Recent Publications

The Prospects for Security Sector Reform in Tunisia: A Year After the Revolution
September 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Querine Hanlon In the year since the revolution, Tunisia has achieved what no other Arab Spring country has managed: peaceful transition to democratic rule through national elections widely viewed to be free and fair. The legacy of the previous regime, however, remains. Dr. Querine Hanlon assesses the prospects for Security Sector Reform... MORE

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Russia and the Current State of Arms Control
September 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Arms control remains the central issue in U.S.-Russian relations for many reasons, including the respective capabilities of these two states and their consequent responsibility for preventing both nuclear proliferation and the outbreak of war between them. The bilateral relationship is usually directly proportional to the... MORE

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Hidden Dragon, Crouching Lion: How China’s Advance in Africa is Underestimated and Africa’s Potential Underappreciated
September 1, 2012 — Author: Mr David E Brown The explosive growth of China’s economic interests in Africa—bilateral trade rocketed from $1 billion in 1990 to $150 billion in 2011—may be the most important trend in the continent’s foreign relations since the end of the Cold War. In 2010, China surpassed the United States as Africa’s top trading partner; its quest to... MORE

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Lead Me, Follow Me, Or Get Out of My Way: Rethinking and Refining the Civil-Military Relationship
September 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Mark R Shulman This monograph explains why robust civil-military relations matter and discusses how they are evolving. Part I discusses A More Perfect Military: How the Constitution Can Make Our Military Stronger by Diane Mazur, a book that examines the jurisprudence that has reshaped civil-military relations. Mazur maintains that since... MORE

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Finding “The Right Way”: Toward an Army Institutional Ethic
September 1, 2012 — Author: LTC Clark C Barrett The ethical lapses exemplified by Abu Ghraib, Mahmudiyah (Blackhearts), and Maywand (5/2 Stryker) are distressing symptoms of an even bigger, and a potentially devastating cultural shortcoming. The U.S. Army profession lacks an institutional ethical framework and a means of peer-to-peer self-governance. The frameworks... MORE

2012-13 KSIL Update No. 01
August 31, 2012 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Please reference the main 2012-13 KSIL for a full list of topics.This is an update to the 2012-13 Key Strategic Issues List. It includes topics from I Corps, USACE, UNC/CFC/USFK, and U.S. Army South (ARSOUTH).Read Now MORE

Op-Ed: The New Security Reality: Not Business as Usual
August 20, 2012 — Dr. Max G. Manwaring The past several years have marked the beginning of a different security era than that to which we are accustomed. Accordingly, it requires a new orientation. Whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not, and whether we are prepared for it or not, the United States and the West are engaged in a number of unconventional,... MORE

Against All Odds: Relations between NATO and the MENA Region
August 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Florence Gaub While NATO was created with a primary outlook to the East, its Southern rim was neglected strategically until the end of the Cold War. Since then, the Alliance has undertaken a number of efforts to build strategic relationships with the Middle East and North Africa, recognizing the region’s importance for Allied security... MORE

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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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