Past Publications

The Challenge of Governance and Security Dr Max G Manwaring Colloquium Brief by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, with the U.S. Southern Command, the Latin American and Caribbean Center of Florida International University "A contemporary assessment of Latin American and Caribbean security must address a comprehensive, all-inclusive threat environment and consider the utility of all instruments of state power."

Strategic Theory for the 21st Century: The Little Book on Big Strategy Dr Harry R Yarger Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The word “strategy” pervades American conversation and our news media. We tend to use strategy as a general term for a plan, a concept, a course of action, or a “vision” of the direction in which to proceed at the personal, organizational, and governmental—local, state, or federal—levels. Such casual use of the term to describe nothing more than “what we would like to do next” is inappropriate and belies the complexity of true strategy and strategic thinking. It reduces strategy to just a good idea without the necessary underlying thought or development. It also leads to confusion between strategy and planning, confining strategic possibilities to near-time planning assumptions and details, while limiting the flexibility of strategic thought and setting inappropriately specific expectations of outcomes. "

Recognizing and Understanding Revolutionary Change in Warfare: The Sovereignty of Context Dr Colin S Gray Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph provides an audit, a not-unfriendly critical review, of the concept of revolutionary military change. It offers a review of what those who theorize about, and those who are committed by policy to execute, such a revolution ought to know about their subject. As the subtitle of the analysis announces, the leading edge of the argument is the potency, indeed the sovereign importance, of warfare’s contexts."

The Mexican Armed Forces in Transition Dr Jordi Diez, COL Ian Nicholls Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "After the September 11, 2001 (9/11), attacks on the United States, homeland defense became the primary issue in U.S. defense policy. At the same time, it was clear that homeland defense would have to become a trilateral continental issue, and, thus, would have to include Canada and Mexico. Because the United States and Canada already had developed a relatively close relationship during and after World War II as a result of their common interests and efforts in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and NORAD (North American Air Defense), it became important to begin to understand the Mexican armed forces and their capabilities. This monograph, written from a Canadian prospective, is a significant step in that direction."

U.S.-UK Relations at the Start of the 21st Century Dr Jeffrey D McCausland, Dr Douglas Stuart Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "With the end of the Cold War, a popular parlor game in foreign ministries, think tanks, and academia has been to develop a theory of international relations that best explains the new international order. Although there is widespread agreement that the United States is the world’s most powerful country in military, economic, and diplomatic terms, and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, there is little agreement as to how the rest of the world will react to America’s lead. Concepts such as “balancing,” “bandwagoning,” “buck-passing,” and “free riding,” to name just a few, have been advanced and debated. And although none presents a unified field theory, each explains some aspect of international relations. Theory has an even more difficult time explaining the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom (UK), especially its remarkable endurance over the past 6 decades. The U.S.-UK partnership flourished during World War II, deepened during the long twilight struggle with the Soviet Union, and has prospered further since the end of the Cold War. It is likely to survive any new challenges that may loom on the horizon."

Assessing the Biological Weapons and Bioterrorism Threat Mr Milton Leitenberg Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This monograph is comprised of six substantive sections. An opening introductory section sets the global context in which the threat of “bioterrorism” should be placed. It briefly surveys other nonmilitary challenges to national and global security that the United States and other nations currently face, and will face in the coming decades. It does so, where possible, by including the mortality levels currently resulting from these factors, particularly natural disease agents, and the levels that can be projected for them. This provides a comparative framework within which bioterrorism can more properly be assessed."

Transformation for What? Dr. John White Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Security transformation is vital for the United States to promote national security in rapidly changing times, but it is also a moving target. American policymakers and strategists must, on a regular basis, reassess the global security environment and the trajectory of transformation. One of the most significant of such reassessments is currently underway, driven by Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, continuing technological developments, budget constraints, and the debate associated with the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review."

Victories are Not Enough Dr Samuel J Newland Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "This Letort Paper is designed to explore these issues and provide an overview of the development of Germany as a nation and German military thought in the 19th century. It examines the origins of modern German military thinking and the concepts promoted by some of Germany’s key military and political leadership."

Revisions in Need of Revising: What Went Wrong in the Iraq War Dr David C Hendrickson, Dr Robert W Tucker Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "David C. Hendrickson and Robert W. Tucker examine the contentious debate over the Iraq war and occupation, focusing on the critique that the Bush administration squandered an historic opportunity to reconstruct the Iraqi state because of various critical blunders in planning. Though they conclude that critics have made a number of telling points against the Bush administration’s conduct of the Iraq war, they argue that the most serious problems facing Iraq and its American occupiers—criminal anarchy and lawlessness, a raging insurgency, and a society divided into rival and antagonistic groups—were virtually inevitable consequences that flowed from the act of war itself."