Letort Papers

Autonomous Weapon Systems: A Brief Survey of Developmental, Operational, Legal, and Ethical Issues Mr Jeffrey L Caton Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Stories about unmanned vehicles now appear regularly in the national news—and not always in good ways. Within the last 2 years, privately-owned drones have crashed on the White House lawn, surveilled the U.S. Embassy in Paris, and buzzed German Chancellor Angela Merkel. When used in military operations, autonomous weapon systems (AWS) have the potential to save lives as well as apply lethal force across land, sea, and air."

Cyber Defense: An International View Mr Keir Giles, Ms Kim Hartmann Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Despite the history of offensive cyber activity being much longer than is commonly thought, cyber defense is still considered a new discipline. It is only relatively recently that states have established formal structures to provide for cyber defense, and cyber security more broadly. In this context, each nation has developed its own mix of public, private, and military organizations active in the field."

Using Target Audience Analysis to Aid Strategic Level Decisionmaking Dr Steve Tatham Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Albert Einstein famously stated that: “Any fool can know; the point is to understand.” Over the past 20 years, the United States has known that there exist people with a profound hatred of all that it and the West are, and all that it stands for. During that time the American people and our allies abroad have known war in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and we know that today in Syria, Iraq, in Nigeria and North Africa those enemies plan and plot more violence and more hatred against us. Yet, do we really understand? If there is one observation that has been repeated by military commanders and policymakers alike from almost every nation in our various coalitions, it is the idea that we have not understood our adversary properly."

The Strategic Importance of the Global Oil Market Dr Leif Rosenberger Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This Letort Paper will explain why the confluence of four major factors: 1) rising oil supplies, 2) weak oil demand, 3) financial shifts on Wall Street, and 4) a strong U.S. dollar far outweigh the geopolitical risks in the Mideast and put downward pressure on oil prices. This Paper analyzes the concomitant factors that are now putting upward pressure on oil prices, as well as those that continue to keep oil prices relatively low."

Another Brick in the Wall: The Israeli Experience in Missile Defense Dr Jean-Loup Samaan Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Over the last years, missile defense has resurfaced as a major feature of the strategic debate in the United States and among its close allies. In 2010, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit of Heads of State saw intense discussions among transatlantic partners on the strategic value of missile defense alongside the traditional deterrence means of the Alliance. But if these transatlantic debates are for the most part still speculative, for many years, one close American ally has already faced the concrete and immediate challenge of defending its territory against missiles and rockets—Israel."

A Russian View on Landpower Mr Keir Giles, Maj Gen Aleksandr V Rogovoy Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In a time of rapid change for the U.S. Army, it is essential to retain awareness of how potential adversaries are also developing their concepts of Landpower. This Letort Paper, written by an influential Russian general, lays out an authoritative view on the importance of substantial conventional land forces, as seen from Moscow."

Parsing Chinese-Russian Military Exercises Dr Richard Weitz Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "China and Russia have engaged in an increasing number of joint exercises in recent years. These drills aim to help the two countries deter, and if necessary defeat, potential threats—such as Islamist terrorists trying to destabilize Central Asian governments—while also reassuring their allies that China and Russia will protect them from such threats. Furthermore, the recurring exercises, and other joint Russia-China military activities, have a mutual reassurance function insofar as they inform Moscow and Beijing about the other’s military potential and thereby build mutual confidence."

Prospects for Iran's New Direction Mr Keir Giles Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "At the end of September 2014, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made his second appearance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. His previous visit, in September 2013, had seen the first telephone conversation between a U.S. President and an Iranian leader since 1979. Despite the domestic controversy it caused in Iran, the fact that this was possible was indicative of the significant changes in Iranian foreign policy that had already taken place since Rouhani’s election as Iranian president, replacing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

Operationalizing Counter Threat Finance Strategies Dr Shima D Keene Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In this monograph, British academic and practitioner Dr. Shima Keene describes a number of ways in which financial intelligence can be leveraged not only to disrupt adversary activities, but also to provide indicators and warnings of future actions and, ultimately, to address underlying insecurities. Dr. Keene was previously both a banker and a British Army reservist. In this monograph, she uses her expertise as a threat finance specialist to outline specific areas where financial intelligence analysis techniques, which are common in the private sector, can be applied to combating insurgency, terrorism, and other hard security threats. "