Recent Publications

The War in Nicaragua
March 27, 2024 — Review Essay | Book Review: The War in NicaraguaAuthor: William Walker | Review essay by Colonel Joerg Stenzel, instructor, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College | Colonel Joerg Stenzel (German Army), an instructor at the US Army War College, lends his expertise in strategy to this review of "the most famous... MORE

Colonel Joerg Stenzel (German Army), an instructor at the US Army War College, lends his expertise in strategy to this review of "the most famous and successful" filibuster featured in William Walker's 1860 work, The War in Nicaragua.

Strategic Insights: Thinking Strategically About Latin America and the Caribbean
December 9, 2016 — Dr. R. Evan Ellis In the 2016 U.S. presidential debates, as on other occasions, the theme of Latin America and the Caribbean was remarkably absent. Important events in the region occasionally insert themselves into the U.S. consciousness through the mainstream media, including: the arrival of thousands of Central American child refugees at the U.S... MORE

Cover for Strategic Insights: Thinking Strategically About Latin America and the Caribbean

The Evolution of Los Zetas in Mexico and Central America: Sadism as an Instrument of Cartel Warfare
April 1, 2014 — Author: Dr George W Grayson View the Executive SummaryThe United States has diplomatic relations with 194 independent nations. Of these, none is more important to America than Mexico in terms of trade, investment, tourism, natural resources, migration, energy, and security. In recent years, narco-violence has afflicted Mexico with more than 50,000... MORE

Cover for The Evolution of Los Zetas in Mexico and Central America: Sadism as an Instrument of Cartel Warfare

A Contemporary Challenge to State Sovereignty: Gangs and Other Illicit Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) in Central America, El Salvador, Mexico, Jamaica, and Brazil
December 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Max G Manwaring Another kind of war within the context of a “clash of civilizations” is being waged in various parts of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere around the world today. Some of the main protagonists are those who have come to be designated as first-second-, and third-generation street gangs, as... MORE

Gangs, “Coups D’ Streets,” and the New War in Central America
July 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Max G Manwaring Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the July 2005 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Strategic Effects of Conflict with Iraq: Latin America
March 1, 2003 — Author: Dr Max G Manwaring The author has been asked to analyze four issues: the position that key states in their region are taking on U.S. military action against Iraq; the role of America in the region after the war with Iraq; the nature of security partnerships in the region after the war with Iraq; and the effect that war with Iraq will have... MORE

Strategic Planning and the Drug Threat
August 1, 1997 — Authors: COL William W Mendel, COL Murl D Munger The primary purpose of this publication is to show how the principles and techniques of strategic and operational planning can be applied to the supply reduction side of our national effort to curb the trafficking of illicit drugs. An earlier version was published in 1991 which introduced campaign... MORE