Articles

Strategic Insights: The Sinister Shadow of Escalating Middle Eastern Sectarianism Dr. W. Andrew Terrill Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

Strategic Insights: Guyana-Venezuela: The Essequibo Region Dispute Dr. Jose de Arimateia da Cruz Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

Strategic Insights: Thinking About Catastrophe: The Army in a Nuclear Armed World Dr Steven Metz Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

What's Old is New — Kennan, Putin, and the Russian Competitive Viewpoint LTC Michael A. Adelberg Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press

Strategic Insights: If You Want Peace, Prepare for War: Reflections on China's V–Day Parade David Lai Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The Chinese government conducted a military parade to commemorate the “70th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War” on September 3, 2015. Although Chinese President Xi Jinping uttered “peace” 18 times in his brief opening remarks and Chinese government propaganda flooded China’s media with massive unqualified praise afterward, this show of force was by no means a blessing for peace. On the contrary, it arguably will cast a shadow over China’s outreach in the Asia-Pacific region for years to come."

Strategic Insights: The Russian Intervention and the Internal Dynamics of Syria W. Andrew Terrill Article by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The Syrian civil war began in March 2011 and has claimed nearly 250,000 lives so far. After over 4 years of internal fighting, the Kremlin has decided to expand its role in this conflict by moving combat aircraft and some ground troops to Syria to support the Bashar al-Assad government. These actions seem like a clear prelude to a direct Russian combat role, although the scope of such an effort is not yet clear. It has started with a limited number of air strikes against the opposition forces fighting Assad..."

Strategic Insights: Economic Power: Time to Double Down John F. Troxell Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "A recent editorial in The New York Times asked the question, “Who threatens America most?” It proceeded to compare recent pronouncements by incoming senior military leaders, the President, the FBI director, and finally the Director of National Intelligence. The major candidates included the usual nation states (Russia, North Korea, and China), a few nonstate terrorist organizations (ISIS and al-Qaeda), and a couple of unattributed capabilities (weapons of mass destruction and cyberattacks). The editorial concluded with the lament: 'If officials cannot agree on what the most pressing threats are, how can they develop the right strategies and properly allocate resources?' "

Strategic Insights: The Will To Fight M. Chris Mason Article by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Events on world battlefields over the past two years should give the U.S. Army pause to reconsider the entire Foreign Internal Defense (FID) mission. The seemingly unarguable axiom that "good training makes good soldiers" has been proven to be not always true. Good training does not always make good soldiers. If the definition of a good soldier is "a member of the armed forces who stands and fights for his or her country," then a good deal of money has been spent in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere without measurable and sustainable success. More than a third of all Afghan defense forces trained with U.S. taxpayer money desert in Afghanistan each year, and in Iraq they simply disappear."

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."