Recent Publications

Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO
April 1, 2012 — Authors: Dr Jeffrey D McCausland, Dr Tom Nichols, Dr Douglas Stuart NATO has been a “nuclear” alliance since its inception. Nuclear weapons have served the dual purpose of being part of NATO military planning as well as being central to the Alliance’s deterrence strategy. For over 4 decades, NATO allies sought to find conventional and nuclear... MORE

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Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Instability
April 1, 2012 — Authors: Dr Vanda Felbab-Brown, Dr Phil Williams Although challenges posed by various kinds of violent armed groups initially appear highly diverse and unrelated to one another, in fact they all reflect the increasing connections between security and governance and, in particular, the relationship between poor governance and violent armed groups... MORE

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The Impact of Visual Images: Addendum
March 6, 2012 — Dr. Cori E. Dauber In briefings and presentations to military audiences over the last several years, I have offered one simple piece of advice: film everything. In a digital age, data storage is cheap. What is expensive is not being able to prove that propaganda claims about a particular mission, perhaps made months or years after the fact, distort... MORE

Op-Ed: Zen and the Art of Social Selfishness
March 4, 2012 — COL Louis H. Jordan, Jr The German word “Gemuetlichkeit” loosely translated means “cozy sociability,” or in our terms, that soft warm place where all is good. The European Union (EU), when formalized after the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, was to be gemuetlichkeit. But today, Germany, as well as many other EU countries, is running out of patience... MORE

Project on National Security Reform – Vol. 2: Case Studies Working Group Report
March 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Richard Weitz The case studies in this volume confirm the conclusions of other PNSR analyses that the performance of the U.S. national security apparatus in inconsistent. Although some cases illustrate relatively clear, integrated strategy development, unified policy implementation, and coherent tactical planning, coordination, and... MORE

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Delegitimizing Al-Qaeda: A Jihad-Realist Approach
March 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Paul Kamolnick Disrupting, dismantling, and ultimately defeating al-Qaeda based and inspired terrorism is a declared policy of the U.S. Government. Three key strategic objectives have been identified for accomplishing this: attacking al-Qaeda’s terror network, undermining radicalization and recruitment, and hardening homeland defense... MORE

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Busting the Myths About the North Korea Problem
February 23, 2012 — Dr. David Lai North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-il passed away on December 17, 2011. His servants followed his will to crown his 28-year-old son, Kim Jong-un, as the “Great Successor” to the Kim family dynasty. Skepticism abounds about the “untested” young emperor's ability to continue dynastic rule in North Korea. There are also speculations that... MORE

Op-Ed: Weekend at Osama’s
February 6, 2012 — Dr. Cori E. Dauber Even before Osama bin Laden was killed, the Obama administration began arguing that al-Qaeda was close to final defeat because so many of its senior leaders were now dead largely as a result of drone operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But that assessment depends on an awfully narrow definition of “al-Qaeda” — and of “dead.”... MORE

Once Again, the Challenge to the U.S. Army During a Defense Reduction: To Remain a Military Profession
February 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Don M Snider As with the post-Cold War downsizing during the Clinton administration in the late 1990s, one critical challenge for the U.S. Army centers on the qualitative, institutional character of the Army after the reductions—will the U.S. Army manifest the essential characteristics and behavior of a military profession with Soldiers... MORE

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Categorical Confusion? The Strategic Implications of Recognizing Challenges Either as Irregular or Traditional
February 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Colin S Gray Strategic theory should educate to enable effective strategic practice, but much of contemporary theory promotes confusion, not clarity, of suitable understanding. A little strategic theory goes a long way, at least it does if it is austere and focused on essentials. Unfortunately, contemporary strategic conceptualization in... MORE

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The Importance of Images to America’s Fight Against Violent Jihadism
January 24, 2012 — Dr. Cori E. Dauber Americans were surely equally dismayed about a video circulating at viral speed whether they found out about the story via email, discovered it on You Tube, on Twitter, on Facebook, or simply heard about it the old fashioned way; when a network news anchor reported it. The video appeared to show a group of U.S. Marine Corps... MORE

Preserving U.S. National Security Interests Through a Liberal World Construct
January 11, 2012 — LTC Kevin Fujimoto The emergence of peer competitors, not terrorism, presents the greatest long-term threat to our national security. Over the past decade, while the United States concentrated its geopolitical focus on fighting two land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, China has quietly begun implementing a strategy to emerge as the dominant imperial... MORE