Recent Publications

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

It’s Asia (Again)
January 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Andrew Scobell Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the January 2005 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Civil-Military Change in China: Elites, Institutes, and Ideas After the 16th Party Congress
September 1, 2004 — Authors: Dr Andrew Scobell, Dr Larry M Wortzel In November 2002, the Chinese Communist Party held its 16th Congress and formally initiated a sweeping turnover of senior leaders in both the Party and the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The meeting heralded not merely a new set of personalities in positions of political and military power, but also... MORE

A Nation at War in an Era of Strategic Change
September 1, 2004 — Author: Dr Williamson Murray The President, Secretary of Defense, and the Army's Chief of Staff have all stated that the United States is a "Nation at War." The U.S. military faces significant strategic challenges as it continues to transform the force and improve interagency integration into joint operations, all the while engaging in active... MORE

Is it all about Winning?
August 1, 2004 — 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 August 2004 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Female Suicide Bombers
June 1, 2004 — Author: Ms Debra D Zedalis Female suicide bombers were used in the past, but the spate of these type bombings in different venues, in different countries, and for different terrorist organizations encourages closer examination of this phenomenon. The author looks at the history, characteristics, and changes, and also provides within a strategic... MORE

THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER’S, OR MOTHER’S ARMY!
April 1, 2004 — 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 April 2004 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Security Transformation
December 23, 2003 — Author: Dr Steven Metz For the past 5 years, the United States has sought to transform its defense capabilities to reflect ongoing changes in technology, management techniques, the American political and economic landscapes, and the global security environment. The terrorist attacks of September 2001 and the ensuing Global War on Terrorism provided... MORE