Monographs

Always Strategic: Jointly Essential Landpower Dr Colin S Gray Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "American Landpower is a strategic instrument of state policy and needs to be considered as such. The purpose of this monograph is to explore and explain the nature of Landpower, both in general terms and also with particular regard to the American case. Five themes drive through this work. Specifically, it is argued that: (1) Landpower is unique in the character of the quality it brings to the American joint team for national security; (2) the United States has a permanent need for the human quality in Landpower that this element provides inherently; (3) Landpower is always and indeed necessarily strategic in its meaning and implications—it is a quintessentially strategic instrument of state policy and politics; (4) strategic Landpower is unavoidably and beneficially joint in its functioning, and this simply is so much the contemporary character of American strategic Landpower that we should consider jointness integral to its permanent nature; and, (5) notwithstanding the nuclear context since 1945, Landpower retained, indeed retains, most of the strategic utility it has possessed through all of history: this is a prudent judgment resting empirically on the evidence of 70 years’ experience. "

Assessing Egyptian Public Support for Security Crackdowns in the Sinai Mr Gregory Aftandilian Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Mr. Gregory Aftandilian examines Egypt’s public support for the Egyptian government’s security crackdowns in the Sinai where terrorist groups have undertaken violent attacks against security forces and foreign tourists and have even taken their fight to the Egyptian mainland. Although the leadership of these terrorist groups appear to be from mainland Egypt (those living along the Nile River and in the Nile Delta region), much of the rank and file appear to be disaffected Bedouin youth in the Sinai who have become susceptible to the entreaties of the terrorists..."

Lying to Ourselves: Dishonesty in the Army Profession Dr Wong Leonard, Dr Gerras Stephen Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "While it has been fairly well established that the Army is quick to pass down requirements to individuals and units regardless of their ability to actually comply with the totality of the requirements, there has been very little discussion about how the Army culture has accommodated the deluge of demands on the force. This study found that many Army officers, after repeated exposure to the overwhelming demands and the associated need to put their honor on the line to verify compliance, have become ethically numb. As a result, an officer’s signature and word have become tools to maneuver through the Army bureaucracy rather than being symbols of integrity and honesty. Sadly, much of the deception that occurs in the profession of arms is encouraged and sanctioned by the military institution as subordinates are forced to prioritize which requirements will actually be done to standard and which will only be reported as done to standard. As a result, untruthfulness is surprisingly common in the U.S. military even though members of the profession are loath to admit it. "

Breaking the Nordic Defense Deadlock Dr Stefan Forss, COL Pekka Holopainen Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Events in Ukraine in early-2014 have prompted a re-evaluation of national defense capabilities across Europe. In the case of the Nordic states (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland), this renewed attention has highlighted the lack of military resources to fulfill nationally stated defense tasks. Two decades of underinvestment in defense, force reductions, and focus on expeditionary crisis management in support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), have combined to hollow out the once fundamental principles of territorial defense. Northern Europe has been left dangerously exposed to military coercion in a time of greatly increased uncertainty."

Getting to the Left of SHARP: Lessons Learned from West Point's Efforts to Combat Sexual Harassment and Assault LTG Robert L Caslen Jr, LTC Daniel Gade, COL Cindy R Jebb, Cadet Hope C Landsem Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The U.S. Army has been and is struggling with sexual harassment, assault, and rape in its ranks, but the future can be different. In this monograph, three seasoned officers and one cadet propose a series of steps—based on West Point’s experiences—to “get to the left” of these incidents by changing the cultural structures that allow them to occur. This will only become more critical as the Army works on the policies that will fully integrate women into the combat arms, introducing women to sub-cultures that have, for years, equated martial virtues with masculine ones. "

Army Support of Military Cyberspace Operations: Joint Contexts and Global Escalation Implications Mr Jeffrey L Caton Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Military cyberspace operations have been ongoing since before the advent of the Internet. Such operations have evolved significantly over the past 2 decades and are now emerging into the realm of military operations in the traditional domains of land, sea, and air. The goal of this monograph is to provide senior policymakers, decisionmakers, military leaders, and their respective staffs with a better understanding of Army cyberspace operations within the context of overall U.S. military cyberspace operations. It first looks at the evolution of Department of Defense (DoD) cyberspace operations over the past decade. Next, it examines the evolution of the Army implementation of cyberspace operations. Finally, it explores the role of cyberspace operations in the escalation of international conflict."

The Effective Use of Reserve Personnel in the U.S. Military: Lessons from the United Kingdom Reserve Model Dr Shima D Keene Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The U.S. Army and the British Army are undergoing similar processes of rebalancing between regular and reserve personnel. The British armed forces are currently at a more advanced stage of this change than the United States, and consequently there are useful lessons to be drawn from their experience to date. This is particularly the case in a time of growing defense austerity; in addition to their smaller scale, the United Kingdom’s (UK) armed forces have great familiarity with undertaking missions and maintaining close to full-spectrum capability while subject to severe and apparently insurmountable resource constraints. Studying how this is made possible may also provide valuable pointers for a U.S. defense force in an era of sequestration and budget cuts."

Do Fewer Resources Mean Less Influence? A Comparative Historical Case Study of Military Influence in a Time of Austerity Dr Mary Manjikian Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, military planners speak at great length about the importance of rebalancing our armed forces. As a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011, our U.S. Armed Forces have absorbed significant budget cuts, which are projected to continue into 2016. Not surprisingly, a major theme of the Quadrennial Defense Review is the necessity of making tough choices in a period of fiscal austerity."

Regionalizing East Mediterranean Gas: Energy Security, Stability, and the U.S. Role Ms Laura El-Katiri, Dr Mohammed El-Katiri Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "In recent years the distribution of the world’s exploitable energy reserves has shifted markedly. One major change is the discovery of substantial gas deposits offshore the Levant. But while these deposits have the potential to revolutionize the economies of the net energy importers, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Israel, they also bring into sharp focus long-running disputes over maritime boundaries and sovereignty. In short, these deposits provide yet another cause for conflict in an already deeply troubled region. This monograph explores both the positive and negative implications of the Eastern Mediterranean’s new gas reserves for the region, and the implications of both for U.S. interests. It combines the recognized expertise of two researchers with long experience in regional and energy studies, respectively. Their conclusion is that the management of these new energy resources is likely to influence significantly the relationships among the states in the region, particularly between Israel and its neighbors, including the Palestinian Territories. "