Monographs

The Strategist and the Web: Guide to Internet Resources LTC James Kievit, Dr Steven Metz Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The Strategist and the Web provides an Internet "Primer"--an introductory road map of the 'net explaining its most important features: the World-Wide Web, news groups, and electronic mail ("email"). Then it examines numerous Internet sources. From these it identifies both sites of current value to a strategic analyst, and those with the potential to become important resources after further development."

Federal Budget Policy and Defense Strategy Dr Dennis S Ippolito Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Over the past three decades, the budgetary and economic significance of defense budgets has greatly diminished. Today, the Federal budget is dominated by mandatory spending programs, primarily entitlements, and these programs will absorb even larger shares of future budgets. Thus, strategic compromises that reduce defense budget requirements cannot have more than a marginal impact on deficit control. The damage to important, enduring military capabilities, however, could be extremely serious and, given the declining flexibility in spending policy, difficult to reverse. The purpose of this monograph, then, is to provide an accurate fiscal perspective for a critically important strategic policy debate."

Deciphering the Balkan Enigma: Using History to Inform Policy Dr William T Johnsen Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "After having been fueled by the events of the distant and recent past, the current wars in the former Yugoslavia finally may be grinding to a halt. An understanding of that past, and of how history and myth combine to influence the present and help to define the future in the Balkans, is no less relevant today than it was two years ago when the original version of this monograph was published."

A Theory of Fundamentalism: An Inquiry into the Origin and Development of the Movement Dr Stephen C Pelletiere Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Throughout the Middle East the fundamentalist tide is rising, and shows no sign of cresting soon. Given the extraordinary growth of fundamentalist attitudes, it is curious that in the West so much confusion exists about the movement. Western analysts seem unsure of how to deal with fundamentalism, much less capable of developing effective strategies to combat it. Their difficulty begins with a lack of awareness of the movement's origins. To understand fundamentalism, one must return to the 1970s and the period of the Cold War. The movement sprang from the clash of rightist and leftist forces; this circumstance--of being a product of the Cold War--shaped its development."

Mexico and the Future Dr Donald E Schulz Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute

Russian Defense Legislation and Russian Democracy Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "As recent events demonstrate, Russia's political system has yet to stabilize. This is particularly the case with civil-military relations for, as the course of the Chechnya invasion reveals, control by the government over the military is erratic and the military is all too often politicized. In this vein, legislation on civilian control of the military and on peacemaking operations in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a particularly important barometer of the course of Russia's democratization and stabilization."

The Principles of War in the 21st Century: Strategic Considerations Dr William T Johnsen, Dr Douglas V Johnson II, LTC James Kievit, Prof Douglas C Lovelace Jr, Dr Steven Metz Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Throughout history, military practitioners, philosophers, and historians have struggled to comprehend the complexities of warfare. Most of these efforts produced long, complicated treatises that did not lend themselves to rapid or easy understanding. This, in turn, spurred efforts to condense the "lessons" of war into a short list of aphorisms that practitioners of the military art could use to guide the conduct of warfare."

The Revolution in Military Affairs: Prospects and Cautions Dr Earl H Tilford Jr Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The current Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is taking place against the background of a larger historical watershed involving the end of the Cold War and the advent of what Alvin and Heidi Toffler have termed "the Information Age." In this essay, Dr. Earl Tilford argues that RMAs are driven by more than breakthrough technologies, and that while the technological component is important, a true revolution in the way military institutions organize, equip and train for war, and in the way war is itself conducted, depends on the confluence of political, social, and technological factors."

Mexico in Crisis Dr Donald E Schulz Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This is the first of a two-part report on the causes and nature of the crisis in Mexico, the prospects for the future, and the implications for the United States. In this initial study, the author analyzes the crisis as it has developed over the past decade-and-a-half, with the primary focus being on the 6-year term of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and the first few months of his successor, President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León."