Cyber Infrastructure Protection: Vol. II Dr Vincent Boudreau, COL Louis H Jordan Jr, Dr Tarek N Saadawi Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "There is a relentless struggle taking place in the cybersphere as government and business spend billions attempting to secure sophisticated network and computer systems. Cyber attackers are able to introduce new viruses, worms, and bots capable of defeating many of our efforts. The U.S. Government has set a goal of modernizing the nation’s energy grid. A cyber attack on our energy grid could cut off service to large areas of the country. Government, business, and academia must therefore work together to understand the threat and develop various modes of fighting cyber attacks, and to establish and enhance a framework for deep analysis for this multidimensional issue."

Sharing Power? Prospects for a U.S. Concert-Balance Strategy Dr Patrick Porter Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Grand strategy is an important subject. It is about the dialectical relationship between power and commitments, ends, and means. Grand strategy concerns not only the alignment of resources with goals, but how to conceive those goals in the first place. At root, it is about the identity of the security community. What kind of country does it want to be, and what kind of country does it have the power to be?"

Making Strategic Sense of Cyber Power: Why the Sky Is Not Falling Dr Colin S Gray Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Generically viewed, the challenge that cyber power poses to our understanding is a familiar one. After all, within living memory (just about) we have had to try and make sense of air power, and then, a generation later, of nuclear weapons and their possible delivery by ballistic missiles. What unites our experience with air power, nuclear weapons, and now cyber, is the authority of strategic explanation conveyed in the general theory of strategy—Carl von Clausewitz’s rules, even though he was ignorant of hydrogen fusion weapons and of networked digital compute."

Egypt's New Regime and the Future of the U.S.-Egyptian Strategic Relationship Mr Gregory Aftandilian Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This monograph, completed in August 2012, analyzes the developments in Egypt from January 2011 to August 2012 and addresses the following questions that are pertinent to U.S. policymakers: How does the United States maintain good relations and preserve its strategic partnership with Egypt under Cairo’s new political leadership and the changing political environment in the country? How does it do so while adhering to American values such as supporting democracy even when those coming to power do not share U.S. strategic goals? The monograph first examines Egypt’s strategic importance for the United States by exploring Egypt’s role in the Arab-Israeli peace process, its geographical role (providing air and naval access) for U.S. military assets heading to the Persian Gulf, and joint training programs. With so much at stake in the Middle East, “losing” Egypt as a strategic ally would be a significant setback for the United States."

The Impact of President Felipe Calderón’s War on Drugs on the Armed Forces: The Prospects for Mexico’s “Militarization” and Bilateral Relations Dr George W Grayson Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Poet and essayist Javier Sicilia, whose son was captured, tortured, and murdered by thugs in 2011, wrote an open letter “To Mexico’s Politicians and Criminals” in which he accused politicians of complicity in the criminal activities. “We cannot cry out,” he said, “because this government is the same as members of organized crime and can think only in terms of violence and the wish to militarize the country. . . .” The problem lies in Mexico’s seldom if ever having had an effective, uncorrupted, and professional police force whose members knew their communities, could referee barroom fights and other minor disputes, and could gain the confidence of the citizenry to assist in fighting crime. In the 19th century, dictator Porfirio Díaz (1876-1911) relied on the brutal “Rurales” to repress opponents..."

Venezuela as an Exporter of 4th Generation Warfare Instability Dr Max G Manwaring Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The past several years have marked the beginning of a different security era than that to which we are accustomed. Accordingly, this era requires a new orientation. Whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not, and whether we are prepared for it or not, the United States and the West are engaged in a number of unconventional, undeclared, and undefined asymmetric wars. If left ignored and unchecked, these wars compel radical, unwanted, and epochal political-economic-social change. Even if that compulsion is generally indirect, ambiguous, conducted over long periods of time, and not perceived to be as lethal as land conventional maneuver war, that does not alter the cruel reality of the compulsion..."

India's Changing Afghanistan Policy: Regional and Global Implications Dr Harsh V Pant Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Since 2001, Afghanistan has allowed New Delhi an opportunity to underscore its role as a regional power. India has growing stakes in peace and stability in Afghanistan, and the 2011 India-Afghan strategic partnership agreement underlines India’s commitment to ensure that a positive momentum in Delhi-Kabul ties is maintained. This monograph examines the changing trajectory of Indian policy toward Afghanistan since 2001 and argues that New Delhi has been responding to a strategic environment shaped by other actors in the region. As the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014, India stands at a crossroads as it remains keen to preserve its interests in Afghanistan. This monograph underlines the ever-evolving Indian policy in Afghanistan by examining it in three phases before drawing out the implications of this change for the region and the United States. There has been a broader maturing of the U.S.-India defense ties, and Afghanistan is likely to be a beneficiary of this trend. Managing Pakistan and unravelling Islamabad’s encirclement complex should be the biggest priority for both Washington and New Delhi in the coming years if there is to be any hope of keeping Afghanistan a stable entity post-2014."

A National Security Staff for the 21st Century Dr Jack A LeCuyer Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "America stands at a crossroads. Within the past 2 decades, national security and foreign policy organizations and experts have perceived serious deficiencies in the authorities, organizations, and personnel used to prepare for and conduct national security missions allowing the United States to exercise its power to fullest advantage in achieving the goals of our national security strategy. If the nation is to maintain its world leadership and influence, it must transform its obsolete national security system to enable better handling of the challenges and opportunities of the changed global ecosystem. This transformation must go beyond simple reform and doing the same things differently. It must involve doing new things that enable us to truly establish collaborative, networked, performance-based management of the national security system at the strategic level, management that cascades down to the departments, agencies, and elements in the field. "

Jihadist Cells and "IED" Capabilities in Europe: Assessing the Present and Future Threat to the West Dr Jeffrey M Bale Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Western military forces and security and intelligence agencies are justifiably concerned about two phenomena that continue to affect their ongoing asymmetric conflicts with jihadist terrorist organizations: 1) the increasing diffusion and application of expertise acquired by jihadists in fabricating “improvised explosive devices” (IEDs), and 2) the extent to which local jihadist cells in the West may or may not be connected to veteran terrorist groups and networks in other countries and regions. This monograph by Dr. Jeffrey M. Bale argues that these two issues are, in fact, interrelated. Using the March 2004 Madrid train bombings and the two failed July 2006 train bombings near Cologne as contrasting case studies, Bale argues that jihadist cells whose members are linked organizationally, logistically, or operationally to wider terrorist networks, especially ones comprising well-trained and battle-tested operatives, are much more likely to be able to acquire the levels of technical expertise needed to manufacture effective IEDs, carry out devastatingly successful single IED attacks, and perhaps even sustain longer-term IED bombing campaigns."