Books

China's Growing Military Power: Perspectives on Security, Ballistic Missiles, and Conventional Capabilities Dr Andrew Scobell, Dr Larry M Wortzel Books by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The tenor of U.S.-China relations for much of the first year of the administration of President George W. Bush was set by a crisis that need not have occurred. How the situation was handled and eventually resolved is instructive. It tells us about a beleaguered communist leadership in the buildup to major generational transition (scheduled for late 2002 and early 2003) and the mettle of a democratically elected U.S. government tested early in its tenure by a series of foreign policy crises and a carefully coordinated set of devastating terrorist strikes against the continental United States."

Beyond Nunn-Lugar: Curbing the Next Wave of Weapons Proliferation Threats from Russia Mr Thomas Riisager, Mr Henry D Sokolski Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute Commissioned by the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (NPEC) "With so many analyses already available of U.S.-Russian cooperative threat reduction efforts, it is not obvious why one should bother with yet another. There are, however, three good reasons for doing so. First, with the recent warming in U.S.-Russian relations, it makes sense to review what is clearly the current mainstay of existing U.S.-Russian cooperation—the one billion dollars per year worth of government-funded Nunn-Lugar programs—to see what can be done better. Certainly, if the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program’s worthy objectives can be better achieved, this, in turn, should enhance the prospects for increased U.S.-Russian security cooperation generally. Of course, the reverse is also true."

The Rise of China in Asia: Security Implications Dr Carolyn Pumphrey Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "China boasts the oldest continuous civilization in the world and has been a major power for most of its history. Although China suffered a period of decline in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, recent decades have seen a remarkable resurgence of Chinese prosperity and power. Five years ago analysts were confidently predicting that China would be the giant of the new century. Today, this is less clear. The first task of the conference was, consequently, to ascertain whether or not it is still appropriate to speak of the rise of China."

Defeating Terrorism: Strategic Issue Analyses Prof John R Martin Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Within only a few days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Army War College initiated a series of short studies addressing strategic issues in the war on terrorism. This collection of essays analyzes a broad array of subjects of great strategic importance. Because national leaders were pressed to issue orders on the prosecution of the war on terrorism, it was necessary to produce these papers on a very short time-line. This got the ideas included in the articles into the hands of decisionmakers as quickly as possible, giving them better understanding of factors affecting their various decisions. Issue analysis was never short-changed in this process, but authors were asked to provide “think pieces” quickly and to worry less about references and footnotes and more about capturing strategic insights. The shortened time-line in some cases also meant that it was possible to provide only an understanding of the context of the decision; specific policy recommendations were considered something that could be developed later if not included in these papers."

Transforming Defense Dr Conrad C Crane Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This collection regroups papers and presentations from the conference into three categories: Historical Overviews of Transforming Defense, Transformation Plans and Barriers, and External Views of Transformation. Each section contains an introduction describing the essays that follow, as well as summarizing other relevant conference presentations and discussions bearing on the topic. If presenters did not produce a formal article for publication, their key arguments are still described in the introduction."

The Costs of Conflict: The Impact on China of a Future War Dr Andrew Scobell Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "A widely held belief is that China will not use force against Taiwan. Frequently, one of two major assumptions is made to justify this assertion: first, Chinese leaders realize that the economic cost of such an operation would be unacceptable; second, China’s leaders recognize that, for at least the next decade or so, any attempt to seize Taiwan would be doomed to failure. Both these assumptions are questionable and indeed downright dangerous."

Soldiers in Cities: Military Operations on Urban Terrain Dr Michael Desch Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Despite ambivalence about military operations on urban terrain (MOUT) among some senior military officers and high-level civilian policymakers, there is a growing recognition that urban operations will be an important mission for the U.S. military in the future. One retired Army officer reminded his colleagues that 'one way or another, we will go...' "

Army Transformation: A View from the U.S. Army War College Dr Williamson Murray Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "As the United States enters a new century, its army confronts the difficult problems associated with transformation in an uncertain world. Moreover, the strategic environment makes it entirely unclear where, or when, or for what strategic purposes U.S. ground forces will find themselves committed to battle in coming decades. Yet, both the strategic environment as well as the harsh lessons of the past have a direct bearing on why the Army has begun the processes of transformation."

Future Warfare Anthology, Revised Edition Maj Gen Robert H Scales Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This Revised Anthology is about the future of military operations in the opening decades of the 21st Century. Its purpose is not to predict the future, but to speculate on the conduct of military operations as an instrument of national policy in a world absent massive thermonuclear and conventional superpower confrontation characteristic of the Cold War. Also absent are indirect constraints imposed by that confrontation on virtually all political-military relationships, not solely those between superpower principals."