Strategic Studies Institute

Landpower Roles Studies

Added June 08, 2011

Type: PKSOI Papers

Defining Command, Leadership, and Management Success Factors within Stability Operations. Authored by Major Dave Fielder.

Stabilization operations have been present across the globe for centuries in many forms. But how have the command, leadership, and management of these operations manifested themselves, and what are the success attributes within this field of study?

Added May 19, 2011

Type: Monograph

Rebuilding Armed Forces: Learning from Iraq and Lebanon. Authored by Dr. Florence Gaub.

Learning from the armed forces of Iraq and Lebanon might not seem the first instinct when it comes to improving post-conflict reconstruction efforts. Yet, the two cases offer useful insight into these processes, what to avoid and what to emphasize.

Added May 06, 2011

Type: Letort Papers

The Military's Role in Counterterrorism: Examples and Implications for Liberal Democracies. Authored by Dr. Geraint Hughes.

The Military’s Role in Counterterrorism examines the roles which armed forces have been required to perform by democratic governments involved in combating terrorism, and the problems which can occur as a consequence. It also describes the conditions necessary for successful military engagements against terrorist groups.

Added April 25, 2011

Type: Letort Papers

Improvised Explosive Devices in Iraq, 2003-09: A Case of Operational Surprise and Institutional Response. Authored by Brigadier Andrew Smith.

Institutional defense establishments guide the development of national military capabilities. Recent experience suggests that the orthodox approaches that they have evolved to perform this function in nominal peacetime are insufficiently responsive for contemporary threats and challenges.

Added March 25, 2011

Type: Colloquium Brief

Security and Governance: Foundations for International Stability. Authored by Dru Lauzon, Andrew Vine.

This conference was designed to outline strategies for coping with the threat posed to international stability by fragile, failing, or failed states. Presentations outlined various strategies for identifying and ameliorating the security challenges that result from state failure in contemporary international environments.

Added August 27, 2010

Type: Book

David Galula: His Life and Intellectual Context. Authored by Ms. Ann Marlowe.

David Galula’s ideas are reflected in U.S. Army Field Manual 3-24, Counterinsurgency, and in nearly every speech that American commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq give, but until now, almost no biographical information was available about him. Arguably the greatest writer on counterinsurgency, Galula led a fascinating, although all too brief, life that gave him a bird’s eye view of most of the great conflicts of the second half of the 20th century.

Added August 24, 2010

Type: PKSOI Papers

U.S. Military Forces and Police Assistance in Stability Operations: The Least-Worst Option to Fill the U.S. Capacity Gap. Authored by Colonel (Ret.) Dennis E Keller.

Stability operations in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be challenged by the lack of effective local police forces to secure the civilian population from insurgent infiltration and criminal violence. Given U.S. government legal and organizational shortfalls to train and advise foreign police forces, coupled with an operational environment characterized by local police corruption and abusiveness, this monograph proposes a way ahead for effective community based policing despite these adverse circumstances.

Added April 19, 2010

Type: Book

Short of General War: Perspectives on the Use of Military Power in the 21st Century. Edited by Dr. Harry R Yarger.

In this anthology, students in the U.S. Army War College Class of 2008 critically examine the emerging 21st century security environment and offer diverse and innovative thoughts on how military power should be applied in situations short of general war.

Added October 06, 2009

Type: Monograph

Guide to Rebuilding Public Sector Services in Stability Operations: A Role for the Military. Authored by Derick W. Brinkerhoff, Ronald W. Johnson, Richard Hill. Edited by Professor Susan Merrill.

The authors provide a set of principles and operational guidelines for peacekeepers to help a country restore public infrastructure and services. The extent to which public sector reconstruction takes place is a function of the mission, the level of resources, expertise of the troops, and the host country context. This guide provides courses of action to both planners and practitioners in executing these operations and supplements existing and emerging documents.

Added September 25, 2009

Type: Letort Papers

A Comprehensive Approach to Improving U.S. Security Force Assistance Efforts. Authored by Lieutenant Colonel Theresa Baginski, Colonel Brian J. Clark, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Donovan, Ms. Karma Job, Lieutenant Colonel John S. Kolasheski, Colonel Richard A. Lacquement, Jr., Brigadier Simon "Don" Roach, Colonel Sean P. Swindell, Colonel Curt A. Van De Walle, Colonel Michael J. McMahon.

Security Force Assistance may be a new term but the activities are familiar and are related to how the Department of Defense trains, advises, and assists foreign partners' security establishments to accomplish common objectives. Recommendations to improve U.S. performance are provided.

Added September 16, 2009

Type: Monograph

Alien: How Operational Art Devoured Strategy. Authored by Brigadier Justin Kelly, Dr. Michael James Brennan.

This authors argue that the idea of an operational level of war charged with the planning and conduct of campaigns misconceives the relationship between wars, campaigns, and operations, and is both historically mistaken and wrong in theory. They conclude that its incorporation into U.S. doctrine has had the regrettable impact of separating the conduct of campaigns from the conduct of wars and consequently marginalized the role of politics in the direction of war. In essence, they argue that the idea of the campaign has come to overwhelm that of strategy.

Added September 16, 2009

Type: Monograph

Escalation and Intrawar Deterrence During Limited Wars in the Middle East. Authored by Dr. W. Andrew Terrill.

This monograph seeks to analyze military escalation and intrawar deterrence by examining two key wars where these concepts became especially relevant—the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. A central conclusion of this monograph is that intrawar deterrence is an inherently fragile concept, and that the nonuse of weapons of mass destruction in both wars was the result of a number of positive factors that may not be repeated in future conflicts.

Added June 10, 2009

Type: Student (Carlisle) Papers

Arrowhead Ripper: Adaptive Leadership in Full Spectrum Operations. Authored by Colonel Fred Johnson.

The question of "whether formations and units organized, trained, and equipped to destroy enemies can be adapted well enough and fast enough to dissuade or co-opt them—or, more significantly, to build the capacity of local security forces to do the dissuading and destroying"--is central to the on-going debate over whether the Army has the proper structure and training to perform full spectrum operations.

Added November 07, 2008

Type: Student (Carlisle) Papers

Unity of Command in Afghanistan: A Forsaken Principle of War. Authored by COL Ian Hope.

The author discusses the traditional importance of unity of command in American doctrine and practice from World War I until now, and how this principle has been forsaken in the evolution of military command for Afghanistan. He argues for a renewal of understanding of the importance of unity of command and recommends amending the Unified Command Plan to invest one "supreme commander" with responsibility for the current Operation ENDURING FREEDOM Joint Operations Area.

Added July 31, 2008

Type: Op-Ed

Real Change or Retrenchment? Authored by Dr. Douglas V. Johnson, II.

Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the August 2008 newsletter.

Added May 01, 2008

Type: Book

Global Climate Change National Security Implications. Edited by Dr. Carolyn Pumphrey.

Contributors to this volume agree that climate change is a threat deserving of serious attention. They stress the need for greater planning and coordination and for further research as well as the utility of engagement—military to military and state to state—on environmental issues. They differ as to whether the Armed Forces should play a leading or supporting role, but agree that they can—and already do—make a valuable contribution.

Added January 30, 2008

Type: Monograph

Transforming to Effects-Based Operations: Lessons from the United Kingdom Experience. Authored by Dr. Andrew M. Dorman.

The author evaluates the extent to which America’s principal military ally, the United Kingdom, has been able to transition to effects-based operations and the implications this has for the United States.

Added January 08, 2008

Type: Book

The Interagency and Counterinsurgency Warfare: Aligning and Integrating Military and Civilian Roles in Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction Operations. Edited by Dr. Joseph R. Cerami, Jay W. Boggs.

The contemporary challenges underpinning interagency cooperation within the U.S. Government are not entirely new. This monograph addresses the security, stability, transition, and reconstruction missions that place the most pressure on interagency communication and coordination.

Added October 29, 2007

Type: Student (Carlisle) Papers

"Making Riflemen from Mud: Restoring the Army's Culture of Irregular Warfare. Authored by Lieutenant Colonel James D. Campbell.

The culture of irregular warfare was attributable to nearly 300 years of American military tradition from the colonial period until 1941, including extensive experience in cooperating with Native American tribes and individual scouts during the expansion of the western frontier. Since World War II, the wider military has lost this expertise. Given the variety of political environments in which today’s conventional soldiers may find themselves and the current nature of conflicts ongoing and likely to occur in the world, the Army culture as a whole can and must readapt itself to the new old realities of irregular war.

Added September 10, 2007

Type: Op-Ed

Grunts and Jarheads: Rethinking the Army-Marine Division of Labor. Authored by Dr. Steven Metz.

Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the September 2007 newsletter.

Added February 05, 2007

Type: Book

A Nation at War. Authored by Professor John R. Martin.

One of the basics of strategy is understanding the foe and the type of war in which a nation is involved. The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) does not fit easily into the mold of war, but that is because of too much comparison with conventional wars; the Cold War may provide a better model. This report chronicles the panels and resulting papers from the Seventeenth Annual U.S. Army War College Strategy Conference, held at Carlisle Barracks, PA, in April 2006.

Added August 02, 2006

Type: Op-Ed

Doctrine that Works. Authored by Dr. Douglas V. Johnson, II.

Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the August 2006 newsletter.

Added March 01, 2003

Type: Monograph

Future War/Future Battlespace: The Strategic Role of American Landpower. Authored by Dr. Steven Metz, LTC Raymond A. Millen.

The trends in the strategic environment in the development of the Future War/Future Battlespace suggest that traditional warfighting has changed in the post 9-11 era. The strategic environment can be classified into four strategic battlespaces, within which future adversaries will operate to thwart U.S. strategic initiatives.

Added January 01, 2002

Type: Monograph

The Intervention Debate: Towards a Posture of Principled Judgment. Authored by Dr. John Garofano.

The 1990s showed the extremes of deciding when and how to use force, one of the central elements of strategy. Debate has raged over whether force is appropriate only in defense of the homeland and vital national interests or whether it should also be used to promote more expansive objectives. He concludes with a discussion of Army roles and requirements for future contingencies.

Added September 01, 2001

Type: Monograph

Internal Wars: Rethinking Problem and Response. Authored by Dr. Max G. Manwaring.

Asymmetric guerrilla war--insurgencies, internal wars, and other small-scale contingencies (SSCs)--are the most pervasive and likely type of conflict in the post-Cold War era. The author draws from the lessons of the recent past to better prepare today's civilian and military leaders to meet the unconventional and asymmetric warfare challenges that face the United States and the rest of the intern

Added March 01, 2001

Type: Book

The Army and Homeland Security: A Strategic Perspective. Authored by Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria, II.

The topic of homeland security includes a broad array of missions and mission areas ranging from national missile defense to military assistance to civil authorities. The topic has recently attracted a great deal of attention due to the public's heightened awareness of the variety and nature of emerging threats and of the United States vulnerabilities to them. The Army Staff was assigned to investigate the Army's role in homeland security from a strategic, rather than a legal or procedural perspective.

Added January 01, 2001

Type: Book

The American Army in the Balkans: Strategic Alternatives and Implications. Authored by Dr. Steven Metz.

U.S. strategy in the Balkans and the Army's role there is examined. The author recommends continued U.S. involvement, consideration of a long-term American military presence in the region, and some significant changes in role of the U.S. Army.

Added January 01, 2001

Type: Monograph

Landpower and Crises: Army Roles and Missions in Smaller-Scale Contingencies During the 1990s. Authored by Dr. Conrad C. Crane.

The author analyzes the role of landpower in the 170 smaller-scale contingencies conducted by the United States during the last decade. The author especially emphasizes the recurring problems in the planning, execution, and force structure for stabilization tasks, including nation-building.

Added September 01, 1999

Type: Book

Security and Civil-Military Relations in the New World Disorder: The Use of Armed Forces in the Americas. Edited by Dr. Max G. Manwaring.

The book is organized as an anthology of the best of a series of excellent symposium presentations, revised in light of the discussions that took place there, and complemented by an explanation of the strategic interests of the United States in Latin America and an overview.

Added May 01, 1998

Type: Book

Redefining Land Power for the 21st Century. Authored by Dr. William T. Johnsen.

In placing land power in context, we can spark an enlarged debate about land power, the strategic and operational versatility it offers policymakers, and its interrelationships with air and sea power. Additionally, we can examine the growing interdependence among the components of national and military power.

Added April 01, 1997

Type: Book

The Future Roles of U.S. Military Power and Their Implications. Authored by Dr. William T. Johnsen.

Only after the future roles of the U.S. military have been determined can the Department of Defense turn to the other important issues posed by Congress. Dr. William T. Johnsen concludes that the U.S. military will continue to perform its traditional roles: deterrence, reassurance, compellence, and support to the nation. The method and manner of carrying out those roles, however, will change.

Added March 01, 1996

Type: Book

The Future of American Landpower: Strategic Challenges for the 21st Century Army. Authored by Dr. William T. Johnsen, Dr. Douglas V. Johnson, II, Professor Douglas C. Lovelace, Jr., Dr. Steven Metz, LTC James Kievit.

Armies historically have been criticized for preparing for the last war. Since the early 1980s, however, the U.S. Army has broken this pattern and created a force capable of winning the next war. But, in an era characterized by a volatile international security environment, accelerating technological advances (particularly in acquiring, processing, and disseminating information), the emergence of what some are calling a "revolution in military affairs," and forecasts of increasingly constrained fiscal resources, it seems ill-advised to plan only for the "next Army."

Added December 01, 1993

Type: Book

The Future of Insurgency. Authored by Dr. Steven Metz.

Security professionals and strategists are discovering the post-cold war world is as rife with persistent, low-level violence as its predecessors. In fact, many regions are experiencing a rise in the amount of conflict in the absence of restraints previously imposed by the superpowers.

Added November 01, 1993

Type: Book

The Army and Multinational Peace Operations: Problems and Solutions. Authored by COL William J. Doll.

Effectiveness in multinational peace operations has become an important issue for the Army. In addition to traditional peacekeeping to monitor cease-fires and truces, the Army is now involved in activities such as peace enforcement and the reconstruction of failed states. While the Army has well-established procedures for traditional peacekeeping, it clearly has much to analyze and learn about these new types of multinational peace operations.