Recent Publications

Op-Ed: Heading Toward the NATO Summit
April 9, 2012 — Dr. Jeffrey D. McCausland From the perspective of the Obama administration, the last NATO Summit that was held in Lisbon in November 2010 was critically important and was described as a great success in its aftermath. President Obama arrived in office with the goal of rebuilding American alliances, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)... MORE

Conflict Management and “Whole of Government”: Useful Tools for U.S. National Security Strategy?
April 1, 2012 — Authors: Dr Robert H Dorff, Dr Volker C Franke Today, America faces security challenges that are exceedingly dynamic and complex, in part because of the ever changing mix and number of actors involved and the pace with which the strategic and operational environments change. To meet these new challenges more effectively, the Obama administration... MORE

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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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