Recent Publications

China has acquired a global network of strategically vital ports
November 8, 2023 — Carol V. Evans | A decade ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Maritime Silk Road, the oceanic component of his flagship Belt and Road Initiative aimed at improving China’s access to world markets by investing in transportation infrastructure. The initiative’s investments have since slowed as Chinese growth falters, the United States... MORE

The expansion is critical to China’s economic power and has significant military implications as well, analysts say. “This is not coincidental,” said Carol Evans, director of the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. “I firmly believe there is a strategic aspect to the particular ports they’re targeting for investment.”

Background photo credit: A dockworker passes by a container ship at the Chinese-operated port of Djibouti in 2015. (Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images), from the article https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/china-ports-trade-military-navy/

The New Russian Engagement with Latin America: Strategic Position, Commerce, and Dreams of the Past
June 17, 2015 — Author: Dr R Evan Ellis View the Executive SummaryIn many ways, Russia’s expanded engagement in Latin America as a response to escalating tension over the Ukraine was a repetition of its answer to U.S. involvement in the 2008 conflict in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. In the latter conflict, the U.S. deployed naval forces to the Black Sea... MORE

The Army Should Embrace A2/AD — A Rebuttal
October 3, 2013 — COL Vincent AlcazarIn July, in a Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) and U.S. Army War College (USAWC) Press editorial, Dr. Alex Crowther writes that the U.S. Army should embrace Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD).1 In strict terms, I agree with Dr. Crowther’s proposition: the Department of the Army should “embrace” A2/AD; however, I disagree with the... MORE

Learning by Doing: The PLA Trains at Home and Abroad
November 1, 2012 — Authors: Mr Roy Kamphausen, Dr David Lai, Mr Travis Tanner To better understand the PLA’s ability to employ its developing capabilities in a variety of potential scenarios, this year’s workshop examined how the PLA learns by doing, specifically through its exercises and noncombat operations at home and overseas, and through key logistical and... MORE

Cover for Learning by Doing: The PLA Trains at Home and Abroad

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