Recent Publications

Book Review: Limited Force and the Fight for the Just War Tradition
May 20, 2024 — Military Theory | Author: Christian Nikolaus Braun | Reviewed by Reverend Dr. Wylie W. Johnson, chaplain, US Army War College class of 2010 | Retired US Army chaplain Dr. Wylie W. Johnson reviews Christian Nikolaus Braun’s dissertation-turned-book on a “casuistic” approach to just war informed by the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Johnson... MORE

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New Directions in Just-War Theory
July 30, 2018 — Author: Dr. J. T. ReinerOne of the major developments in international law since World War II is the growth of human rights law dedicated to ensuring the protection of individuals from violence wherever they are, including from their own state. Tracking such changes, in recent decades, just-war theory has evolved from its traditional focus on state... MORE

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Robotics and Military Operations
May 22, 2018 — Editor: Prof William G Braun III, Kim Richard Nossal, Stéfanie von HlatkyIn the wake of two extended wars, Western militaries find themselves looking to the future while confronting amorphous nonstate threats and shrinking defense budgets. The 2015 Kingston Conference on International Security (KCIS) examined how robotics and autonomous systems... MORE

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Strategic Insights: Think Before You Post: A Message to Those in Uniform
December 9, 2016 — Colonel Heidi A. UrbenAccording to a Gallup poll conducted July 18-25, 2016, the 2016 presidential election campaign had set an inauspicious record: never before have so many Americans held such unfavorable views of each party’s presidential nominee. Among registered voters, 58 percent held negative views of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton... MORE

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A Soldier’s Morality, Religion, and Our Professional Ethic: Does the Army’s Culture Facilitate Integration, Character Development, and Trust in the Profession?
April 1, 2014 — Authors: COL Alexander P Shine, Dr Don M Snider The authors argue that an urgent leadership issue has arisen which is strongly, but not favorably, influencing our professional culture—a hostility toward religion and its correct expressions within the military. Setting aside the role of Chaplains as a separate issue, the focus here is on the role... MORE

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The Moral Corrosion within Our Military Professions
November 27, 2012 — Dr. Don M. Snider We have now had several weeks of breathless punditry on the moral failure of David Petraeus. The press and online commentariat do love a scandal, and the more so when a deserving American hero tragically falls from grace.The commentary has evolved from who (just the two of them?), to who else (well, maybe another general…), to why... MORE

Finding “The Right Way”: Toward an Army Institutional Ethic
September 1, 2012 — Author: LTC Clark C Barrett The ethical lapses exemplified by Abu Ghraib, Mahmudiyah (Blackhearts), and Maywand (5/2 Stryker) are distressing symptoms of an even bigger, and a potentially devastating cultural shortcoming. The U.S. Army profession lacks an institutional ethical framework and a means of peer-to-peer self-governance. The frameworks... MORE

The Army Officers’ Professional Ethic–Past, Present, and Future
January 1, 2010 — Author: COL Matthew Moten Colonel Matthew Moten of the West Point History Department has asked why so many other professions have clear statements of professional responsibility, but the Army officer corps does not. This essay briefly surveys the history of the Army’s professional ethic, focusing primarily on the officer corps. It assesses today’s... MORE

Strategic Deception in Modern Democracies: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Challenges
January 26, 2004 — Authors: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II, Dr Carolyn Pumphrey In an effort to strip away some of that baggage and get at the root of the nature, extent, and potential applications of strategic deception, the Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS) and the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) held a conference on October... MORE

Peacekeeping and the Just War Tradition
September 1, 2000 — Author: COL Tony Pfaff Major Tony Pfaff, a former Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the United States Military Academy, addresses an important source of much of the confusion that currently surrounds many of the Operations Other Than War (OOTW) that the military finds itself participating in with increasing frequency. The author points out that,... MORE

The Revolution in Military Affairs: Prospects and Cautions
June 23, 1995 — Author: Dr Earl H Tilford Jr The current Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is taking place against the background of a larger historical watershed involving the end of the Cold War and the advent of what Alvin and Heidi Toffler have termed "the Information Age." In this essay, Dr. Earl Tilford argues that RMAs are driven by more than... MORE