Archive

Fighting Insurgents--No Shortcuts to Success Dr James S Corum Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "For the last 3 decades, the Army, the Defense Department, and the CIA have emphasized the high tech aspects of intelligence, sophisticated electronic collection equipment, and multibillion dollar space surveillance programs. Even at the tactical level, Army intelligence personnel are trained primarily to employ a variety of high tech collection means including UAVs, sensors and ground radars. This approach to intelligence collection was appropriate when the intelligence priorities were geared to counting Soviet missile systems or defending the Fulda Gap against a massive Soviet tank attack."

U.S. Security Strategies: Trade Policy Implications for Latin America Dr Max G Manwaring Colloquium Briefs by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University "The Summit of the Americas Center and Latin American and Caribbean Center of Florida International University, and the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College held the first of a series of mini-conferences dealing with security issues in the Western Hemisphere in Miami, Florida, on February 26, 2004."

This is Not Your Father's, or Mother's Army! Dr Douglas V Johnson II Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "It would probably strike the average observer as odd or even irrational for the Army to reorganize just as it engages in war, but that seems to be normal for the American Army. In at least three wars, that is exactly what has happened and it is happening again. Had you been an infantry company commander on April 1, 1917, you would have commanded a company of about 58 soldiers armed with 1903 Springfield rifles. By July of that year the company would be 250 strong and equipped with Springfield or possibly British Enfield rifles, heavy and light machineguns, mortars, hand and rifle grenades, and a host of other devices of war new or previously unknown to the U.S. Army."

Debating Ends, not Just Means, in the War on Terror Dr Stephen D Biddle Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The national security debate tends to focus on means. How much money should we spend? Where should we use force? How should our troops be equipped? Ends, however, ought to shape decisions about means. Yet the ends of American national security usually get less attention than the means. As the nation debates national security in this time of war, what critical questions about the ends of American strategy should we be considering?"

Toward a New U.S. Strategy in Asia Dr Stephen J Blank Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Uzbekistan has announced that it will offer U.S. forces a base for operations in Afghanistan, and that it does not rule out the possibility of a permanent base if needed. The importance of this cannot be overestimated. Both Russia and China hoped America's incursion into Central Asia was temporary and would end when the terrorism threat abated. Instead, it appears the United States will remain a major player there, not only countering terrorism but also maintaining access to large energy deposits, preserving options for democratizing these states, and establishing a global power projection capability."

Strategic Deception in Modern Democracies: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Challenges Dr Antulio J Echevarria II, Dr Carolyn Pumphrey Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, Triangle Institute for Security Studies "Some consensus exists regarding the definition of strategic deception—the intentional manipulation, distortion, or falsification of information to mislead an adversary. However, significant ethical, legal, and political questions persist concerning the conditions under which modern democracies should apply it"

An American Way of War or a Way of Battle? Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Serious study of the American approach to waging war began in the early 1970s with the publication of Russell Weigley’s The American Way of War: A History of U.S. Military Strategy and Policy. Examining how war was thought about and practiced by key U.S. military and political figures from George Washington to Robert McNamara, Weigley concluded that, except in the early days of the nation’s existence, the American way of war centered on the desire to achieve a “crushing” military victory—either through a strategy of attrition or one of annihilation—over an adversary."

Security Transformation Dr Steven Metz Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, The Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, The Eisenhower Conference Series "For the past 5 years, the United States has sought to transform its defense capabilities to reflect ongoing changes in technology, management techniques, the American political and economic landscapes, and the global security environment. The terrorist attacks of September 2001 and the ensuing Global War on Terrorism provided stark and tragic reminders of the need for such an adjustment. With American military forces engaged around the world in both combat and stabilization operations, the need for rigorous and critical analysis of security transformation has never been greater."

The Trajectory of Security Transformation Dr Steven Metz Op-Ed by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "For a decade now, a historic revolution in military affairs has unfolded, driven largely by technological developments. Within the U. S. military, immense effort has been expended to understand this revolution and harness it into security transformation. A network of organizations, institutions, and individual experts emerged to shape and energize this process. The result has been the most rigorous and sustained security transformation in human history."