Recent Publications

2011-2012 U.S. Army War College Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL)
September 19, 2011 — Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria, IIUpdate: The PDF of the KSIL is now available.Topics with an * are from Headquarters Department of the Army G-3/5 and G-4ForewordThe Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL) is published annually for the purpose of making students and other researchers aware of strategic topics that are, or should be, of special importance to... 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

Maintaining Effective Deterrence
August 1, 2003 — Author: Dr Colin S Gray While deterrence is as old as human conflict itself, it became particularly important with the advent of nuclear weapons when armed conflict between the superpowers had the potential to end civilization. Today there is a sense that terrorism has rendered deterrence obsolete and forced the United States to substitute... MORE

Army Transformation: A View from the U.S. Army War College
July 1, 2001 — Author: Dr Williamson Murray The U.S. Army is now in the process of transforming itself to meet security interests and the need for land power that span the globe, now and in the future. The following essays are representative of current thinking at the U.S. Army War College by students considering the nature and direction of this transformation... MORE

Landpower and Crises: Army Roles and Missions in Smaller-Scale Contingencies During the 1990s
January 1, 2001 — Author: Dr Conrad C Crane The author analyzes the role of landpower in the 170 smaller-scale contingencies conducted by the United States during the last decade. He divides such contingencies into engagement, enhanced deterrence, hostility, and stabilization phases, and discusses the military's role in each one. The author especially emphasizes the... MORE

Land Power and Dual Containment: Rethinking America’s Policy in the Gulf
November 1, 1999 — Author: Dr Stephen C Pelletiere In an attempt to regain some control of the strategic commodity, Washington developed special relationships with the two foremost oil procedures, Iran (under the Shah) and Saudi Arabia. In 1979 the Shah was overthrown and, with the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini, America became—in the eyes of Iranians—the Great... MORE

The Future U.S. Military Presence in Asia: Landpower and the Geostrategy of American Commitment
April 6, 1999 — Authors: Maj Gen Robert H Scales, Dr Larry M Wortzel The United States strategic framework in the Pacific has three parts: peacetime engagement, as described above, which includes a forward presence; crisis response, which builds on forward-stationed forces, the "boots-on-the ground" and, if necessary, fighting and winning any conflict that might... MORE

Landpower and Ambiguous Warfare: The Challenge of Colombia in the 21st Century
March 10, 1999 — Author: Dr Richard Downes On December 10 and 11, 1998, over 100 scholars, civilian government officials, and military officers from the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama and Mexico gathered at the U.S. Army War College to discuss "Landpower and Ambiguous Warfare: The Challenge of Colombia in the 21st Century." While the conference... MORE

Nonlethality and American Land Power: Strategic Context and Operational Concepts
June 1, 1998 — Authors: Prof Douglas C Lovelace Jr, Dr Steven Metz Nonlethal technology, concepts and doctrine may provide the Army a way to retain its political utility and military effectiveness in a security environment characterized by ambiguity and the glare of world public opinion. To explore this, the Army is undertaking programs and initiatives which may... MORE

Redefining Land Power for the 21st Century
May 1, 1998 — Author: Dr William T Johnsen Divisive debates over the future force structures of the U.S. Armed Forces have continued despite the Report of the Commission on Roles and Missions for the Armed Forces (May 1995) and the more recent reports of the Quadrennial Defense Review (May 1997) and the National Defense Panel (December 1997). Part of the reason... MORE

The Future of American Landpower: Strategic Challenges for the 21st Century Army
March 1, 1996 — Authors: Dr William T Johnsen, Dr Douglas V Johnson II, LTC James Kievit, Prof Douglas C Lovelace Jr, Dr Steven Metz Armies historically have been criticized for preparing for the last war. Since the early 1980s, however, the U.S. Army has broken this pattern and created a force capable of winning the next war. But, in an era characterized by a... MORE

Federal Budget Policy and Defense Strategy
February 1, 1996 — Author: Dr Dennis S Ippolito Defense economist Dennis S. Ippolito dissects Federal budget practices over the past several decades, with a particular focus on sources and trends in our national deficit spending syndrome. Underlying his message is an unsettling truth, that no matter how the current debate over balancing the budget turns out, future... MORE