Recent Publications

The U.S. Army in the Iraq War – Volume 1: Invasion – Insurgency – Civil War, 2003-2006
January 17, 2019 — Authors: COL Joel D. Rayburn, COL Frank K. SobchakView the Executive Summary The Iraq War has been the costliest U.S. conflict since the Vietnam War. To date, few official studies have been conducted to review what happened, why it happened, and what lessons should be drawn. The U.S. Army in the Iraq War is the Army’s initial operational level... MORE

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Parameters VOL. 48 NO. 3 Autumn 2018
January 16, 2019 — Editor: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II FEATURES: Challenges for Civil-Military Relations: "Policy Revolt: Army Opposition to the Korea Withdrawal Plan On Alliances and Coalitions" by Eric B. Setzekorn."The Walter Reed Scandal and the All-Volunteer Force" by Richard G. Malish. On Alliances and Coalitions: "Fighting and Learning in the Great War" by... MORE

Ends, Means, Ideology, and Pride: Why the Axis Lost and What We Can Learn from Its Defeat
July 13, 2017 — Author: Dr Jeffrey RecordView the Executive Summary The author examines the Axis defeat in World War II and concludes that the two main causes were resource inferiority (after 1941) and strategic incompetence—i.e., pursuit of imperial ambitions beyond the reach of its actual power. Until 1941 Axis military fortunes thrived, but the addition in that... MORE

Transforming the Force: The 11th Air Assault Division (Test) from 1963 to 1965
June 27, 2017 — Author: Brigadier General Thomas C. GravesView the Executive Summary This monograph will answer the question: Can the U.S. Army apply to the current “prototype brigade” the lessons that were learned during the development and experimentation of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test)? Having established that the criteria of DTLOMS is a valuable tool... MORE

Strategic Insights: Unlearned Lessons and the Dual-System Problem
January 25, 2017 — Dr. Robert D. LambIn early 2003, the Association of the U.S. Army and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released the final report from their joint, blue ribbon Commission on Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR) that had completed its year-long study in 2002.1 The PCR Commission had extracted lessons from U.S. and international... MORE

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

Soldiers of Misfortune?
May 13, 2014 — Author: Dr Thomas R MockaitisView the Executive Summary In examining the role of security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, the author draws broad lessons from which he provides concrete recommendations to improve the conduct of further missions. Rather than do away with contractors altogether, the author recommends limiting their roles,... MORE

Defense Planning for National Security: Navigation Aids for the Mystery Tour
March 19, 2014 — Author: Dr Colin S Gray View the Executive SummaryThe challenge that is defense planning includes: "educated futurology" and the humanities as methodological approaches; futurists and scenarios, trend spotting and defense analysis; the impossibility of science in studying the future; the impossibility of verification by empirical testing of... MORE

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State Collapse, Insurgency, and Counterinsurgency: Lessons from Somalia
November 14, 2013 — Author: Dr J Peter Pham View the Executive SummaryFor more than 2 decades, Somalia has been the prime example of a collapsed state, resisting multiple attempts to reconstitute a central government, with the current internationally-backed regime of the “Federal Republic of Somalia” struggling just to maintain its hold on the capital and the... MORE

Organizational Change in the Russian Airborne Forces: The Lessons of the Georgian Conflict
December 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Rod Thornton This monograph considers the recent history of organizational change in the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV). In particular, it looks at how the VDV has changed since the end of Russia’s conflict with Georgia in 2008. The VDV, a force much admired in Russian media and society has, in fact, escaped fairly lightly during the... MORE

Chinese Lessons from Other Peoples’ Wars
November 1, 2011 — Authors: Mr Roy Kamphausen, Dr David Lai, Dr Andrew Scobell The importance of China stems not only from its current international role and its influence on the Asia-Pacific region in particular, but also because China’s impact on global developments will likely continue to grow. One of our enduring imperatives is to accurately survey China’s... MORE

Op-Ed: The Criminals South of the Border: Lessons from Mexico
August 9, 2011 — Dr. Max G. ManwaringYou might also like: "La Familia Drug Cartel: Implications for U.S.-Mexican Security."Authorities have no consistent or reliable data on the Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO)-gang phenomenon in Mexico. Nevertheless, the TCO-gang phenomenon in that country is acknowledged to be large, complex, and increasingly violent... MORE