Recent Publications

Old and New Insurgency Forms
March 1, 2016 — Author: Dr Robert J BunkerThis monograph creates a proposed insurgency typology divided into legacy, contemporary, and emergent and potential insurgency forms, and provides strategic implications for U.S. defense policy as they relate to each of these forms. The typology clusters, insurgency forms identified, and their starting dates are as... MORE

Foreign Policy Continuity: War Finds Us
March 1, 2010 — Author: Mr Lawrence Kaplan Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the March 2010 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Cover for Foreign Policy Continuity: War Finds Us

The 2006 Lebanon Campaign and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy
September 1, 2008 — Authors: Dr Stephen D Biddle, Mr Jeffrey A Friedman Many now see future warfare as a matter of nonstate actors employing irregular methods against Western states. This expectation has given rise to a range of sweeping proposals for transforming the U.S. military to meet such threats. In this context, Hezbollah’s 2006 campaign in southern Lebanon... MORE

Transforming to Effects-Based Operations: Lessons from the United Kingdom Experience
January 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Andrew M Dorman The author examines the extent to which the United Kingdom (UK) has transitioned to effects-based operations to ascertain: (1) Areas where the U.S. Army could draw lessons from UK policies; (2) Areas where the U.S. Army and the British Ministry of Defence could develop integrated or complementary approaches and doctrines... MORE

Russian Defense Reform: Current Trends
November 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Irina Isakova Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the topic of Russian defense policy has not received great attention. The rebuilding of Russian military strength is a high priority of President Vladimir Putin, and one to which he and his subordinates have devoted considerable time and resources. Therefore, inattention to Russian... MORE

The NATO-Russia Partnership: A Marriage of Convenience or a Troubled Relationship?
November 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Four years after the NATO-Russia Council came into being, it represents a picture in ambivalence and incomplete realization of partnership. This monograph focuses on the Russian side of this growing estrangement. It finds the Russian roots of this ambivalence or alienation in the increasingly visible manifestations of an... MORE

Alliances and American National Security
October 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall One of the greatest challenges facing the United States today is the translation of its overwhelming might into effective influence. Traditionally, the United States has leveraged its power through bilateral and multilateral alliances. However, the end of the Cold War and the events of September 11, 2001, have... MORE

Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy
November 1, 2002 — Author: Dr Stephen D Biddle America's novel use of special forces, precision weapons, and indigenous allies has attracted widespread attention since its debut in Northern Afghanistan last fall. It has proven both influential and controversial. Many think it caused the Taliban's sudden collapse. For them, this "Afghan Model" represents warfare's... MORE

Canada, Getting It Right This Time the 1994 Defence White Paper
May 31, 1995 — Author: Dr Joel J Sokolsky In April the Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute hosted its Annual Strategy Conference. This year's theme, "Strategy During the Lean Years: Learning From the Past and the Present," brought together scholars, serving and retired military officers, and civilian defense officials from the United States, Canada,... MORE

Trends in German Defense Policy: The Defense Policy Guidelines and the Centralization of Operational Control
June 1, 1994 — Author: Dr Thomas-Durell Young Like most of its NATO allies, the Federal Republic of Germany has undertaken a massive restructuring of its armed forces. The end of the Cold War, the need for unified Germany to assume responsibility for its security, and the current economic recession have made German defense planning extremely difficult. Bonn is... MORE

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces: What Dangers to Northeast Asia?
May 1, 1994 — Author: Dr Thomas L Wilborn Dr. Thomas Wilborn examines Japan's defense policy and the capabilities of its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to determine if the fears of a remilitarized Japan have any basis in fact. He concludes that Japanese defense policy places rigid restraints on the SDF, and that currently there is no support for anything but a... MORE