The European Campaign: Its Origins and Conduct Dr Clayton K S Chun, Dr Samuel J Newland Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Since the end of World War II, there has been a stream of publications about the War in Europe, but despite the volume of literature, interest in the topic remains high. Given the significance of this conflict and the interest in this campaign, the Strategic Studies Institute offers a fresh look at the campaign in Europe. This publication begins with an examination of prewar planning for various contingencies, then moves to the origins of “Germany first” in American war planning. The authors then focus on the concept, favored by both George C. Marshall and Dwight D. Eisenhower, that the United States and its Allies had to conduct a cross-channel attack and undertake an offensive aimed at the heartland of Germany. Following the background provided in these initial chapters, the remainder of the book provides a comprehensive discussion outlining how the European Campaign was carried out."

Rebuilding Armed Forces: Learning from Iraq and Lebanon Dr Florence Gaub Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Since U.S. operations began in Iraq in 2003, the Iraqi armed forces have embarked on a huge transformation. In this groundbreaking monograph, Dr. Florence Gaub focuses on the structural and sociological aspects of rebuilding the Iraqi armed forces, which she observes and comments on through the lens of lessons learned from Lebanon’s experience of rebuilding its own armed forces in the late 20th century following civil war."

Resolving Ethical Challenges in an Era of Persistent Conflict COL Tony Pfaff Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In this monograph, Colonel Tony Pfaff explores the ethical challenges facing the Army in an era of persistent conflict dominated by a variety of irregular threats. Pfaff argues that these challenges arise because irregular adversaries change the character of their war from imposing one’s will on the enemy to compelling the enemy to accept one’s interest. While this shift may seem subtle, Pfaff argues, it suggests a number of important practical and ethical implications for our way of war. Formerly, civilians were largely separable from warfighting, meaning that our strategies of annihilation and attrition were the most effective—and ethical—paths to victory. But now, when combating irregular threats, civilians are no longer separable from warfighting. Consequently, strategies of annihilation and attrition not only undermine a successful resolution of the conflict, but they are unethical."

Central Asian Security Trends: Views from Europe and Russia Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The papers collected in this volume pertain to Central Asia. Indeed, they offer us two foreign views of the strategic situation evolving there—a Russian and a French analysis. For obvious reasons: the war in Afghanistan, proximity to major global actors, large energy holdings, and for less obvious reason, i.e., the possibility that domestic instability in one or more of these states could spread to other Muslim states as we now see in the Arab revolutions of 2011, Central Asia is an increasingly important and interesting strategic region. As such, it merits sustained critical attention and analysis of the sort we are presenting here and that we have presented in the past."

Civilian Skills for African Military Officers to Resolve the Infrastructure, Economic Development, and Stability Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa Ms Diane E Chido Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In the United States, we often think of the military as an alternative to college, as a professional training ground, for a wide variety of skills that may include computer science, electronics, cooking, or medicine. We have comprehensive job placement and support programs for separating service members. Our military training includes discipline, teaming concepts, and a respect for civil society, traits expected to remain with a military member for life. Through U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) partnership programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, many officers are currently benefitting from military-to-military training opportunities to learn aspects of military science and other basic training. A small number of officers will gain valuable skills they can use throughout their military careers or even in civilian life."

Russian Military Politics and Russia's 2010 Defense Doctrine Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph on Russia’s defense or military doctrine represents the third of the five monographs that we will be publishing. It consists of three deeply probing essays into the genesis of the doctrine, the political struggle behind it, and the actual content of the doctrine. They reveal a highly politicized minefield of struggle comprising leading actors in the Russian military, government, and security policy circles as a whole. They duly illuminate the ongoing struggles between and among these sets of military and civilian elites and therefore cast a shining light on critical aspects of Russian policy that all too often are left in the darkness. "

India in Africa: Implications of an Emerging Power for AFRICOM and U.S. Strategy Dr J Peter Pham Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)—whose mission, “in concert with other U.S. government agencies and international partners,” is to conduct “sustained security engagement through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities, and other military operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environment”—is not alone in recognizing the strategic importance of Africa. This continent, in fact, has increasingly attracted significant attention from the major powers. While the extensive network of economic, political, and military ties that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has constructed across Africa in recent years, is relatively well known, India’s own rapidly expanding network of connections to the continent have gone largely unexamined."

2010 SSI Annual Strategy Conference Report "Defining War for the 21st Century" COL Phillip R Cuccia, Dr Steven Metz Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The Strategic Studies Institute’s XXI Annual Strategy Conference, held at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from April 6-8, 2010, addressed the topic of the meaning of war. While it did not seek to produce a definitive answer to questions about the nature and definition of war, it did highlight the crucial questions and their implications, including issues such as whether the cause of war is shifting, whether all forms of organized, politically focused violence constitute war, and the distinction between passive and active war."

Civil-Military Relations in Medvedev's Russia Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The panel presented here was devoted to civil-military relations in Russia. This is, as the papers included here show, a critical topic in understanding the domestic and foreign policy trajectories of the Russian state. The papers provided here do not deny that civilian control exists. But they both show how highly undemocratic, and even dangerous, is the absence of those democratic controls over the military and the police forces in Russia which, taken together, comprise multiple militaries. These papers present differing U.S. and European assessments of the problems connected with civilian and democratic controls over the possessors of force in the Russian state and should stimulate further reflection upon these issues and those related to them."