Books

The Economic Crisis and ASEAN States' Security Dr Sheldon W Simon Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Asia’s financial crisis has quickly become a global one. Its implications far transcend purely economic or financial considerations. In fact, the crisis that began with the fall of Thailand’s Baht in 1997 now embraces the entire world and has caused governments to fall in Asia and Russia. To understand the dynamics of the crisis and its consequences for U.S. security, the Strategic Studies Institute and the National Bureau of Research on Asia organized a conference in Seattle, Washington, on June 9-10, 1998. At that conference Professor Sheldon Simon presented this paper."

Breaking Away from the Bear LTC Dianne L Smith Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian states preferred to ensure their security through the unified command of the Commonwealth of Independent States and collective security. But, the decision of Ukraine, and then Russia, to create independent republican forces compelled the Central Asian states to create their own armed forces. Depending on their relative success at developing viable military forces, each state has compensated with other tools of national power. Budgetary considerations and assessment of real-world threats have compelled each state to make hard decisions concerning relative investment in conventional armed forces, security forces, or border guards..."

Challenging the United States Symmetrically and Asymmetrically: Can America be Defeated? COL Lloyd J Matthews Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The U.S. Army War College’s Ninth Annual Strategy Conference was held at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, during the period March 31-April 2, 1998. The theme of the conference was “Challenging the United States Symmetrically and Asymmetrically: Can America Be Defeated?” There were some 150 attendees, including active duty military personnel as well as members of academe, the U.S. Defense and service departments, think tanks, corporations, and news media."

Reforming NATO's Military Structures: The Long-Term Study and Its Implications for Land Forces Dr Thomas-Durell Young Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The contemporary debate over the expansion of NATO to include Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary has largely overshadowed an important effort on the part of the Alliance to achieve “internal adaptation” through the work of the Long-Term Study. Part of this process has been a tortuous attempt to reform and reorganize the Alliance’s integrated command structure. Often taken for granted, this structure provides the basis for NATO’s collective defense, and increasingly, as seen in Bosnia, its ability to undertake peace support operations. However, the very value by which nations hold the structure has resulted in a difficult and time-consuming reorganization process which has produced only limited reforms."

AY 97 Compendium Army After Next Project Dr Douglas V Johnson II, Yves J. Fontaine, Paul T. Hengst, Barbara A. Jezior, William T. Lasher, Gary J. Motsek, Arthur J. Sosa, Billy E. Wells, Jr Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "These student papers are largely focused on present problems which must be solved before movement toward the future can make much progress. If they are not dramatically futuristic in approach, they are nevertheless set against a future backdrop which is still in the process of being defined. The broader Army After Next program, led by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, is an experiment, an examination of what could be. The Army War College seeks to play its part through this contribution and by educating those officers who will field, staff, and command our future Army."

Russia's Armed Forces on the Brink of Reform Dr Stephen J Blank Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The Russian armed forces, by all accounts, are fast approaching a point of no return. The crisis in the armed forces is directly traceable to the policies of the Yeltsin government which have alternated among politicization, fragmentation of those forces into multiple, contending militaries, and the creation of a quasi-authoritarian political process where military policy is decided by irregular institutions that account to and answer to nobody other than President Yeltsin. Similar problems plague the defense economy which is probably still too large and at the same time misdirected, while being unable to support the forces presently under arms. In any case, nobody knows how many men are under arms or the cost of maintaining them, or where defense allocations go."

World View: The 1998 Strategic Assessment from the Strategic Studies Institute Dr Earl H Tilford Jr Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The following document, World View, presents the annual strategic assessments of the analysts at the Strategic Studies Institute. It is fifth in a series that reflects both our individual forecasts and collective review of the key security issues facing the United States. The process that produces World View also leads to our annual Research and Outreach Plan. The strategic context is not vastly changed for 1998. It is as complex and uncertain as it has been virtually every year since the end of the Cold War. This year, however, we are also assessing the future in the light of the Quadrennial Defense Review, published in May 1997, and the Report of the National Defense Panel, issued in December"

The United States and the Transformation of African Security: The African Crisis Response Initiative and Beyond COL Daniel W Henk, Dr Steven Metz Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Traditionally, the U.S. military has not been heavily involved in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since the end of the Cold War, though, this has begun to change. U.S. forces have supported several humanitarian relief and evacuation operations associated with African conflicts. They have also conducted numerous “engagement” activities aimed at assisting African states and their militaries during the transition to democracy. But Africa remains a region where U.S. national security interests must be promoted with limited resources. This makes a sophisticated and coherent strategy vitally important."

Problems and Solutions in Future Coalition Operations Mr Phillip Kaiser, Mr Jon Kessmeier, Mr Thomas J Marshall Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This book reports in greater depth on four significant aspects of coalition operations: historical and cultural influences, command, technology, and doctrine and training. Steve Bowman identifies points of friction caused by historical and cultural differences among forces, and how they influence the decision to join a coalition, agreement on goals, and organization of operations, among other things. Some of the challenges are logistical problems caused by religious and cultural requirements, equipment availability, and the capability of various forces. Language and terminology differences can cause miscommunications and negatively affect operations."