Recent Publications

Parameters VOL. 51 NO. 2 Summer 2021
August 17, 2021 — Parameters Summer 2021Download the Full IssueIn Focus: "Senior Leader Dissent", Conrad C. Crane; "Two Sides of COIN", M. Chris Mason and Darren Colby; "Allies and Partners", Jean-Yves Haine, Cynthia Salloum, Tongifi Kim, Luis Simon; "Strategy and Doctrine", Austin C. Doctor, James Walsh, Ann Mezzell, J. Wesley Hutto, Robert S. Ehlers Jr., Partrick... MORE

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Exit Strategy: Rule of Law and the U.S. Army
September 25, 2018 — Author: Dr Shima D KeeneEstablishing the rule of law is a key goal and end state in counterinsurgency (COIN) operations and is a critical aspect of securing peace and preventing future conflict. However, recent experience in theaters such as Afghanistan has shown that establishing effective rule of law institutions and practices is not a... MORE

The COIN Conundrum: The Future of Counterinsurgency and U.S. Land Power
December 1, 2016 — Author: Dr Thomas R MockaitisCounterinsurgency (COIN) continues to be a controversial subject among military leaders. Critics argue that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have made the U.S. military, particularly the Army, "COIN-centric." They maintain that equipping U.S. forces to combat insurgency has eroded their conventional war fighting... MORE

Colloquium Brief: U.S. Army War College 25th Annual Strategy Conference Carlisle, Pennsylvania, April 8-10, 2014 — Balancing the Joint Force to Meet Future Security Challenges
November 15, 2016 — Dr. Richard Weitz Key Insights: The international security environment will remain cluttered, confusing, and uncertain; many of these problems are unavoidable; at best, we can mitigate them. More than a decade of continuous military operations, fewer materiel resources, changing threat perceptions, and novel technologies are affecting how the U.S... MORE

Strategic Insights: The U.S. Foray Into The Levant
October 15, 2014 — Dr. Sami G. Hajjar The Levant is caught up in a web of political, social, and economic problems that seem to be the work of the hidden hand of the devil. The U.S. Air Force, and those of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Jordan are actively bombing positions of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS by... MORE

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Russia’s Contribution as a Partner in the War on Terrorism
July 1, 2014 — Author: Mr Henry Plater-Zyberk View the Executive SummaryThis monograph examines terrorism and counterterrorism from the Russian perspective so as to assess prospects for cooperation with Russia in fighting terror. It concludes that, regardless of the state of political relations between Russia and the United States at any given time, longer-term... MORE

The Afghanistan Question and the Reset in U.S.-Russian Relations
October 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Richard J Krickus The ability of the United States and Russia to cooperate in Afghanistan represents a solid test of their reset in relations. The author provides the historical background to the Afghanistan Question and assesses current events in the Afghan war with three objectives in mind: 1) To determine whether Russian-American... MORE

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

The Military’s Role in Counterterrorism: Examples and Implications for Liberal Democracies
May 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Geraint Hughes The author examines historical and contemporary examples of military involvement in counterterrorism, outlining the specific roles which the armed forces of liberal democracies have performed in combating terrorism, both in a domestic and international context. He describes the political, strategic, conceptual, diplomatic,... MORE

Some of the Best Weapons for Counterinsurgents Do Not Shoot
October 1, 2010 — Author: Maj Gen Eric T Olson Even under the best circumstances, reconstruction in counterinsurgency is a difficult endeavor. The most critical tasks are numerous and complex. Many participating agencies must undertake missions that fall well out of their existing core competencies or operate in environments that are completely unfamiliar to them... MORE

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Shades of CORDS in the Kush: The False Hope of “Unity of Effort” in American Counterinsurgency
April 1, 2010 — Author: Mr Henry Nuzum Counterinsurgency (COIN) requires an integrated military, political, and economic program best developed by teams that field both civilians and soldiers. These units should operate with some independence but under a coherent command. In Vietnam, after several false starts, the United States developed an effective unified... MORE

Counternarcotics Operations in Afghanistan: The COIN of the Realm
April 1, 2010 — Author: COL Louis H Jordan Jr In this Op-Ed style document, COL Louis Jordan discusses the narcotics industry in Afghanistan—calling it what it is—a commercial enterprise, which is exceedingly important because it provides strength to the insurgency while at the same time keeping the Afghan government weak by fueling instability and corruption... MORE

Transnational Insurgencies and the Escalation of Regional Conflict: Lessons for Iraq and Afghanistan
March 1, 2010 — Author: Dr Idean Salehyan Many insurgents groups benefit from sanctuaries in neighboring countries where they are relatively safe from state security forces. These transnational insurgencies complicate traditional counterinsurgency operations in significant ways. Most importantly, transnational insurgencies have the potential to spark conflicts... MORE