Collections

Maturing Defense Support of Civil Authorities and the Dual Status Commander Arrangement through the Lens of Process Improvement Dr Ryan Burke, Dr Sue McNeil Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The role of the military during homeland defense and civil support operations has significant strategic implications for U.S. national security efforts. Considerations for the future employment of Active Component forces during missions in the homeland have evolved into a major topic of conversation among policymakers and military strategists alike. In this context, there is a philosophical conflict between federalism and state sovereignty that continues to present itself as an impediment to success. Balancing the institutionally divergent approaches to achieve a unified, efficient, and effective response continues to prove problematic. The dual status commander (DSC) initiative offers a coordination mechanism intended to address the challenges of unity of effort between state and federal military response activities. However, there are numerous gaps in the available DSC guidance, which leads to increased complexity and confusion during domestic disaster response."

Stand Up and Fight! The Creation of U.S. Security Organizations, 1942-2005 COL Ty Seidule, Dr Jacqueline E Whitt Books by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Starting a new security organization is a difficult business. Hundreds of questions come in staccato bursts; each requires a decision and each decision takes on the permanence of tradition. Tradition becomes culture and a new organization becomes the sum of those early decisions. In this collection of essays, historians, most of them military officers, try to grapple with the challenges of creating new security organizations. Our aim is to help those few men and women who start new governmental bodies charged with protecting the American people to make sound and historically informed decisions by highlighting several common themes for consideration."

Evolving Army Needs for Space-Based Support Mr Jeffrey L Caton Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "To support warfighters in the 21st century, Army and joint space operations must adapt to a congested, contested, and competitive international space environment. This monograph examines how the Army is postured to meet current and future space-based support needs to conduct unified land operations. It also provides recommendations regarding how to facilitate the best evolutionary path for future Army space activities to meet the changing environment for unified land operations as well as the diverse challenges of ongoing global operations, technological advances by potential adversaries, increased international competition, and domestic resource constraints."

Space-Based Solar Power: A Technical, Economic, and Operational Assessment Mr Jeffrey L Caton Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The concept of generating electrical power from solar energy using satellites and then transmitting that power to Earth is decades old and generally considered to be technically feasible. If successful, such systems could provide constant access to almost unlimited power and thus play a significant role in U.S. national and international energy security strategies. However, the practical application of this method of power generation requires economical and operational feasibility as well. This monograph examines the current progress of space-based power in these three areas: technology, economy, and operations. The scope of discussion is at the survey level of detail to provide senior policymakers, decisionmakers, military leaders, and their respective staffs an overall appreciation for the challenges, opportunities, and risks associated with space-based solar power systems."

Strategic Insights: From Ideology to Geopolitics: Russian Interests in Latin America José de Arimatéia da Cruz Article by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The implosion of the Soviet Union on the eve of December 25, 1991, has been heralded by pundits and Sovietologists as an unprecedented event in world history. No one expected the powerful Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to come to an end as uneventfully as it did. The implosion of the Soviet Union sent shockwaves throughout the world. Not only did the Soviet Union cease to exist on that Christmas night, but it also lost half of its territory and half of its population. Furthermore, the Soviets came to find out the morning after that most of its weapons of mass destruction were now in the hands of the newly independent states—former members of the USSR..."

Prospects for Iran's New Direction Mr Keir Giles Letort Paper by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "At the end of September 2014, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made his second appearance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. His previous visit, in September 2013, had seen the first telephone conversation between a U.S. President and an Iranian leader since 1979. Despite the domestic controversy it caused in Iran, the fact that this was possible was indicative of the significant changes in Iranian foreign policy that had already taken place since Rouhani’s election as Iranian president, replacing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."

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."

New Realities: Energy Security in the 2010s and Implications for the U.S. Military Dr John R Deni Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Global energy markets are undergoing dramatic shifts. Developing countries are beginning to outpace their more developed counterparts in energy demand, the result not simply of higher economic growth rates in the former, but also due to increased efficiency in the latter. Traditional producers of hydrocarbons in places such as Latin America, Eurasia, North Africa, and the Middle East face a host of political, economic, technical, and societal challenges that could potentially lead to major disruptions in the global energy supply. Meanwhile, the unconventional fossil fuels revolution has led to major changes in the flow of the global energy supply, seemingly overnight."

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. "