Recent Publications

Training Indigenous Forces in Counterinsurgency: A Tale of Two Insurgencies
March 1, 2006 — Author: Dr James S Corum The author examines the British experience in building and training indigenous police and military forces during the Malaya and Cyprus insurgencies. These two insurgencies provide a dramatic contrast to the issue of training local security forces. In Malaya, the British developed a very successful strategy for training the... MORE

Irregular Enemies and the Essence of Strategy: Can the American Way of War Adapt?
March 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Colin S Gray The author offers a detailed comparison between the character of irregular warfare, insurgency in particular, and the principal enduring features of "the American way." He concludes that there is a serious mismatch between that "way" and the kind of behavior that is most effective in countering irregular foes. The author... MORE

Recognizing and Understanding Revolutionary Change in Warfare: The Sovereignty of Context
February 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Colin S Gray The author provides a critical audit of the great RMA debate and of some actual RMA behavior and warns against a transformation that is highly potent only in a narrow range of strategic cases. He warns that the military effectiveness of a process of revolutionary change in a "way of war" can only be judged by the test of... MORE

Strategic Theory for the 21st Century: The Little Book on Big Strategy
February 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Harry R Yarger The word "strategy" pervades American conversation and our news media and is most often used as a general term for a plan, a concept, a course of action, or a "vision" of the direction in which to proceed at the personal, organizational, and governmental—local, state, or federal—levels. Such casual use of the term to... MORE

U.S.-UK Relations at the Start of the 21st Century
January 1, 2006 — Authors: Dr Jeffrey D McCausland, Dr Douglas Stuart Although there is widespread agreement that the United States is the world's most powerful country in military, economic, and diplomatic terms, and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, there is little agreement as to how the rest of the world will react to America's lead. Theory has... MORE

A Hundred Osamas: Islamist Threats and the Future of Counterinsurgency
January 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Sherifa D Zuhur This monograph takes its title from President Hosni Mubarak's prediction that American involvement in Iraq would give rise to a "hundred Osamas." The author explores "the new jihad" and the regeneration of Islamist insurgencies and extremist movements in the context of religious and political movements throughout the... MORE

The Mexican Armed Forces in Transition
January 1, 2006 — Authors: Dr Jordi Diez, COL Ian Nicholls After the 9/11 attacks on the United States, homeland defense became the primary issue in U.S. defense policy. It was clear that homeland defense would have to become a trilateral continental issue and include Canada and Mexico. Because the United States and Canada already had developed a relatively close... MORE

Winning the War by Winning the Peace: Strategy for Conflict and Post-Conflict in the 21st Century
December 1, 2004 — Author: COL Lloyd J MatthewsDuring each of the last 15 years, the U.S. Army War College has sponsored a broad-based strategy conference that addresses a major security issue of current relevance to the United States, its allies, and, indeed, the entire world. The conference theme for year 2004 was "Winning the War by Winning the Peace: Strategy for... MORE

The Paradox of Civil War
December 1, 2004 — Author: Dr Stephen D Biddle Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the December 2004 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Deception 101–Primer on Deception
December 1, 2004 — Author: Dr Joseph W Caddell The author reviews the basic concepts related to "deception." Dr. Joseph Caddell defines terms, provides historical examples, and discusses problems associated with deception. He provides a general overview, a "primer" which is not directed at those who already possess a working knowledge of deception operations... MORE

U.S.-Ukraine Military Relations and the Value of Interoperability
December 1, 2004 — Author: Mr Leonid I Polyakov Ukraine's destiny is critical to the security of the entire post-Soviet zone. It long has been the stated goal of Ukrainian defense policy to integrate with Euro-Atlantic structures like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and this goal has been one of the chief objectives of the United States, as well... MORE

Chinese Crisis Management
November 5, 2004 — Author: Mr Andy Gudgel Over 50 experts on China and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) gathered at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, from October 1-3, to attend the 2004 Chinese Crisis Management Conference. Cosponsored by the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, and the U.S. Army War College, the conference participants... MORE