Recent Publications

Leadership and National Security Reform: The Next President’s Agenda
October 1, 2008 — Authors: Dr Joseph R Cerami, Dr Robert H Dorff, Ms Lisa Moorman On March 20, 2008, the Bush School of Texas A&M University hosted a conference on “Leadership and National Security Reform: The Next President’s Agenda.” The participants examined the contemporary international environment and American national security policy for the next presidential... MORE

Dueling Natures
October 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the October 2008 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Slowing Military Change
October 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Zhivan Alach The author looks at the development of military technology in recent years. He examines three major platforms: fighter aircraft, tanks, and cruisers, examining the gaps between generations as well as the capability gains of each succeeding type. While development has slowed, at the same time capability increases have also... MORE

The View from There
September 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Sherifa D Zuhur Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the September 2008 newsletter.Read Now MORE

The 2006 Lebanon Campaign and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy
September 1, 2008 — Authors: Dr Stephen D Biddle, Mr Jeffrey A Friedman Many now see future warfare as a matter of nonstate actors employing irregular methods against Western states. This expectation has given rise to a range of sweeping proposals for transforming the U.S. military to meet such threats. In this context, Hezbollah’s 2006 campaign in southern Lebanon... MORE

U.S. Counterterrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa: Understanding Costs, Cultures, and Conflicts
September 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Donovan C Chau Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has never been the centerpiece of U.S. foreign and defense policy. Yet the current struggle between the United States and its allies against terrorist groups and individuals motivated by Islamic extremism thrusts SSA forward as a front in the global conflict. The author asks, centrally, what is the... MORE

The “People” in the PLA: Recruitment, Training, and Education in China’s Military
August 1, 2008 — Authors: Mr Roy Kamphausen, Dr Andrew Scobell, Mr Travis Tanner This volume represents the latest in the series published by the Strategic Studies Institute and describes the advances and reforms the PLA has made in its recruitment, officer and NCO training and education, and mobilization. As part of its larger reform effort to modernize and... MORE

Real Change or Retrenchment?
August 1, 2008 — Author: 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.Read Now MORE

China-Russia Security Relations: Strategic Parallelism without Partnership or Passion?
August 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Richard Weitz This report argues that, although Chinese-Russian relations have improved along several important dimensions, security cooperation between Beijing and Moscow has remained limited, episodic, and tenuous. The two governments support each other on select issues but differ on others. Since these interests conflict as well as... MORE

The American Military Advisor: Dealing with Senior Foreign Officials in the Islamic World
August 1, 2008 — Author: Mr Michael J Metrinko Although the role of the military advisor to senior foreign officials is honored in political history, it became almost a forgotten art when it was needed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Whatever the past, the American military services are now fully engaged in nation-building in the Iraqi and Afghan conflict zones, and the... MORE

Civil-Military Relations in a Post-9/11 World
July 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Leonard Wong The civil-military relationship, and specifically the interaction between civilian leadership and uniformed military leaders, relies on the attitudes and actions of both civilians and the military. Although recently there has been tension in the relationship between civilian leadership and the uniformed (and retired)... MORE

Key Strategic Issues List, July 2008
July 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II The Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL) offers military and civilian researchers a ready reference of topics that are of particular interest to the Department of the Army and the Department of Defense. The KSIL performs a valuable service by linking the research community with major defense organizations which, in... MORE