Recent Publications

“The Grand Strategy of Gertrude Bell: From the Arab Bureau to the Creation of Iraq”
September 19, 2022 — The remarkable life of early-twentieth-century British adventurer Gertrude Bell has been well documented through her numerous travel books and biographies. Bell’s role as a grand strategist for the British government in the Middle East during World War I and the postwar period, however, is surprisingly understudied... MORE

SSI Live 93 – The Grand Strategy of Gertrude Bell and Implications for US Policy Today
September 2, 2022 — British strategist and diplomat Gertrude Bell shaped the modern Middle East and played a leading role in crafting London’s policies at a time of shifting great power dynamics. In this podcast, Dr. Heather Gregg discusses her monograph on Bell’s life and legacy and the implications for managing strategic competition today. What lessons can be drawn... MORE

Russia’s Forever Wars: Syria and the Pursuit of Great Power Status
June 1, 2021 — Robert E. Hamilton, 2021, the Foreign Policy Research InstituteSeptember 2021 marks the sixth anniversary of the Russian Federation’s intervention in the Syrian civil war. A patient, flexible strategy set against irresolute and muddled Western strategies allowed Moscow to achieve its initial aim of preventing the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime... MORE

Cover for Russia’s Forever Wars: Syria and the Pursuit of Great Power Status

“Moscow in the Middle East”
April 10, 2021 — In 1971 Dr. John R. Thomas documented the involvement of the Soviet Union in the Middle East from the start of the Cold War. Like its name and borders, the motivations for that country’s involvement in the region have changed. Russia today promulgates relationships with the governments of the Middle East in a nonideological, more limited manner... MORE

“Diverging Interests- US Strategy in the Middle East”
February 3, 2021 — Today, two-thirds of soldiers depart the US Army with a disability rating. Unfortunately, some soldiers are exploiting a generous disability system overextended beyond its original purposes and potentially damaging trust in the military, jeopardizing Army readiness, and encouraging a culture that erodes the Army’s notions of selfless service.Read... MORE

“Civilians, Urban Warfare, and US Doctrine”
February 2, 2021 — The novel coronavirus is only the latest in a series of global crises with implications for the regional order in the Middle East. These changes and the diverging interests of actors in the region have implications for US strategy and provide an opportunity to rethink key US relationships there.Read the article:... MORE

Nonstate Actors and Anti-Access/Area Denial Strategies: The Coming Challenge
February 6, 2020 — Author: Dr. Jean-Loup SamaanThis monograph explores the emerging challenge of nonstate actors’ anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) strategies and their implications for the United States and its allies by looking at two regions, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, with case studies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis... MORE

Cover for Nonstate Actors and Anti-Access/Area Denial Strategies: The Coming Challenge

The Russian Military in Contemporary Perspective
September 24, 2019 — Editor: Dr Stephen J. BlankView the Executive Summary Wherever one looks, Russia is carrying out aggressive military and informational attacks against the West in Europe, North and South America, the Arctic, and the Middle East. This “war against the West” actually began over a decade ago, but its most jarring and shocking event, the one that... MORE

Cover for The Russian Military in Contemporary Perspective

Maneuvering the Saudi-Iranian Rivalry in the Middle East: How the United States Can Preserve and Protect Its Long-Term Interests in the Region
November 15, 2018 — Author: Mr Gregory AftandilianView the Executive SummaryThis monograph examines the conflicts in the Middle East region between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the so-called proxy wars that are being fought between them, and discusses ways that the United States needs to maneuver carefully in this struggle to preserve its long-term interests in the area... MORE

Cover for Maneuvering the Saudi-Iranian Rivalry in the Middle East: How the United States Can Preserve and Protect Its Long-Term Interests in the Region

SSI Live 80 – Is a Reset with Russia in the Offing?
July 31, 2018 — The Helsinki summit meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin may be the first step in a rapprochement between the United States and Russia. If so, what are the strategic and policy implications in Europe, with specific regard to the security of U.S. allies in Eastern Europe, with regard to the conflict in Syria, vis-à-vis U.S. partners in the Middle East, or in other regards?... MORE

Strategic Insights: Strategic Questions Loom Large for President Trump in the Middle East
April 11, 2017 — Dr. Christopher J. Bolan“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Sun TzuThe primary shortcoming of U.S. policymakers since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has been a consistent inability to translate tactical and operational military successes into sustainable... MORE

Strategic Insights: Reimagining U.S. Foreign Assistance in the Middle East
February 7, 2017 — Author: Dr Christopher J BolanView the Executive Summary U.S. President Donald Trump has proved himself willing to question and challenge many of the conventional wisdoms embedded in contemporary American foreign policies. During his presidential campaign, he questioned the utility of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that has formed... MORE