Recent Publications

The Other Special Relationship: The United States and Australia at the Start of the 21st Century
February 1, 2007 — Authors: Dr Jeffrey D McCausland, Dr Douglas Stuart, Prof William T Tow, Prof Michael Wesley This volume summarizes the major findings of the conference participants over the last year. Beyond the thematic resemblance between this volume and the previous study of U.S.-UK relations,another similarity is the importance of two events in determining... MORE

The New Totalitarians: Social Identities and Radical islamist Political Grand Strategy
January 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Douglas J Macdonald The author argues that the social identity theory behind the “clash of civilizations” thesis is useful for analyzing the tasks before us in the “Long War” on Terrorism. The “clash of civilizations” is not actually occurring, he argues, but is rather the end goal of radical Islamist political grand strategy.Radical... MORE

Negotiating with Iran and Syria over Iraq
January 1, 2007 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the January 2007 newsletter.Read Now MORE

A Nation at War
January 1, 2007 — Author: Prof John R Martin One of the basics of strategy is understanding the foe and the type of war in which a nation is involved. Perhaps even more basic than that is the seemingly simple requirement to understand that the nation is at war. The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) does not fit easily into the mold of war, but that is because of too... MORE

Learning from Iraq: Counterinsurgency in American Strategy
January 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Steven Metz While the involvement of the United States in counterinsurgency has a long history, it had faded in importance in the years following the end of the Cold War. When American forces first confronted it in Iraq, they were not fully prepared. Since then, the U.S. military and other government agencies have expended much effort to... MORE

Rosoboroneksport: Arms Sales and the Structure of Russian Defense Industry
January 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Although Russian observers believe that Washington imposed sanctions in Russian arms sellers and producers because of these firms’ arms sales to Venezuela. Sales to such dangerous states oblige us to analyze the Russian defense export program and the structure of its defense industry. Until now, that industry would have... MORE

Naval Transformation, Ground Forces, and the Expeditionary Impulse: The Sea-Basing Debate
December 1, 2006 — Author: Prof Geoffrey Till Reviewing the past, present, and future contribution of maritime forces to the conduct of expeditionary operations, the author concludes that the importance of this contribution is growing. He considers the diplomatic and "good order" roles of maritime forces which enable such operations in the first place. He reviews... MORE

Castro’s Cuba: Quo Vadis?
December 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Francisco Wong-Diaz The United States, particularly the Army, has a long history of involvement with Cuba. It has included, among others, the Spanish-American War of 1898, military interventions in 1906 and 1912, the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, the 1962 Missile Crisis, counterinsurgency, and low intensity warfare in Latin America and... MORE

Iraq, Women’s Empowerment and Public Policy
December 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Sherifa D Zuhur The role and experience of women is not always considered in wartime or during stabilization and reconstruction operations. In Iraq, it is essential to consider women’s needs and the obstacles they now face. The author examines some of the difficulties that attend policy formulation on Iraqi women, who have identified the... MORE

Iraqi Security Forces and Lessons from Korea
December 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Sheila Miyoshi Jager Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the December 2006 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Regional Fears of Western Primacy and the Future of U.S. Middle Eastern Basing Policy
December 1, 2006 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill The United States has a core national interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East as well as containing or eliminating threats emanating from that region. Yet, there is often disagreement on the ways to best achieve these goals. The author seeks to present his analysis of how the United States and... MORE

Challenging Transformation’s Clichés
December 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Critical thinkers analyze and refine ideas underpinning the foundation of American defense policy and military strategy today so the defense community can apply them in strategy and force development. This is an ongoing process: new ideas emerge, are tested, and adopted, revised, or discarded. The author... MORE