Of Interest
Recent Publications
The resource rich, land-locked South American nation of Bolivia has traditionally received limited attention from Washington. The country, historically mired in poverty, corruption, and cycles of political conflict is one of the hemisphere’s major sources for coca and illegally mined gold, as well as a transit country for both. Bolivia’s leftist populist Movement for Socialism (MAS) governments of Evo Morales and Luis Arce have made the country an important point of entry into the hemisphere for extra-hemispheric U.S. rivals including the People’s Republic of China, Russia, and Iran. In recent weeks, a power struggle has emerged for control of the MAS between current President Luis Arce and former President Evo Morales. This has implications for the stability of the country as it plays out in the context of crosscutting political rivalries, economic difficulties, and a significant criminal economy with competing interests. This work examines the deteriorating situation in Bolivia and the potential implications for the region. Image adapted from: https://theglobalamericans.org/2023/11/bolivias-descent-into-deep-chaos-and-the-implications-for-the-region/
South & Latin America | Nov. 22, 2023

Bolivia’s Descent into Deep Chaos and the Implications for the Region

R. Evan Ellis The resource rich, land-locked South American nation of Bolivia has traditionally received limited attention from Washington. The country, historically mired in poverty, corruption, and cycles of political conflict is one of the
South & Latin America | Oct. 13, 2023

Implications of the Hamas Terror Attacks and the Israeli Response on Lat...

R. Evan Ellis IntroductionMy heart goes out to the almost 1,000 Israelis brutally slaughtered by Hamas on October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks this week. Few not actually living this moment in Israel, and certainly not me, can truly understand the
Regional Issues | Oct. 6, 2023

Expert Analysis on Latest Attacks in Ukraine

Expert Analysis on Latest Attacks in UkraineUS Army War College | Strategic Studies InstituteMilitary expert John Deni talks to CNN's Laila Harrak about Russian attacks on civilians, and the question of U.S. aid.Watch the video here: Expert analysis
R. Evan Ellis  This work uses the comparative method, complemented by quantitative data, to examine engagement by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Latin America as a function of government type, across a range of activities, including trade, investment, infrastructure projects, security relations, and technical architectures over the past two decades. The findings indicate that the PRC establishes distinct and often broader forms of engagement with populist, anti-US governments, although this does not necessarily translate into a higher volume of PRC investment or overall trade with those governments. This is the first major work in the growing China–Latin America literature to explicitly analyze the dynamics of PRC engagement across regime type. It contributes to strategic analysis of the PRC challenge in the region by the operational force, including the identification of risks, and the formulation of responses, including credible messaging, in support of a coordinated whole-of-government response to the PRC challenge. Read now: The Impact of the Turn to the Left on the Advance of the People’s Republic of China in Latin Image adapted from FreePik (https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/coronavirus-map_7456298.htm)
South & Latin America | Oct. 5, 2023

The Impact of the Turn to the Left on the Advance of the People’s Republ...

R. Evan Ellis This work uses the comparative method, complemented by quantitative data, to examine engagement by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Latin America as a function of government type, across a range of activities, including trade,
2023 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment The Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment serves as a guide for academics and practitioners in the defense community on the current challenges and opportunities in the strategic environment. This year’s publication outlines key strategic issues across the four broad themes of Regional Challenges and Opportunities, Domestic Challenges, Institutional Challenges, and Domains Impacting US Strategic Advantage. These themes represent a wide range of topics affecting national security and provide a global assessment of the strategic environment to help focus the defense community on research and publication. Strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China and the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remain dominant challenges to US national security interests across the globe. However, the evolving security environment also presents new and unconventional threats, such as cyberattacks, terrorism, transnational crime, and the implications of rapid technological advancements in fields such as artificial intelligence. At the same time, the US faces domestic and institutional challenges in the form of recruiting and retention shortfalls in the all-volunteer force, the prospect of contested logistics in large-scale combat operations, and the health of the US Defense Industrial Base. Furthermore, rapidly evolving security landscapes in the Arctic region and the space domain pose unique potential challenges to the Army’s strategic advantage. https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/962/
Publications | Aug. 24, 2023

2023 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment

The United States operates within a global context that is increasingly complex, interconnected, and unpredictable. The Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment serves as a guide to define broadly the contemporary security landscape and
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Parameters
Welcome to the Winter 2023–24 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of two In Focus commentaries which bring to light observations from the Russia-Ukraine War, two forums addressing deterrence and strategic influence, and the inaugural Director’s Corner for the China Landpower Studies Center (CLSC). Keywords: deterrence; Ukraine; Russia; Putin; NATO; unmanned aerial systems; deep strike; reconnaissance-strike complex; electronic warfare; Russia-Ukraine War; nuclear; misperception; Russia; multidomain operations; freedom to roam; grand strategy; offshore balancing; offensive realism; regional hegemony; stopping power of water; Middle East; integrated deterrence; strategy; Cold War; flexible response; New Look; economic interests; globalization; strategic competition; multinational exercises; bilateral exercises; reflexive control; strategic behavior; strategic analysis; nonlinearity; complex adaptive system; civil-military relations; general officers; promotions; flag officers; political participation; People’s Liberation Army; Chinese Communist Party; Belt and Road Initiative; China; Landpower; security assistance; Iran; Operation Iraqi Freedom; Operation Enduring Freedom; Bill Clinton; George W. Bush; Barack Obama; Civil War; Army of Tennessee; John B. Hood; William Tecumseh Sherman; Battle of Atlanta; Close Combat Lethality Task Force; Secretary of Defense General James N. Mattis; Iraq; Vicksburg Campaign; Ulysses S. Grant; William T. Sherman; Chickasaw Bayou; World War I; World War II; W. E. B. Du Bois; Talented Tenth; 1920s; citizen-soldier; National Guard; modern Army; Harry S. Truman; atomic bomb; Japan; nuclear war; North Korea; George W. Bush; Kim Il-Sung; Kim Jong-Un; China; Xi Jinping; Chinese Dream; authoritarianism; diplomacy; Samuel P. Huntington; Carl von Clausewitz; Dwight D. Eisenhower; George S. Patton; Kenneth Payne; Jan Smuts; South Africa; World War I in Africa; German South West Africa; German East Africa
Parameters | Winter 2023–24
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Parameters | Autumn 2023 From the Acting Editor in Chief Conrad C. Crane https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/8 In Focus A Historical Perspective on Today’s Recruiting Crisis Brian McAllister Linn https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/9 Parameters | Autumn 2023 A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force Katie Crombe and John A. Naglhttps://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/10 Strategic Challenges The Strategic Importance of Taiwan to the United States and Its Allies: Part Two – A Focus on Policy since the Start of the Russia-Ukraine War Luke P. Bellocchi https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/11 The Impact of Antarctic Treaty Challenges on the US Military Ryan J. Bridley and Kevin W. Matthews https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/12 US-Russia Foreign Policy: Confronting Russia’s Geographic Anxieties Caitlin P. Irby https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/11 Historical Studies Urban Resistance to Occupation: An Underestimated Element of Land Warfare Kevin D. Stringer and Jelle J. H. Hooiveld https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/14 The Chechen Kadyrovtsy’s Coercive Violence in Ukraine Wilson A. Jones https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/11=5 SRAD Director’s Corner US Army War College Russia-Ukraine War Study Project Eric Hartunian https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/15 Autumn Book Reviews USAWC Press https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/16
Parameters | Autumn 2023
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Parameters Summer 2023 Issue US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press
Parameters | Summer 2023
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The US Army War College Quarterly, Parameters, is a refereed forum for contemporary strategy and Landpower issues. It furthers the education and professional development of senior military officers and members of government and academia concerned with national security affairs.
Parameters | Spring 2023
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The US Army War College Quarterly, Parameters, is a refereed forum for contemporary strategy and Landpower issues. It furthers the education and professional development of senior military officers and members of government and academia concerned with national security affairs.

Parameters is indexed in, inter alia, Air University Library Index to Military Periodicals, US Government Periodicals Index, LexisNexis Government Periodicals Index, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, Lancaster Index to Defence & International Security Literature (UK), and PAIS Bulletin. Book reviews are indexed in Gale Group’s Book Review Index. Parameters is also available through ProQuest and UMI.

Parameters  Bookshelf
Book Review: War of Supply John A. Bonin Author: David D. Dworak Reviewed by Dr. John A. Bonin, consultant, US Army War College The reviewer notes, “While there are thousands of books about World War II, there are relatively few on the war in the Mediterranean and fewer on its logistics.” Dworak provides just that, with a chronological account of Operation Torch in North Africa; Operations Husky, Avalanche, and Shingle in Sicily and Italy; and Operation Dragoon in southern France. https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/30
Book Review: War of Supply | Dr. John A. Bonin
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Book Review: Blood and Ruins: The Last Imperial War, 1931–1945 Jonathan Klug Author: Richard Overy Reviewed by Jonathan Klug, colonel, US Army, and assistant professor, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College Teaser: Many track the start of World War II to Poland in 1939. In Blood Ruins, Richard Overy contends the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria was the start of an Asian war that later merged into the 1939 war in Europe when Japan attacked America in 1939. The book addresses policy and strategy as well as operational, technical, and tactical issues. https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/29
Book Review: Blood and Ruins: The Last Imperial War, 1931–1945
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Book Review: The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/28 Author: Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr. Reviewed by Zachery Tyson Brown, defense analyst, Office of the Secretary of Defense Andrew F. Krepinevich has questions for policymakers when it comes to emerging technologies and warfare. In The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers, Krepinevich asks: How do states gain advantages in military competition during periods of disruptive change? How are developmental technologies best incorporated into legacy military structures? Or are entirely new structures necessary?
Book Review: The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers 
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Book Review: Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/27 Author: Paul Scharre Reviewed by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, director of research and analysis, managing partner, C/O Futures, LLC TEASER: Award-winning author Paul Scharre’s latest work, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, envisions artificial intelligence as ushering in a “new industrial revolution” with big military, economic, and political implications. The reviewer sees this “readable, tightly structured” book as “fascinating and important work from a US national security studies perspective” and “after-hours supplemental reading for US military and policy professionals who want to understand the political-military importance of AI and its strategic (in fact, civilizational) implications for the future.”
Book Review: Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
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