Recent Publications

Transforming to Effects-Based Operations: Lessons from the United Kingdom Experience
January 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Andrew M Dorman The author examines the extent to which the United Kingdom (UK) has transitioned to effects-based operations to ascertain: (1) Areas where the U.S. Army could draw lessons from UK policies; (2) Areas where the U.S. Army and the British Ministry of Defence could develop integrated or complementary approaches and doctrines... MORE

Women in Combat Compendium
January 1, 2008 — Authors: Dr Douglas V Johnson II, COL Michele M Putko These facts involving women in combat are: Women comprise approximately 15 percent of the U.S. Army today, and as of September 2007, 70 Army women have been killed and a significantly larger number wounded; the American public is vaguely aware of this state of affairs and has raised no outcry... MORE

A Contemporary Challenge to State Sovereignty: Gangs and Other Illicit Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) in Central America, El Salvador, Mexico, Jamaica, and Brazil
December 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Max G Manwaring Another kind of war within the context of a “clash of civilizations” is being waged in various parts of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere around the world today. Some of the main protagonists are those who have come to be designated as first-second-, and third-generation street gangs, as... MORE

Is it Time to Mandate Volunteerism?
December 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Leonard Wong Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the December 2007 newsletter.Read Now MORE

The Interagency and Counterinsurgency Warfare: Aligning and Integrating Military and Civilian Roles in Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction Operations
December 1, 2007 — Author: Mr Jay W Boggs, Dr Joseph R Cerami For decades since the formation of the defense establishment under the 1947 National Security Act, all U.S. cabinet departments, national security agencies, and military services involved in providing for the common defense have struggled to overcome differences in policy and strategy formulation,... MORE

Sustaining the Peace After Civil War
December 1, 2007 — Author: Dr T David Mason Since the end of World War II, there have been four times as many civil wars as interstate wars. For a small subset of nations civil war is a chronic condition: about half of the civil war nations have had at least two and as many as six conflicts. This book presents an analytical framework that has been used to identify a... MORE

East Asian Security: Two Views
November 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Gilbert Rozman, Dr Chu Shulong A new framework for Northeast Asian security must cope with the legacy of six decades of frequent changes in the region’s great power relations. In order to realize the goals of the Joint Agreement in the Six-Party Talks, multilateralism is becoming more important. U.S. leadership faces challenges from: the... MORE

Russian Security Strategy under Putin: U.S. and Russian Perspectives
November 1, 2007 — Author: Dr R Craig Nation, Mr Dmitri Trenin The authors illustrate the degree to which great power rivalry in Eurasia has become a major security issue and source of growing Russo-American tensions. Dr. R. Craig Nation lays out some of the fundamental macro-strategic issues of this rivalry and U.S. goals in Eurasia, as well as the consequences... MORE

Force and Restraint in Strategic Deterrence: A Game-Theorist’s Perspective
November 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Roger B Myerson A great power’s use of its military forces may be rendered ineffective or even counterproductive when there are no clear internationally recognizable limits on this use of force. Professor Myerson derives this conclusion from the basic observation that our ability to influence potential rivals depends on a balanced mix of... MORE

AFRICOM’s Dilemma: The “Global War on Terrorism” “Capacity Building,” Humanitarianism, and the Future of U.S. Security Policy in Africa
November 1, 2007 — Author: Mr Robert G Berschinski Africa is a continent of growing economic, social, political, and geostrategic importance. The establishment of a new Combatant Command for Africa–AFRICOM–marks an important milestone in the evolution of relations between the United States and the governments of Africa. Through AFRICOM, the U.S. Department of Defense... MORE

Regional Threats and Security Strategy: The Troubling Case of Today’s Middle East
November 1, 2007 — Author: Mr James A Russell The United States needs to undertake a strategic regional net assessment that examines the following issues as it seeks to construct a regional security strategy to protect its interests and mitigate wider threats to international security. That net assessment should include reviewing the role of security guarantees in... MORE

On the Uses of Cultural Knowledge
November 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Sheila Miyoshi Jager The author explores the role that cultural knowledge must play in thinking about a new strategy for counterinsurgency. Although the importance of cultural awareness and understanding of adversary societies has been widely recognized as essential to operations and tactics on the battlefield, its significance has been... MORE