Army War College - SSI News

Decoding China’s 15th Five-Year Plan

COL Kyle Marcrum — Fri, 15 May 2026 19:37:21 GMT

China’s latest Five-Year Plan signals that it has become more pessimistic about the global environment, seeing it as uncertain and unstable. However, the Chinese Communist Party sees opportunity in that instability to promote the Community of Common Destiny, their new model of global governance. The Five-Year Plan also signals that the Chinese will continue to use the United Nations to advance this new global governance system.

Taiwan’s Special Defense Budget and KMT Trip to Beijing, Part 2

Pentagon News — Thu, 14 May 2026 19:47:00 GMT

In part two of this two-part episode, COL Kyle Marcrum and Dr. Jessica Liao discuss Taiwan President Lai’s special defense budget and the Kuomingdang Chair, Cheng Li-wun, visit to Beijing.

Parameters | Summer 2026

Pentagon News — Thu, 14 May 2026 14:18:13 GMT

Welcome to the Summer 2026 issue of Parameters, which consists of two In Focus special commentaries, three forums (Indo-Pacific, Strategy, and Historical Studies) and the Strategic Competition Corner.

Taiwan’s Special Defense Budget and KMT Trip to Beijing, Part 1

Pentagon News — Wed, 13 May 2026 19:13:00 GMT

In part one of this two-part episode, COL Kyle Marcrum and Dr. Jessica Liao discuss Taiwan President Lai’s special defense budget and why it is stalled in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan.

Book Review: Hero of Fort Sumter: The Extraordinary Life of Robert Anderson

Pentagon News — Tue, 12 May 2026 18:37:00 GMT

In Hero of Fort Sumter: The Extraordinary Life of Robert Anderson, Wesley Moody brings to life the man whose stand at the dawn of the Civil War helped shape the nation’s destiny. From frontier battles to the dramatic siege of Fort Sumter, Anderson’s story is one of quiet courage and pivotal leadership. This compelling biography reveals how one soldier’s sense of duty helped ignite a war—and preserve a Union.

Book Review: The New Cold War and the Remaking of Regions

Pentagon News — Tue, 12 May 2026 18:32:00 GMT

Great-power rivalry is reshaping the global landscape, and The New Cold War and the Remaking of Regions explores how this competition is redefining regional orders across the world. Edited by T. V. Paul and Markus Kornprobst, the book brings together leading scholars to examine how states respond to strategic pressures in a fragmented international system. It’s a timely and thought-provoking analysis of the new geopolitical realities facing regions from Europe to Asia.

Book Review: Proxy Wars from a Global Perspective: Non-State Actors and Armed Conflicts

Pentagon News — Tue, 12 May 2026 18:23:00 GMT

States are increasingly turning to non-state actors to fight their battles, reshaping the nature of modern warfare. Proxy Wars from a Global Perspective, edited by Paweł Bernat, Cüneyt Gürer, and Cyprian Aleksander Kozera, offers a sweeping analysis of this trend through case studies from Mali, Ukraine, Syria, and beyond. With insights from international relations and security experts, the book challenges outdated Cold War frameworks and introduces a new paradigm for understanding outsourced conflict in a multipolar world.

Book Review: Nothing but Courage: The 82nd Airborne's Daring D-Day Mission—and Their Heroic Charge Across the La Fière Bridge

Pentagon News — Tue, 12 May 2026 18:02:00 GMT

In this riveting account, James Donovan tells the dramatic story of the 82nd Airborne Division’s mission to seize and hold the La Fière bridge—an unassuming but vital link in the success of the D-Day invasion. Dropped behind enemy lines hours before the beach landings, these paratroopers faced overwhelming odds in a brutal three-day battle that culminated in a near-suicidal charge across a narrow causeway. Blending firsthand accounts, archival research, and battlefield visits, Donovan honors the courage and sacrifice that helped turn the tide of World War II.

Book Review: China's Air Power and Maritime Strategies Towards the Indian Ocean Region

Pentagon News — Tue, 12 May 2026 18:01:00 GMT

How is China reshaping the strategic balance in the Indian Ocean? In China's Air Power and Maritime Strategies Towards the Indian Ocean Region, Joshy M. Paul explores Beijing’s military modernization, naval expansion, and airpower ambitions as it seeks dominance through bases, partnerships, and economic leverage. This timely analysis reveals the growing contest between China’s expeditionary capabilities and India’s deterrence strategies in one of the world’s most critical maritime theaters.

Taking a Toll: How Allowing Iran to Charge for Transit in the Strait of Hormuz Could Undermine US Strategy in the Pacific and Beyond

Daphné Richemond-Barak and Jacob Stoil — Mon, 11 May 2026 13:59:00 GMT

In April, Iran began charging ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz a “toll” for safe passage. By itself, this represents a dangerous new dynamic in the Middle East that may have begun with the Houthis in Yemen as early as 2024, wherein parties extort international commerce by imposing fees in exchange for safe transit as part of their war effort. Although some countries have agreed to pay Iran’s fees, many countries such as the United Kingdom as well as organizations, including one representing the majority of tanker firms, have condemned it.

Sustaining the Vanguard: PRC Subsistence Modernization and the Calculus of PLA Endurance

Pentagon News — Mon, 11 May 2026 13:49:57 GMT

Ali Ayoub

China Maritime Report #53: Filling the Ranks: China's Military Recruiting System and the PLA Navy

Erin Richter and Joshua Arostegui — Wed, 06 May 2026 18:50:11 GMT

This report outlines People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) recruiting processes within the overarching context of China’s military personnel accession systems. Within China, most recruitment, mobilization, and service assignment of military personnel is managed through a centralized national military service system, with individual services retaining some recruitment authorities for officers, sergeants, and civilians. It is not possible to effectively discuss Navy recruitment without understanding this overarching system.

SSI Live 124 – The Selective Service System

Pentagon News — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:41:00 GMT

In this episode of SSI Live, Major Brennan Deveraux interviews Dr. Michael Lynch on his involvement with the Selective Service System. The conversation explores the history of the military draft and the contemporary challenges of implementing a modern-day draft to support a large-scale war.

Can AI Pass the US Army War College?

Pentagon News — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:47:30 GMT

The US Army War College oral comprehensive examination serves as the institution’s capstone, measuring its senior officers’ strategic thinking. In early 2026, three faculty panels applied that standard to four leading commercial artificial intelligence (AI) systems: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Grok. Prompted without core curriculum materials, all four models passed. Unlike static benchmarks, the examination’s impromptu dialogue format revealed meaningful performance differences that were invisible in general-purpose evaluations, with one model performing at a statistically significant advantage. These findings challenge how the Department of War assesses commercial AI for strategic applications and point toward domain-specific, dialogue-based benchmarking as a more rigorous standard.

On the Pacific, USARPAC, and China

Pentagon News — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:11:00 GMT

In this episode, COL Mike Long and LTG Joel B. Vowell discuss the US Army Pacific and the role of USARPAC.

On Islands, Straits, and Strategy: The United States, Iran, and the Islands of the Persian Gulf

Pentagon News — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:42:00 GMT

Jacob Stoil

Standing Up the Strategic Competition Center

Pentagon News — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:39:00 GMT

In this episode, Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria II and Major Brennan Deveraux discuss the Strategic Competition Center, its mission and anticipated activities, and Echevarria's inaugural Strategic Competition Corner article.

2026 Carlisle Conference on the PLA: The PLA’s Capability to React to Crises

Pentagon News — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:06:00 GMT

The US Army War College (USAWC) Strategic Studies Institute’s (SSI) held its annual Carlisle Conference on the PLA on March 25 and 26, 2026, in the Army Heritage and Education Center at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The China Landpower Studies Center (CLSC) successfully hosted the event for the second time, bringing together more than 100 war fighters, policymakers, and China-focused experts to analyze and debate the PRC’s capabilities to react to regional and strategic-level crises. Participants from the US Department of War and Intelligence Community joined professionals from academia, think tanks, private industry, and other US government organizations to listen and respond to a series of expert panels and discuss panelist findings and other topics of interest in impactful breakout discussions.

Book Review: GSG 9: From Munich to Mogadishu: The Birth of Germany's Counterterrorism Force

Pentagon News — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:05:00 GMT

In the wake of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, Germany forged GSG 9—an elite counterterrorism unit that would stun the world with its daring 1977 rescue mission in Mogadishu. Martin Herzog’s gripping account traces the unit’s evolution from humble beginnings to global renown, drawing on exclusive interviews and archival research. This book tells the untold story of how one covert force reshaped modern counterterrorism—and inspired the creation of America’s Delta Force.

Book Review: Training for Victory: U.S. Special Forces Advisory Operations from El Salvador to Afghanistan

Pentagon News — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:04:00 GMT

What makes some US Special Forces advisory missions succeed while others fail? In Training for Victory, Frank K. Sobchak examines five decades of elite Green Beret operations—from El Salvador to Afghanistan—to uncover the critical factors behind building effective partner forces. Challenging conventional wisdom, this book reveals surprising truths about language, culture, and combat advising in America’s most complex wars.