Recent Publications

“Defeat in Afghanistan: An Autopsy”
February 17, 2023 — Policy initiatives in the Trump administration and the Biden-Harris administration significantly accelerated the Taliban victory in Afghanistan. This podcast supports the conclusion that the major factors in this defeat were the historical difficulty in governing Afghanistan, the Afghan republic’s two inefficient and corrupt governments, an ineffective US strategy, operational shortcomings by US forces, an ineffective Afghan military, Pakistan’s duplicitous policy, and the strength and determination of the Taliban. This podcast rejects the claim that the United States nation-building effort was a major factor in its defeat and concludes with a discussion of lessons encountered... MORE

SSI Live 74 – The Trump Administration’s New Afghanistan Strategy
August 25, 2017 — On 21 August, President Trump announced a new strategy toward the conflict in Afghanistan, America’s longest war. What’s new about the strategy? Does a renewed focus on Pakistan, and the role it plays in Afghanistan, have any chance of succeeding? And how will the new approach toward the war affect broader U.S. objectives with regard to... MORE

Strategic Insights: Thinking About Catastrophe: The Army in a Nuclear Armed World
December 14, 2015 — Dr. Steven MetzNothing is more important to American security than nuclear weapons. Despite all the fretting over terrorism, hybrid threats, and conventional aggression, only nuclear weapons can threaten the existence of the United States and destroy the global economy. This is certainly not news to American policymakers and military strategists:... MORE

Using Target Audience Analysis to Aid Strategic Level Decisionmaking
August 25, 2015 — Author: Dr Steve TathamView the Executive Summary The author explains how sophisticated social science research and behavioral profiling can be used to warn us of impeding issues and how that information might be used by senior strategy makers as a tool for testing and refining strategy. He makes a compelling case that the science of Target... MORE

Nuclear Weapons Security Crises: What Does History Teach?
July 30, 2013 — Authors: Mr Henry D Sokolski, Dr Bruno Tertrais View the Executive SummaryAt the height of the Cultural Revolution a Chinese long-range nuclear missile is fired within the country, and the nuclear warhead it is carrying detonates. A French nuclear device is exploded in Algeria during a coup there. The Soviet empire has collapsed, and shots are... MORE

India’s Changing Afghanistan Policy: Regional and Global Implications
December 1, 2012 — Author: Dr Harsh V Pant View the Executive SummarySince 2001, the situation in Afghanistan has afforded New Delhi an opportunity to underscore its role as a regional power. India has a growing stake in the development of peace and stability in Afghanistan; and the 2011 India-Afghan strategic partnership agreement underlines India’s commitment to... MORE

Cover for India's Changing Afghanistan Policy: Regional and Global Implications

The Next Arms Race
July 1, 2012 — Author: Mr Henry D Sokolski The New Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (New START) agreement was reached in 2011, and both Russia and the United States are bringing nuclear strategic warhead deployments down to roughly 1,500 on each side. In the next round of strategic arms reduction talks, though, U.S. officials hope to cut far deeper; perhaps as low... MORE

Op-Ed: Weekend at Osama’s
February 6, 2012 — Dr. Cori E. Dauber Even before Osama bin Laden was killed, the Obama administration began arguing that al-Qaeda was close to final defeat because so many of its senior leaders were now dead largely as a result of drone operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But that assessment depends on an awfully narrow definition of “al-Qaeda” — and of “dead.”... MORE

Final Response to “America’s Flawed Afghanistan Strategy”
October 14, 2010 — Dr. Steven Metz MAJ Dvorscak's thoughtful letter makes a number of important and powerful points. In some cases, I suspect that I simply expressed my idea poorly or was limited by time constraints in the extent to which I could explain them. On others, though, we'll agree to disagree.MAJ Dvorscak is exactly right that al Qaeda and the Taliban have... MORE

Lashkar-I-Taiba: The Fallacy of Subservient Proxies and the Future of Islamist Terrorism in India
March 1, 2010 — Author: Dr Ryan Clarke A discussion of the foundation of Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT), the development of its modus operandi, and engages in an investigation of LeT’s activities in India, Pakistan, and the Kashmir region are discussed. Further, LeT’s fundraising methods are touched upon, and LeT’s relationships with regional state and nonstate actors such... MORE

Cover for Lashkar-I-Taiba: The Fallacy of Subservient Proxies and the Future of Islamist Terrorism in India

Pakistan’s Nuclear Future: Reining in the Risk
December 1, 2009 — Author: Mr Henry D Sokolski Unfortunately, a nuclear terrorist act is only one—and hardly the most probable—of several frightening security threats Pakistan now faces or poses. We know that traditional acts of terrorism and conventional military crises in Southwest Asia have nearly escalated into wars and, more recently, even threatened Indian and... MORE

Pakistan – The Most Dangerous Place in the World
July 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Larry P Goodson Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the July 2009 newsletter.Read Now MORE