Recent Publications

Making Riflemen from Mud: Restoring the Army’s Culture of Irregular Warfare
October 1, 2007 — Author: LTC James D Campbell Prior to World War II, the Army had a deeply ingrained facility with and acceptance of what we now term unconventional warfare—raising, training, advising, and cooperating with tribal militias, local paramilitaries, and other nonstate armed groups. This culture of irregular warfare was attributable to nearly 300 years... MORE

The Reserve Policies of Nations: A Comparative Analysis
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Richard Weitz Throughout the world, military reserves are changing. National governments are transforming the relationships between their active and reserve components, the allocation of roles and responsibilities among reserve forces, and the way they train, equip, and employ reservists. Nations no longer consider their reservists as... MORE

Negotiation in the New Strategic Environment: Lessons from Iraq
August 1, 2007 — Author: Mr David M Tressler In stability, security, transition, and reconstruction (SSTR) operations like the U.S. mission in Iraq, negotiation is a common activity. The success or failure of the thousands of negotiations taking place daily between U.S. military officers and local civilian and military leaders in Iraq affects tactical and... MORE

Security Requirements for Post-Transition Cuba
August 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Alex Crowther Change is inevitable in Cuba. Both Fidel Castro and his brother Raul are aging. Their passing will trigger either a succession or a transition. Eventually Cuba will change. With that change, the security requirements of Cuba will change as well. This monograph provides an analysis of security requirements that the new Cuba... MORE

Transformation’s Uncontested Truths
November 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the November 2006 newsletter.Read Now MORE

How to Make Army Force Generation Work for the Army’s Reserve Components
August 1, 2006 — Author: LTC Joseph E Whitlock The Army needs to implement Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) in addition to its ongoing transformation and move to a more modular force. To achieve a campaign quality Army with joint and expeditionary qualities fully, the Army must do so quickly, while also keeping its reserve components full partners throughout this... MORE

Doctrine that Works
August 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Douglas V Johnson II Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the August 2006 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Irregular Enemies and the Essence of Strategy: Can the American Way of War Adapt?
March 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Colin S Gray The author offers a detailed comparison between the character of irregular warfare, insurgency in particular, and the principal enduring features of "the American way." He concludes that there is a serious mismatch between that "way" and the kind of behavior that is most effective in countering irregular foes. The author... MORE

Recognizing and Understanding Revolutionary Change in Warfare: The Sovereignty of Context
February 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Colin S Gray The author provides a critical audit of the great RMA debate and of some actual RMA behavior and warns against a transformation that is highly potent only in a narrow range of strategic cases. He warns that the military effectiveness of a process of revolutionary change in a "way of war" can only be judged by the test of... MORE

Revisions in Need of Revising: What Went Wrong in the Iraq War
December 1, 2005 — Authors: Dr David C Hendrickson, Dr Robert W Tucker Though critics have made a number of telling points against the Bush administration's conduct of the Iraq war, the most serious problems facing Iraq and its American occupiers—criminal anarchy and lawlessness, a raging insurgency and a society divided into rival and antagonistic groups—were... MORE

2005 Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL)
July 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Half a decade into the new millennium, the strategic environment continues to change rapidly, and in important ways. Some of those changes, of course, challenge U.S. interests, while others advance them. And the challenges assume regular and, increasingly now, irregular forms. Yet, while the causes of change are... MORE

The New RC: Will it Please Anyone?
April 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Dallas D Owens Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the April 2005 newsletter.Read Now MORE