist people with a profound hatred of all that it and the West are, and all that it stands for. During that time the American people and our allies abroad have known war in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and we know that today in Syria, Iraq, in Nigeria and North Africa those enemies plan and plot more violence and more hatred against us. Yet, do we really understand? If there is one observation that has been repeated by military commanders and policymakers alike from almost every nation in our various coalitions, it is the idea that we have not understood our adversary properly."

Terrorist and Insurgent Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Use, Potentials, and Military Implications Dr Robert J Bunker Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Derived from the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) use threat scenarios, three levels of military significance are foreseen with terrorist and insurgent activities associated with these devices. Because of the technologies that will eventually be associated with UAVs—robotics and expert (and artificial intelligence) systems networked together—their significance is projected as increasing over time from the tactical to the operational and then to the strategic levels of concern..."

The Army War College Review Vol. 1 No. 3 Dr Larry D Miller Tim L. Rieger, Edward R. Sullivan, Brandon Newton, Andrew M. Zacherl, Derrick Lee Army War College Review by the US Army War College Press

Duffer’s Shoal: A Strategic Dream of the Pacific Command Area of Responsibility COL Russell N Bailey, LTC Bob Dixon, Ms Laura McAleer, LTC Derek J O'Malley, COL (NZ) Christopher J Parsons, COL Elizabeth R Smith Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The following strategic assessment seeks to go beyond a traditional comparative analysis of the military, technological, political, cultural, and economic factors governing the relationships and capabilities of the Asia Pacific environment. To truly make sense of the intrinsic complexities unique to this region, the authors endeavor to broaden our view and rely on a tool often overlooked in government studies: imagination. Moreover, they aim to offer a strategic document that is readable, instructive, and provocative. Pulling from a well-referenced piece of military teaching, this assessment borrows a learning concept first employed in 1904 by Major General Sir Ernest Dunlop Swinton in The Defence of Duffer’s Drift."

Strategic Insights: Fragile States Cannot Be Fixed With State-Building Robert D. Lamb Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The problem with the way the international community thinks about and responds to fragile states is not that we do not understand “fragility,” its causes, and its cures, but that we think of them as “states,” as coherent units of analysis. As a result of this strategic level mistake, efforts to build state capacity to contain violence and reduce poverty are at least as likely to destabilize the country as they are to help. The U.S. military should consider the destabilizing potential of its efforts to build capacity, train and equip security forces, and provide support to diplomacy and development when its partners and beneficiaries are officials of fragile states."

The Chinese People's Liberation Army in 2025 Mr Roy Kamphausen, Dr David Lai Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The scholarship presented in this edition addresses the uncertainty surrounding the potential direction of the PLA by examining three distinct focus areas: Domestic, External, and Technological Drivers of PLA Modernization; Alternative Futures for the PLA; and Implications for the Region, World, and U.S.-China Relations. The analysis provides an insightful perspective into the factors shaping and propelling the PLA’s modernization, its potential future orientation ranging from internally-focused to globally-focused, and how the PLA’s choices may impact China’s relations with its neighbors and the world."

The Limits of Military Officers’ Duty to Obey Civilian Orders: A Neo-Classical Perspective Mr Robert E Atkinson, Jr Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Several post-September 11, 2001, events—the invasion of Afghanistan and the second invasion of Iraq, the use of “enhanced interrogation,” the detentions at Guantanamo, the “air-only” attacks on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria—have raised a perennially perplexing issue of civilian/military relations: principled limitations on military officers’ duty to obey civilian orders. Not surprisingly, contemporary answers have split along a familiar fault line. Those on one side emphasize, more or less rigorously, officers’ general professional duty to obey; those on the other emphasize, more or less expansively, familiar exceptions for irrational, illegal, or immoral orders."

Reassessing the Barriers to Islamic Radicalization in Kazakhstan Ms Zhulduz Baizakova, Mr Roger N McDermott Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The authors reassess the barriers to Islamic radicalization in the Republic of Kazakhstan. They provide crucial analysis and findings for policymakers seeking to engage with the country, while also presenting important insights into the historical and cultural impediments in the path of radicalizing its youth. Despite the proximity of the Central Asian Republics to Afghanistan and the Global War on Terrorism, unlike its neighbors, Kazakhstan has remained relatively stable and low risk in the face of international terrorism and extremism. This monograph examines some of the reasons as to why this is the case, proving that early judgements offered by commentators concerning Kazakhstan’s experience of domestic politically inspired violence in 2011-12, exaggerated the potential threat of growing Islamic radicalization. "

China’s Rise and Reconfiguration of Central Asia’s Geopolitics: A Case for U.S. Mr Roman Muzalevsky Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "China’s emergence as a global actor has questioned the position of the United States as the strongest power and the future of the Washington-led global order. But achieving the status of a truly global player wielding influence in all dimensions of power would require China, among other things, to leverage its regional influence in Central Asia. This region is increasingly representing China’s western leg of economic expansion and development, and is of a growing strategic importance for Beijing. It is also a region that should be of greater strategic importance to Washington, which seeks to preserve its leading position in the international system and ensure China’s peaceful integration in the global political, security, and economic architecture. "