Recent Publications

Opium and Afghanistan: Reassessing U.S. Counternarcotics Strategy
October 1, 2007 — Author: LTC John A Glaze Cultivation and production of opium in Afghanistan have skyrocketed since the Taliban were toppled in 2001 such that Afghanistan now supplies 92 percent of the world’s illicit opium. The expanding opium trade is threatening to destabilize the Afghan government and turn the conflict-ridden country back into a safe haven for... MORE

Making Riflemen from Mud: Restoring the Army’s Culture of Irregular Warfare
October 1, 2007 — Author: LTC James D Campbell Prior to World War II, the Army had a deeply ingrained facility with and acceptance of what we now term unconventional warfare—raising, training, advising, and cooperating with tribal militias, local paramilitaries, and other nonstate armed groups. This culture of irregular warfare was attributable to nearly 300 years... MORE

The Army and Defense Resource Allocation: The Bronze Medal Ain’t Good Enough in a Three-Man Race
October 1, 2007 — Author: LTC Tim Flanagan This paper examines the current state of the Army’s funding in relation to its needs as well as in relation to its historical proportion of the Department of Defense (DoD) budget. DoD has traditionally allocated the Army approximately a quarter of the overall DoD budget, while the Navy and Air Force have received greater... MORE

The Eastern Dimension of America’s New European Allies
October 1, 2007 — Author: Mr Janusz Bugajski Without a realistic prospect for NATO and EU accession, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Georgia will become sources of domestic and regional instability and objects of Russia’s neo-imperialist ambitions that will undermine American and European strategic interests. The new members of NATO and the EU have sought to develop... MORE

The United States and ASEAN-China Relations: All Quiet on the Southeast Asian Front
October 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Ian Storey While the overall security situation in Southeast Asia is something of a mixed bag, with grounds for both optimism and pessimism, one of the most encouraging trends in recent years has been the development of ASEAN’s relations with major external powers. Relations between China and ASEAN in particular have demonstrated a... MORE

The Summit: Mirage or Milestone?
October 1, 2007 — 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 October 2007 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Transformation Under Fire: A Historical Case Study with Modern Parallels
October 1, 2007 — Author: Major Raymond A Kimball The Bolshevik leaders who built the Red Army from the shattered remnants of the Imperial Russian Army after World War I were far more innovative and pragmatic than usually believed. These men had a clear vision of what they needed from their armed forces and sustained that vision through years of sustained combat... MORE

ASEAN and Its Security Offspring: Facing New Challenges
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Sheldon W Simon Southeast Asian states within ASEAN agree that security relations with the great powers are best achieved by enmeshing the latter in ASEAN procedures. The primary goal of ASEAN is that China, Japan, the United States, and India commit to maintaining Southeast Asia's autonomy, integrity, and prosperity. ASEAN is less... MORE

Turkmenistan and Central Asia after Niyazov
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank President Sapirmurat Niyazov, the all-powerful leader of Turkmenistan, suddenly died on December 21, 2006. Because Central Asia is a cockpit of great power rivalry and a potential theater in the Global War on Terrorism, no sooner had Niyazov died than the great powers were all in Turkmenistan seeking to influence its... MORE

Kuwaiti National Security and the U.S.-Kuwaiti Strategic Relationship after Saddam
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill The U.S.-Kuwaiti military and political relationship has been of considerable value to both countries since at least 1990. This alliance was formed in the aftermath of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s brutal invasion of Kuwait and the U.S. decision to free Kuwait with military force in 1991. Saddam’s later defeat and... MORE

Egypt: Security, Political, and Islamist Challenges
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Sherifa D Zuhur This monograph approaches three issues in contemporary Egypt: failures of governance and political development, the continued strength of Islamism, and counterterrorism. The Egyptian government forged a truce with its most troublesome Islamist militants in 1999. However, violence emerged again from new sources of Islamist... MORE

The Reserve Policies of Nations: A Comparative Analysis
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Richard Weitz Throughout the world, military reserves are changing. National governments are transforming the relationships between their active and reserve components, the allocation of roles and responsibilities among reserve forces, and the way they train, equip, and employ reservists. Nations no longer consider their reservists as... MORE