Recent Publications

“A Bizarre Pair: Counterinsurgency Lessons for Cyber Conflict”
September 4, 2020 — The lessons of counterinsurgency have deeper implications for cyber conflict than previous research has identified. Two decades of experience in Iraq and Afghanistan provide insights into the cyber strategy of defending forward including treating major cybersecurity and technology companies as host-nation partners and focusing on winning the hearts... MORE

Mission Command of Multi-Domain Operations
September 2, 2020 — Mark Balboni, John A. Bonin, Robert Mundell, Doug Orsi, 2020This research monograph explores the Army’s emerging concept of multi-domain operations and its implications on the mission command approach. The transition to multi-domain operations changes the traditional view of how Army commanders and staffs conduct operations in the physical... MORE

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“The COVID-19 Enemy Is Still Advancing”
September 1, 2020 — The US military has a historical precedence for dealing with a pandemic while simultaneously conducting large-scale combat operations. Two twentieth-century examples assess the extent to which the military adapted operations following an influenza outbreak, and make clear military and civilian leaders must balance strategic objectives when facing... MORE

NATO Needs to Focus on the Black Sea
August 4, 2020 — Robert E. Hamilton, 2020, the Foreign Policy Research InstituteWilliam of Ockham would like a word with those who worry more about a potential Russian invasion of the Baltics than ongoing interventions in the Balkans.“Of two competing theories, the simpler explanation” is to be preferred, wrote William of Ockham, an injunction that some Western... MORE

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SSI Live 81 – Addressing Hypercompetition in the Indo-Pacific Theater
July 24, 2020 — Given the multifaceted great power competition underway in the Indo-Pacific theater, how can the United States military best position itself? What role can and should the Army play in facilitating a joint approach? After a two-year hiatus, SSI Live returns as Dr. John R. Deni discusses a major newly released SSI study on USINDOPACOM theater design... MORE

An Army Transformed: USINDOPACOM Hypercompetition and US Army Theater Design
July 17, 2020 — Mr. Nathan P. Freier, John Schaus, William G. Braun IIIThe United States faces a hypercompetitive geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific region, arguably the most consequential theater for US national interests over the coming decades. Although the United States has created exquisite military capabilities to counter insurgencies and fight... MORE

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Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL) 2021-2022
July 7, 2020 — Editor: COL Steve Cunningham, USAWC Strategic Studies InstituteNew for Academic Years 2021-2022, the USAWC has published an updated Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL). The KSIL informs students, faculty, and external research associates of strategic topics requiring research and analysis. The USAWC in coordination with Headquarters Department of the... MORE

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Striking the Balance: US Army Force Posture in Europe, 2028—A Study Sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of the Army
June 24, 2020 — Authors: J.P. Clark and C. Anthony PfaffWithin the context of Europe, the US Army must develop a force posture that best navigates the tensions between deterring or defeating armed conflict at acceptable cost, successfully competing below armed conflict, and maintaining global responsiveness and institutional flexibility through the global... MORE

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Future Warfare: Weaponizing Critical Infrastructure
June 7, 2020 — Dr. Carol V. Evans, 2020Adversaries are actively targeting US and NATO critical infrastructure, particularly energy, transportation, information, communications, and the defense industrial base sectors to undermine military capability, readiness, and force projection. In some cases, adversaries are penetrating the critical infrastructure of the... MORE

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Russia’s War in Syria: Assessing Russian Military Capabilities and Lessons Learned
June 1, 2020 — Robert E. Hamilton, 2020, the Foreign Policy Research InstituteThis edited volume, Russia’s War in Syria: Assessing Russian Military Capabilities and Lessons Learned, published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, sets out to examine the Russian Federation’s way of war in Syria. It consists of seven chapters, authored by nine subject-matter... MORE

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Natural Gas in the Black Sea: Strengthening Cooperation and Balancing Power
May 27, 2020 — Robert E. Hamilton, Anna Mikulska, 2020Heterogenous, varied, diverse – few other words can concisely describe the Black Sea region. Beyond their obvious geographical proximity, there is little that unites these countries. Wedged between different continents, religions, and cultures, they also vary in size, economic prowess, and geopolitical... MORE

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Military Ethics below the Threshold of War
May 15, 2020 — Dr. C. Anthony Pfaff, 2020The future of military ethics will be profoundly affected by competition below the level of war. Such competition de-emphasizes military force while expanding permissions on the ways and means militaries employ to shape enemy interests. This resulting new ethic will introduce norms associated with escalation, reprisal, and... MORE

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