SSI Publications - Military Strategy, National Security, and Regional Security

Monthly Newsletter

Who is SSI?

The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College publishes national security and strategic research and analysis which serves to influence policy debate and bridge the gap between Military and Academia.

Most Recent Publications

Added November 16, 2009: YouTube War: Fighting in a World of Cameras in Every Cell Phone and Photoshop on Every Computer. Authored by Dr. Cori E. Dauber.; Terrorist attacks are media events designed to draw the attention of the press since, without a larger audience, a terrorist attack will have accomplished very little. Shaping the attitudes and perceptions of the public can undermine the public will to fight. This is done by shaping media coverage.

Added November 03, 2009: A Case Study in Security Sector Reform: Learning from Security Sector Reform/Building in Afghanistan (October 2002-September 2003. Authored by Captain Jason C. Howk.; Afghanistan was America’s first attempt at conducting formalized Security Sector Reform. This case study offers readers an opportunity to learn whom the United States saw as key actors in the process, what institutions were slated for reform, and how well the United States and its partners met the typical challenges of SSR.

Added November 03, 2009: India's Strategic Defense Transformation: Expanding Global Relationships. Authored by Lieutenant Colonel Brian K. Hedrick.; India’s defense establishment is undergoing an unprecedented transformation as it seeks to (1) modernize its military, (2) obtain “strategic partnerships” with the United States and other nations, and (3) expand its influence in the Indian Ocean and beyond.

Added October 28, 2009: Schools for Strategy: Teaching Strategy for 21st Century Conflict. Authored by Dr. Colin S. Gray.; Education in strategy is feasible and important. Few would-be strategists are beyond improvement by some formal education. However, for such education to be well-directed, it needs to rest upon sound assumptions concerning the eternal nature yet ever shifting character, meaning, and function of strategy, and the range of behaviors required for effective strategic performance.

Added October 28, 2009: Talent: Implications for a U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy. Authored by Colonel Casey Wardynski, Major David S. Lyle, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Michael J. Colarusso.; What is the difference between competent and talented? What is talent, and which people have it? What talents should the United States Army seek in its officers? Most importantly, what are the consequences of failing to create an officer talent management system?

Added October 06, 2009: The Army's Professional Military Ethic in an Era of Persistent Conflict. Authored by Dr. Don M. Snider, Major Paul Oh, Major Kevin Toner.; As the character of conflict in the 21st century evolves, the Army’s strength will continue to rest on our values, our ethos, and our people. Our Soldiers and leaders must remain true to these values as they operate in increasingly complex environments where moral-ethical failures can have strategic implications.

Added October 06, 2009: 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: A "New" Dynamic in the Western Hemisphere Security Environment: The Mexican Zetas and Other Private Armies. Authored by Dr. Max G. Manwaring.; A new and dangerous dynamic has been introduced into the Mexican internal security environment. That new dynamic is represented by a private military organization called the Zetas, and involves the migration of power from traditional state and nonstate adversaries to nontraditional nonstate private military organizations. Moreover, the actions of this irregular nonstate actor tend to be more political-psychological than military, and further move the threat from hard power to soft power solutions.

Added September 25, 2009: 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 25, 2009: Dealing with Political Ferment in Latin America: The Populist Revival, the Emergence of the Center, and Implications for U.S. Policy. Authored by Dr. Hal Brands.; Frustration with poverty, corruption, and citizen insecurity within the political scene in Latin America is widespread as is political and ideological ferment. Given Latin America’s strategic importance to the United States, these changes and their diplomatic ramifications are of considerable interest to American policymakers.

Added September 24, 2009: Iraq: Strategic Reconciliation, Targeting, and Key Leader Engagement. Authored by Captain Jeanne F. Hull.; Military commanders and diplomats in Iraq and Afghanistan have been meeting with important local officials since the inception of those conflicts. These engagements have aided commanders and diplomats alike in furthering their objectives by establishing productive relationships with those who know and understand Iraq’s complex human terrain best—the Iraqis. However, these engagements frequently take place on ad-hoc bases and are rarely incorporated into other counterinsurgency operations and strategies. In some cases, unit commanders fail to see the utility of using these engagements at all--an oversight that contributes to deteriorating security situations and loss of popular support.

Added September 16, 2009: Russian Elite Image of Iran: From the Late Soviet Era to the Present. Authored by Dr. Dmitry Shlapentokh.; Increasing numbers of Russian intellectuals became disenchanted with the West, particularly after the end of the USSR, and looked for alternative geopolitical alliances. The Muslim world, with Iran at the center, became one of the possible alternatives.

Added September 16, 2009: 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: 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 August 27, 2009: Mind-Sets and Missiles: a First Hand Account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Authored by Mr. Kenneth Michael Absher.; A detailed chronology and analysis of the intelligence failures and successes of the Cuban Missile Crisis is provided.