Recent Publications

The Role of Small States in the Post-Cold War Era: The Case of Belarus
May 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Dmitry Shlapentokh The United States is no longer the only global center of power as it was in the first years of post-Cold War era. Neither are there just two superpowers — the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics — that define the course of global events. The new multipolarity implies the presence of several... MORE

Cover for The Role of Small States in the Post-Cold War Era: The Case of Belarus

Op-Ed: Heading Toward the NATO Summit
April 9, 2012 — Dr. Jeffrey D. McCausland From the perspective of the Obama administration, the last NATO Summit that was held in Lisbon in November 2010 was critically important and was described as a great success in its aftermath. President Obama arrived in office with the goal of rebuilding American alliances, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)... MORE

Organizational Change in the Russian Airborne Forces: The Lessons of the Georgian Conflict
December 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Rod Thornton This monograph considers the recent history of organizational change in the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV). In particular, it looks at how the VDV has changed since the end of Russia’s conflict with Georgia in 2008. The VDV, a force much admired in Russian media and society has, in fact, escaped fairly lightly during the... MORE

Arms Control and Proliferation Challenges to the Reset Policy
November 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The current U.S. reset policy with Russia involves efforts to blaze a path of mutual cooperation on arms control and proliferation. In arms control, we see determined administration attempts to promote greater nuclear reductions in the direction of nuclear zero, including reductions in tactical nuclear weapons. This... MORE

Russian Nuclear Weapons: Past, Present, and Future
November 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank This book presents several essays analyzing Russia’s extensive nuclear agenda and the issues connected with it. It deals with strategy, doctrine, European, Eurasian, and East Asian security agendas, as well as the central U.S.-Russia nuclear and arms control equations. This work brings together American, European, and... MORE

The Afghanistan Question and the Reset in U.S.-Russian Relations
October 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Richard J Krickus The ability of the United States and Russia to cooperate in Afghanistan represents a solid test of their reset in relations. The author provides the historical background to the Afghanistan Question and assesses current events in the Afghan war with three objectives in mind: 1) To determine whether Russian-American... MORE

Real Leadership and the U.S. Army: Overcoming a Failure of Imagination to Conduct Adaptive Work

Natural Gas as an Instrument of Russian State Power
October 1, 2011 — Author: Mr Alexander Ghaleb This monograph is meant to provide an unbiased examination of: the scarcity of natural gas in the contemporary security environment; the salience of natural gas in Russia’s national security strategies; and, the natural gas pipeline politics in Eastern and Central Europe. While the tendency of most energy security... MORE

Russia in the Arctic
July 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The Arctic has returned with a vengeance as an area of international contention. Beginning in 2007, Russia has continued to make aggressive moves and claims regarding territory in the Arctic Ocean. These moves undoubtedly have been prompted by global climate change and the importance of energy, with which Russia believes... MORE

Russian Military Politics and Russia's 2010 Defense Doctrine

Military Modernization and the Russian Ground Forces
June 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Rod Thornton Russia’s political leaders are currently pushing a state- and society-wide process of modernization. The Russian military, a deeply conservative institution, is being asked to accept fundamental changes that threaten the very livelihoods of those being asked to implement them. New structures can be created and new equipment... MORE

The Russian Military and the Georgia War: Lessons and Implications
June 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Ariel Cohen, COL Robert E Hamilton In August 2008, the armed conflict on the territory of Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke out between Russia and Georgia. The Russian-planned military campaign lasted 5 days until the parties reached a preliminary ceasefire agreement on August 12. The European Union, led by... MORE

Op-Ed: Conventional Arms Control and European Security
May 16, 2011 — Dr. Jeffrey D. McCauslandThe Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (often referred to as the CFE Treaty) was signed in Paris on November 19, 1990, between members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact. At its signing, many analysts hailed it as “the cornerstone of European security,” and it is clearly the most... MORE

Central Asian Security Trends: Views from Europe and Russia
April 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The war in Afghanistan has added considerably to the strategic significance of Central Asia due to its proximity to the conflict. Moreover, the continuation of the war increasingly involves the vital interests of many other actors other than the U.S. and NATO forces currently there. This monograph, taken from SSI's... MORE