Recent Publications

Global Climate Change: National Security Implications
May 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Douglas V Johnson II On March 29-31, 2007, the Strategic Studies Institute and the Triangle Institute for Security Studies conducted a colloquium on “Global Climate Change: National Security Implications.” Other supporting organizations included the Army Environmental Policy Institute, The Center for Global Change (Duke University),... MORE

Russian-American Security Cooperation after St. Petersburg
April 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Richard Weitz Until Russia and the United States experience a change on government in 2008, the prospects for additional strategic arms control agreements, limits on destabilizing military operations, and joint ballistic missile defense programs appear unlikely. Yet, near-term opportunities for collaboration in the areas of cooperative... MORE

North Korean Foreign Relations in the Post-Cold War World
April 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Samuel S Kim The author examines North Korea’s foreign relations with China, Russia, Japan, the United States, and South Korea during the post-Cold War era. North Korea’s extended and heavy reliance on foreign aid and assistance —both military and economic—in the first 4 decades came from China, the Soviet Union, and communist bloc... MORE

North Korea’s Military Threat: Pyongyang’s Conventional Forces, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Ballistic Missiles
April 1, 2007 — Author: Capt (USN) John M Sanford, Dr Andrew Scobell North Korea's conventional capabilities have eroded but remain significant, including its sizeable contingent of special operations forces. Meanwhile, Pyongyang continues the vigorous development of its nuclear and missile programs, and has ongoing chemical and biological weapons programs... MORE

The Politics of Identity: History, Nationalism, and the Prospect for Peace in Post-Cold War East Asia
April 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Sheila Miyoshi Jager Both the Taiwan Strait and the Korean peninsula harbor real dangers for the Northeast Asian region. The clash between an increasingly divergent nationalist identity in China and in Taiwan represent a new challenge for U.S. policy in this area. Similarly, the rise of pan-Korean nationalism in South Korea, and an... MORE

Georgia After the Rose Revolution: Geopolitical Predicament and Implications for U.S. Policy
April 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Svante E Cornell The attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, enhanced the importance of both the Transcaucasus and Central Asia to American security. Overflight rights through the Caucasus to Central Asia and Afghanistan are vital components of the ongoing military effort there by both U.S. and NATO forces. But this... MORE

Biodefense Research Supporting the DoD: A New Strategic Vision
April 1, 2007 — Author: COL Coleen K Martinez The author examines the productivity of the Department of Defense’s biodefense research program over the course of more than 35 years, coupled with changes in the global research environment since the events of September 11, 2001. Where the deployment of a biologic agent of mass destruction is largely an unpredictable... MORE

From Munich to Munich
April 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the April 2007 newsletter.Read Now MORE

U.S. Interests in Central Asia and the Challenges to Them
March 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The author assesses the interests of the United States in Central Asia and the challenges to them. These challenges consist of the revival of the Taliban, Russo-Chinese efforts to oust U.S. strategic presence from the area, and the possibility of internal instability generated by the regression of local regimes form... MORE

Political Warfare in Sub-Saharan Africa: U.S. Capabilities and Chinese Operations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa
March 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Donovan C Chau Domestic and international terrorism aside, the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), are vying for influence over African governments and people. Not unlike the Cold War, the primary means of exerting influence in Africa is through the use of nonviolent instruments of grand strategy. The author considers... MORE

Chinese Perceptions of Traditional and Nontraditional Security Threats
March 1, 2007 — Author: Ms Susan L Craig To understand the motivations and decisions of China’s leadership and to behave in a manner so that we can influence them, we must try to understand the world as China does. This research is an attempt to do so by examining the writings and opinions of China’s scholars, journalists and leaders--its “influential elite.”... MORE

The Missing Debate
March 1, 2007 — Author: Prof John R Martin, Dr Gordon Rudd Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the March 2007 newsletter.Read Now MORE