Recent Publications

Natural Gas in the Black Sea: Strengthening Cooperation and Balancing Power
May 27, 2020 — Robert E. Hamilton, Anna Mikulska, 2020Heterogenous, varied, diverse – few other words can concisely describe the Black Sea region. Beyond their obvious geographical proximity, there is little that unites these countries. Wedged between different continents, religions, and cultures, they also vary in size, economic prowess, and geopolitical... MORE

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The Hour of Truth: The Conflict in Ukraine–Implications for Europe’s Energy Security and the Lessons for the U.S. Army
November 25, 2015 — Authors: Mr Ivan Benovic, Dr Ariel CohenView the Executive Summary Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, a number of gas disputes between Russia and Central and Eastern European countries have unveiled the strategic dependence of Europe on Russian piped gas. The recent Ukrainian crisis demonstrated that Europe has a desperate need to improve the... MORE

Regionalizing East Mediterranean Gas: Energy Security, Stability, and the U.S. Role
December 1, 2014 — Author: Ms Laura El-Katiri, Dr Mohammed El-KatiriView the Executive SummaryThe East Mediterranean has been witnessing an unparalleled natural resource boom since the late-2000s, when Israel, followed by Cyprus, made its first significant offshore hydrocarbon discoveries in many years. These discoveries have since proven to be substantially larger... MORE

Strategic Insights: Can the EU Declare Energy Independence From Russia?
November 4, 2014 — 2LT Scott CowmanSecond Lieutenant Scott Cowman is a reservist with the U.S. Army. From January to May 2014, during his last semester at Dickinson College, he was an intern with the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College. The worsening situation in Ukraine has yet again reminded the European Union (EU) and the United States that Europe... MORE

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Africa’s Booming Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production: National Security Implications for the United States and China
December 30, 2013 — Author: Mr David E BrownView the Executive Summary Two key long-term energy trends are shifting the strategic balance between the United States and China, the world’s superpower rivals in the 21st century: first, a domestic boom in U.S. shale oil and gas is dramatically boosting America’s energy security; second, the frenetic and successful search... MORE

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

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

Turkmenistan and Central Asia after Niyazov
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank President Sapirmurat Niyazov, the all-powerful leader of Turkmenistan, suddenly died on December 21, 2006. Because Central Asia is a cockpit of great power rivalry and a potential theater in the Global War on Terrorism, no sooner had Niyazov died than the great powers were all in Turkmenistan seeking to influence its... MORE

U.S. Military Engagement with Transcaucasia and Central Asia
June 1, 2000 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The Clinton administration has proclaimed a strategy to engage and enlarge the democratic community of states. By virtue of their strategic location adjacent to Russia, the Middle East, and Europe s periphery, and their large-scale oil and natural gas deposits, Transcaucasia and Central Asia have become important testing... MORE

Energy and Security in Transcaucasia
September 1, 1994 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank One of the world's enduring regional conflicts is in Nagorno-Karabakh. This war pits local Armenians and their cousins from Armenia against Azerbaidzhan and has enmeshed Russia, Turkey and the Western allies (France, Great Britain, and the United States) in a complex series of regional relationships. The international... MORE