Recent Publications

Transnational Organized Crime, Terrorism, and Criminalized States in Latin America: An Emerging Tier-One National Security Priority
August 1, 2012 — Author: Mr Douglas Farah The emergence of new hybrid (state and nonstate) transnational criminal/terrorist franchises in Latin America operating under broad state protection now pose a tier-one security threat for the United States. Similar hybrid franchise models are developing in other parts of the world, which makes the understanding of these... MORE

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The Promise and Pitfalls of Grand Strategy
August 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Hal Brands What is “grand strategy,” and why is it seemingly so important and so difficult? This monograph explores the concept of grand strategy as it has developed over the past several decades. It explains why the concept is so ubiquitous in discussions of present-day foreign policy, examines why American officials often find the... MORE

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Culture, Identity, and Information Technology in the 21st Century: Implications for U.S. National Security
August 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Pauline Kusiak While it is impossible to predict the values and beliefs of future generations, a modest forecast is made by tracing global trends in the use of language and media, as well as in the use of information and communication technologies. The potential implications of these culture and identity trends for the strength of the... MORE

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Arms Control and European Security
August 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank, COL Louis H Jordan Jr The following three papers comprise one of the panels from a conference on U.S.-Russia relations that SSI co-sponsored with the Carnegie Council at Pocantico, NY, from June 1-3, 2011: Carnegie Council's Program on “U.S. Global Engagement: A Two-Year Retrospective.” The papers offer three contrasting... MORE

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2012-13 Key Strategic Issues List
August 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Update No. 1 and Update No. 2 to the KSIL are now available with additional topics.Unlike other lists that generally reflect issues which are operational or tactical in nature, the focus of the Key Strategic Issues List is strategic. The spotlight is, in other words, on those items that senior Army and Department... MORE

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Op-Ed: Fixing the Future Rather Than the Past
July 16, 2012 — Dr. Jack A. LeCuyer To succeed, we must update, balance, and integrate all of the tools of American power. . . This requires close cooperation with Congress and a deliberate and inclusive interagency process so that we achieve integration of our efforts to implement and monitor operations, policies, and strategies.National Security Strategy of May... MORE

Breaking News Analysis: The Future of the U.S. Political and Military Relationship with Egypt
July 9, 2012 — Dr. W. Andrew Terrill The Egyptian political system is currently undergoing significant change, although the outcome of this process remains subject to a great deal of uncertainty. There are numerous influential players involved in the struggle for political power, but the two that are of greatest interest at the present time are the Muslim... MORE

Colloquium Brief: Visual Propaganda and Online Radicalization
July 2, 2012 — Key Insights: Visual images have real power that is separate from the words with which they appear and need to be studied distinctly from those words, using methods developed specifically for dealing with images. The study of visual images is especially important in the online environment, where most terrorist and extremist groups of concern to the U.S. produce a great deal of material that is primarily visual in nature... MORE

U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Vol 2: National Security Policy and Strategy, 5th Ed.
July 1, 2012 — Author: Dr J Boone Bartholomees Jr This edition of the U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues continues to reflect the structure and approach of the core national security strategy and policy curriculum at the U.S. Army War College. The 5th Edition is published in two volumes that correspond roughly to the Department of National... MORE

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The Next Arms Race
July 1, 2012 — Author: Mr Henry D Sokolski The New Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (New START) agreement was reached in 2011, and both Russia and the United States are bringing nuclear strategic warhead deployments down to roughly 1,500 on each side. In the next round of strategic arms reduction talks, though, U.S. officials hope to cut far deeper; perhaps as low... MORE

Op-Ed: Relearning War
June 3, 2012 — Dr. Stephen J. Blank Today, the United States stands at a strategic crossroads. As troops leave Afghanistan and U.S. policy reorients itself toward emphasizing the Asia-Pacific region, the visible signs of being at an inflection point multiply. Yet, there are some glaring absences in U.S. strategic thinking that could again lead us awry, as... MORE

U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Vol. 1: Theory of War and Strategy, 5th Ed.
June 1, 2012 — Author: Dr J Boone Bartholomees Jr This edition of the U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues continues to reflect the structure and approach of the core national security strategy and policy curriculum at the U.S. Army War College. The 5th Edition is published in two volumes that correspond roughly to the Department of National... MORE

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