Recent Publications

Key Strategic Issues List, July 2008
July 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II The Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL) offers military and civilian researchers a ready reference of topics that are of particular interest to the Department of the Army and the Department of Defense. The KSIL performs a valuable service by linking the research community with major defense organizations which, in... MORE

Wars of Ideas and the War of Ideas
June 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II The author discusses several types of wars of ideas in an effort to achieve a better understanding of what wars of ideas are. That knowledge, in turn, can help inform strategy. It is important to note, for instance, that because ideas are interpreted subjectively, it is not likely that opposing parties will “win”... MORE

2007 Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL)
July 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Today our nation faces several major challenges, ranging in type from the conflict in Iraq to changes in force size and structure. These challenges may be more significant than any the United States has faced in more than a decade. With the publication of the 2007 KSIL, the Strategic Studies Institute and the U.S... MORE

Challenging Transformation’s Clichés
December 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Critical thinkers analyze and refine ideas underpinning the foundation of American defense policy and military strategy today so the defense community can apply them in strategy and force development. This is an ongoing process: new ideas emerge, are tested, and adopted, revised, or discarded. The author... MORE

Transformation’s Uncontested Truths
November 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the November 2006 newsletter.Read Now MORE

2006 Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL)
July 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II In today’s dynamic strategic environment, political changes can become challenges very quickly. Any list of key strategic issues must, therefore, include the broadest array of regional and functional concerns. This is a catalogue of significant issues, arranged as potential research topics, of concern to U.S... MORE

Fourth-Generation War and Other Myths
November 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Fourth Generation War (4GW) emerged in the late 1980s, but has become popular due to recent twists in the war in Iraq, and terrorist attacks worldwide. In brief, the theory holds that warfare has evolved through four generations: 1) the use of massed manpower, 2) firepower, 3) maneuver, and now 4) an evolved form... 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

The Problem with Fourth-Generation War
February 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the February 2005 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Toward an American Way of War
March 1, 2004 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II The author examines the principal characteristics and ideas associated with the American way of war, past and present. He argues that Americans do not have a way of war, but rather a way of battle. LTC Echevarria contends that moving from a way of battle to a way of war will require some fundamental thinking about... 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

An American Way of War or a Way of Battle?
January 1, 2004 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the January 2004 newsletter.Read Now MORE