Recent Publications

“Was the Russian Invasion of Ukraine a Failure of Western Deterrence?"
November 22, 2023 — In February 2022, many observers initially evaluated the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a failure of Western deterrence. That assessment was and is flawed inasmuch as the West never articulated a clear strategy to deter such an invasion. Engaging with relevant conceptual debates about how deterrence works and relating this information to what the West did and did not do in the run-up to the invasion, this article shows that... MORE

Parameters | Winter 2023–24
November 20, 2023 — The Winter issue is out! In this edition: “Was the Russian Invasion of Ukraine a Failure of Western Deterrence?” by Bettina Renz and “Ukraine’s Lessons for Future Combat: Unmanned Aerial Systems and Deep Strike,” by Harry Halem; CLSC DIRECTOR’S CORNER “Introduction to the China Landpower Studies Center”; From deterring major powers, to achieving strategic influence, and beyond... MORE

Welcome to the Winter 2023–24 issue of Parameters.

This issue consists of two In Focus commentaries which bring to light observations from the Russia-Ukraine War, two forums addressing deterrence and strategic influence, and the inaugural Director’s Corner for the China Landpower Studies Center (CLSC).

Keywords: deterrence; Ukraine; Russia; Putin; NATO; unmanned aerial systems; deep strike; reconnaissance-strike complex; electronic warfare; Russia-Ukraine War; nuclear; misperception; Russia; multidomain operations; freedom to roam; grand strategy; offshore balancing; offensive realism; regional hegemony; stopping power of water; Middle East; integrated deterrence; strategy; Cold War; flexible response; New Look; economic interests; globalization; strategic competition; multinational exercises; bilateral exercises; reflexive control; strategic behavior; strategic analysis; nonlinearity; complex adaptive system; civil-military relations; general officers; promotions; flag officers; political participation; People’s Liberation Army; Chinese Communist Party; Belt and Road Initiative; China; Landpower; security assistance; Iran; Operation Iraqi Freedom; Operation Enduring Freedom; Bill Clinton; George W. Bush; Barack Obama; Civil War; Army of Tennessee; John B. Hood; William Tecumseh Sherman; Battle of Atlanta; Close Combat Lethality Task Force; Secretary of Defense General James N. Mattis; Iraq; Vicksburg Campaign; Ulysses S. Grant; William T. Sherman; Chickasaw Bayou; World War I; World War II; W. E. B. Du Bois; Talented Tenth; 1920s; citizen-soldier; National Guard; modern Army; Harry S. Truman; atomic bomb; Japan; nuclear war; North Korea; George W. Bush; Kim Il-Sung; Kim Jong-Un; China; Xi Jinping; Chinese Dream; authoritarianism; diplomacy; Samuel P. Huntington; Carl von Clausewitz; Dwight D. Eisenhower; George S. Patton; Kenneth Payne; Jan Smuts; South Africa; World War I in Africa; German South West Africa; German East Africa

The Strategic Importace of Tawian to the United States and Its Allies: Part Two
October 30, 2023 — Taiwan has become increasingly important to the United States and its allies as the Russia-Ukraine War has united democracies against authoritarian expansionism and indeed has developed an international democracy-authoritarianism dynamic in global affairs. Part one of this article clearly outlined the geopolitical, economic, and soft-power reasons why Taiwan is strategically important. Part two reviews the development... MORE

Expert Analysis on Latest Attacks in Ukraine
October 6, 2023 — John R. Deni | Military expert John Deni talks to CNN's Laila Harrak about Russian attacks on civilians, and the question of U.S. aid.Watch the video here: Expert analysis on latest attacks in Ukraine | CNN (https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/10/07/exp-ukraine-laila-guest-fst-100702aseg1.cnn)CNN Host Laila Guest interviews John R. Deni on the... MORE

Expert Analysis on Latest Attacks in Ukraine
US Army War College | Strategic Studies Institute

Military expert John Deni talks to CNN's Laila Harrak about Russian attacks on civilians, and the question of U.S. aid.
Expert analysis on latest attacks in Ukraine | CNN (https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/10/07/exp-ukraine-laila-guest-fst-100702aseg1.cnn)

CNN Host Laila Guest interviews John R. Deni on the current situation in Ukraine.

Photo is a screenshot of the CNN interview.

The Chechen Kadyrovtsy’s Coercive Violence in Ukraine
October 5, 2023 — Chechnya is a region of the Russian Federation, and its native Chechen society is Islamic and tribal, which is very different from Russia's Orthodox and non-tribal society. In the 1990s, Chechnya tried to cede from Russia in the context of the wider Soviet collapse, and Russia waged two wars to try and prevent this. Chechnya won de facto independence in the first war, but Russia would later reinvade and win the second war, where they installed the Kadyrov family as the local collaborator regime to rule this region. ... MORE

A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force
September 29, 2023 — Fifty years ago, the US Army faced a strategic inflection point after a failed counterinsurgency effort in Vietnam. In response to lessons learned from the Yom Kippur War, the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command was created to reorient thinking and doctrine around the conventional Soviet threat. Today’s Army must embrace the Russo-Ukrainian conflict as an opportunity to reorient the force into one as forward-thinking and formidable as the Army that won Operation Desert Storm. This article suggests changes the Army should make to enable success in multidomain large-scale combat operations at today’s strategic inflection point... MORE

Parameters Autumn 2023 Issue Preview
September 12, 2023 — This podcast offers a preview of the latest Parameters demi-issue and full issue. Read the issue here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/7/ ... MORE

Parameters | Autumn 2023
August 25, 2023 — A Historical Perspective on Today’s Recruiting Crisis | A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force | The Strategic Importance of Taiwan to the United States and Its Allies: Part Two – A Focus on Policy since the Start of the Russia-Ukraine War | The Impact of Antarctic Treaty Challenges on the US Military | US-Russia Foreign Policy: Confronting Russia’s Geographic Anxieties |... MORE

Parameters | Autumn 2023

From the Acting Editor in Chief
Conrad C. Crane
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/8

In Focus
A Historical Perspective on Today’s Recruiting Crisis
Brian McAllister Linn
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/9

Parameters | Autumn 2023
A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force
Katie Crombe and John A. Naglhttps://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/10

Strategic Challenges
The Strategic Importance of Taiwan to the United States and Its Allies: Part Two – A Focus on Policy since the Start of the Russia-Ukraine War
Luke P. Bellocchi
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/11

The Impact of Antarctic Treaty Challenges on the US Military
Ryan J. Bridley and Kevin W. Matthews
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/12

US-Russia Foreign Policy: Confronting Russia’s Geographic Anxieties
Caitlin P. Irby
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/11

Historical Studies
Urban Resistance to Occupation: An Underestimated Element of Land Warfare
Kevin D. Stringer and Jelle J. H. Hooiveld
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/14

The Chechen Kadyrovtsy’s Coercive Violence in Ukraine
Wilson A. Jones
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/11=5

SRAD Director’s Corner
US Army War College Russia-Ukraine War Study Project
Eric Hartunian
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/15

Autumn Book Reviews
USAWC Press
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/16

2023 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment
August 24, 2023 — The United States operates within a global context that is increasingly complex, interconnected, and unpredictable. The Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment serves as a guide to define broadly the contemporary security landscape and the diverse range of interests that shape our national security agenda... MORE

2023 Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment
The Annual Estimate of the Strategic Security Environment serves as a guide for academics and practitioners in the defense community on the current challenges and opportunities in the strategic environment. This year’s publication outlines key strategic issues across the four broad themes of Regional Challenges and Opportunities, Domestic Challenges, Institutional Challenges, and Domains Impacting US Strategic Advantage. These themes represent a wide range of topics affecting national security and provide a global assessment of the strategic environment to help focus the defense community on research and publication. Strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China and the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remain dominant challenges to US national security interests across the globe. However, the evolving security environment also presents new and unconventional threats, such as cyberattacks, terrorism, transnational crime, and the implications of rapid technological advancements in fields such as artificial intelligence. At the same time, the US faces domestic and institutional challenges in the form of recruiting and retention shortfalls in the all-volunteer force, the prospect of contested logistics in large-scale combat operations, and the health of the US Defense Industrial Base. Furthermore, rapidly evolving security landscapes in the Arctic region and the space domain pose unique potential challenges to the Army’s strategic advantage.
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/962/

Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin
July 21, 2023 — Military History Book Review: Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin Author: Timothy Snyder | Reviewed by Rev. Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, US Army War College class of 2010 | Covering the rules of Hitler and Stalin between 1933 and 1945, Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin, explores three periods of genocide in which “two great ideological... MORE

Book Review: Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin
Author: Timothy Snyder

NATO’s Defense Demands Eastern Front Improvements
July 20, 2023 — John R. Deni The recent summit largely avoided urgent questions about the mismatch between available forces and the Russian threat. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s rather impolitic reaction to the news that his country would not receive a firm timetable for membership in NATO stole the show at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius last week... MORE

Debate continues over whether to invite Ukraine to join NATO
July 10, 2023 — Podcast appearance. John R. Deni As leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, meet at the annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the conversation continues over whether to invite Ukraine to join the alliance and if so, when.Here & Now‘s Celeste Headlee speaks with John Deni, research professor at the U.S. Army War College and a... MORE