Confronting the “Islamic State” by W. Andrew Terrill, David S. Sorenson, Ross Harrison, Dana El Kurd NATO’s Rebirth: Rhetoric & Reality by John R. Deni, Luis Simón Challenges in Russia & Afghanistan by Kristin Ven Bruusgaard, Daniel Glickstein and Michael…
In examining the role of security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, the author draws broad lessons from which he provides concrete recommendations to improve the conduct of further missions. Rather than do away with contractors altogether, the author recommends limiting…
American Landpower and the Middle East of 2030 by Micael R. Eastman. The Afghanistan Experience: Democratization by Force, by Cora Sol Goldstein. COIN is Dead–Long Live Transformation, by Matthew Ford, Patrick Rose, and Howard Body. Afghanistan: Strategy and War Termination,…
In this second volume of the series, Dr. Metz looks carefully at the 2007 decision to surge forces into Iraq, a choice which is generally considered to have been effective in turning the tide of the war from potential disaster…
This PKSOI Paper is designed to further the U.S. and other interested international governments’ understanding of how Security Sector Reform (SSR) was conducted in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003. This was America’s first attempt at conducting formalized SSR, so it…
Department of Defense (DoD) initiatives to use contractors on deployed military operations remains a contentious issue in U.S. military transformation. Despite the intense debates surrounding the benefits and costs of DoD outsourcing, little attention has focused on similar Ministry of…
In a military area of operations, particularly in countries in the Middle East that are lacking adequate traditional state based public administrative organizations or institutions, US national military policy must recognize the value that tribes can bring to the spectrum…
The authors address one of the fundamental assumptions underlying the conduct of the War on Terrorism – the nature of our enemy, whether perpetrators of terrorist activities are criminals or soldiers (combatants). Although the United States recognizes that terrorist acts…
LTC Raymond A. Millen examines warlordism as the principal impediment to Afghanistan’s revival and offers a shift in strategy that addresses the war of ideas, the counternarcotics initiative, and the incorporation of the Afghan National Army into the provincial reconstruction…
The U.S.-led war in Iraq complicates security cooperation between the United States and Central Asia at a time when other regional powers—especially Russia, China, and India—are competing for influence in the region more overtly. Concerned about the implications of the…