Archive

A New Chapter in Trans-American Engagement Ms Eva Silkwood Baker, Dr Max G Manwaring Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University "General Fraser and the conference dialogue stressed the critical need to develop a serious hemispheric partnership for opening “A new Chapter in Trans-American Engagement.” In that connection, over 20 major issues and recommendations were put forward (some of which were redundant) at the 2010 Western Hemisphere Security Colloquium, held on May 25-26, 2010, in Miami, Florida. In one way or another, virtually every issue and recommendation stresses that building a viable regional security partnership in the Hemisphere is not a strictly short-term, or unilateral, or even bilateral defense effort. Regional security will result only from long-term, multilateral, civil-military partnering efforts. Thus, the generalized results of the colloquium emphasize three highly interrelated needs and an associated recommendation."

Candidly, One Friend to Another Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The Transatlantic Partnership between the United States and the United Kingdom has remained viable for the better part of a century. During that time it weathered assorted and sometimes severe storms—from trials over nuclear armament in the late 1940s, to the Suez crisis of the 1950s, to the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, and to today’s extensive and costly counterinsurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Indeed, one could well say that the long-standing partnership between the U.S. and UK has been what Prime Minister David Cameron recently, and aptly, described as “the candid friend, the best friend” relationship. Advice offered by one partner to the other has always been refreshingly frank, even if it has been at times difficult to hear, and to heed."

An Army Transformed: The U.S. Army's Post-Vietnam Recovery and the Dynamics of Change in Military Organizations LTC Suzanne C Nielsen Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "It is common to hear the argument that military organizations are incapable of reforming themselves. In this paper, Lieutenant Colonel Suzanne Nielsen takes the opposite position. It is not only possible for senior military leaders to change their organizations, it is also necessary since only these leaders are likely to be able to do it."

Somalia: Line in the Sand--Identification of MYM Vulnerabilities LTC Eloy E Cuevas, Ms Madeleine Wells Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Continuing instability in Somalia has increased concern that terrorists who seek to establish a foothold in Africa may use such insecure places as a safe haven and launching pad. Several attempts have been made to establish lawful governments in Somalia; however, warlord and clan interests have managed to take center stage among the population. The Somali-based al-Shabaab (also known as the Mujahidin Youth Movement [MYM]) is a militant organization born out of both successive regional turmoil and international salafi-jihadi ideology, which continues to actively undermine the United Nations (UN)-supported African Union (AU) peacekeeping force, the fledging Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and all UN efforts to support Somalis in creating a stable state. "

Is the Organizational Culture of the U.S. Army Congruent with the Professional Development of Its Senior Level Officer Corps? Dr James G Pierce Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Organization theory hypothesizes that an organization’s culture enables its members to work through the basic problems of survival in, and adaptation to, the external environment. Organizational culture also guides the organization’s development and maintenance of internal processes and procedures that perpetuate adaptability and promote continued existence. Consequently, organizational culture has considerable impact on an organization’s behavior at any given time, particularly on organizational effectiveness. However, little literature and even less data discuss the impact of organizational culture within military organizations and, more importantly, the impact that organizational culture may have on the development of an organization’s leaders."

Chinese Energy Security: The Myth of the PLAN's Frontline Status Dr Ryan Clarke Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The continued impressive growth and development of China, while always of critical strategic importance, has surged in recent years to the forefront of the consciousness of American policymakers, scholars, and the news media, as well as the general public. This trend has been accelerated by the staying power that China demonstrated following its relatively graceful weathering of the global financial crisis, in the process defying a wide range of doomsday prophecies of massive organized riots by newly unemployed rural factory workers and various other classes of people angry with Beijing over economic slowdown or stagnation. "

Preparing for a Mid-Term Assessment of Leadership and National Security Reform in the Obama Administration Mr Jared E Bennett, Dr Joseph R Cerami, Dr Robert H Dorff Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, Bush School of Government and Public Service "The initiatives for the extensive national security reform that is required to meet current threats will have to come from outside of the executive branch bureaucracy. This is true even though former senior members of the Project on National Security Reform are holding key executive branch positions."

Defense Energy Resilience: Lessons from Ecology Mr David Kerner, Dr Scott Thomas Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Energy security is a fundamental requirement for national security, and global energy competition threatens to make Department of Defense (DoD) missions increasingly vulnerable to the vagaries of energy supply. Dr. Scott Thomas and Mr. David Kerner argue that DoD’s approach to energy security must accommodate a highly uncertain outlook for energy resource availability. The authors argue that while U.S. energy security needs are currently met, the shrinking gap between global supply and demand draws the world closer to a tipping point at which competition disrupts social and geopolitical normalizing forces, and conflict becomes likely. This analysis offers key insights into what a shifting energy security environment is and provides a novel theoretical framework for how the United States can best respond to it."

America's Flawed Afghanistan Strategy Dr Steven Metz Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Despite the lavish time and attention that the Obama administration devoted to reviewing its Afghanistan strategy, the result was more continuity than change. The administration adjusted U.S. troops levels and shifted some operational methods but accepted the most basic—and questionable—assumptions of the Bush strategy. Unfortunately, these do not hold up under close scrutiny. The new strategy, like the old one, totters on a dangerously flawed foundation."