Recent Publications

Threats to Russian Security: The View from Moscow
July 1, 2000 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The documented threat assessments addressed here are clearly the culmination to date of a long-standing process by which the Russian military and government have forsaken the optimistic Westernizing postures and visions of the initial post-Soviet years and returned in many respects to assessments and demands for specific... MORE

U.S. Military Engagement with Transcaucasia and Central Asia
June 1, 2000 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The Clinton administration has proclaimed a strategy to engage and enlarge the democratic community of states. By virtue of their strategic location adjacent to Russia, the Middle East, and Europe s periphery, and their large-scale oil and natural gas deposits, Transcaucasia and Central Asia have become important testing... MORE

European Security: Washington’s Shaping Strategy in Action
March 1, 2000 — Authors: Dr Stephen J Blank, Dr William T Johnsen, Dr Thomas-Durell Young Notwithstanding the claims of some in the United States, European affairs continue to dominate U.S. foreign policy and strategic thinking. The end of the Cold War has not seen any blurring of the focus of U.S. officials on European affairs. Managing the implications of the... MORE

Mediterranean Security into the Coming Millennium
August 1, 1999 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The papers included in this volume represent just such an effort to lay a firmer foundation for this continuing dialogue and to bring together different points of view. In October 1998, the Strategic Studies Institute, assisted by Pepperdine University, assembled a distinguished group of analysts from the United States,... MORE

East Asia in Crisis: The Security Implications of the Collapse of Economic Institutions
February 5, 1999 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The challenges to the United States and to its armed forces are numerous and highly significant. Moreover, we must begin to address them now even if other institutions cannot or will not do so with us. Those crises comprise ASEAN's decline as a meaningful security provider, Russia's collapse, Japan's stagnation, South... MORE

NATO After Enlargement: New Challenges, New Missions, New Forces
September 1, 1998 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank In 1999 NATO will formally admit three new members and adopt a new strategic concept. In so doing, it will take giant strides towards effecting a revolutionary transformation of European security. On the one hand, it could be said that NATO enlargement closes the immediate post-Cold War period that began with the collapse... MORE

European Security and NATO Enlargement: A View from Central Europe
April 1, 1998 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank On August 4-5, 1997, the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), together with the Reserve Officers Association, cosponsored a conference in Prague on "Eurasian Security in the Era of NATO Enlargement." In order to clarify fully the emerging security agenda in Europe and hear from member states and other interested parties,... MORE

Russia’s Armed Forces on the Brink of Reform
March 1, 1998 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Despite over a dozen years of talk, the Soviet and now Russian military has not undergone a true military reform. What did happen was a form of degeneration and disintegration, but not a methodically planned and directed transformation and/or adaptation to new conditions. Consequently, defense policy, in all of its... MORE

NATO Enlargement and the Baltic States: What Can the Great Powers Do?
November 18, 1997 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank NATO's enlargement has brought it to the borders of the Baltic states who covet membership in NATO. However, admitting them into NATO is one of the most difficult problems for the Alliance because of Russia's unconditional opposition to such action and because of NATO's own internal divisions on this issue. Nonetheless, a... MORE

From Madrid to Brussels: Perspectives on NATO Enlargement
June 15, 1997 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank NATO's enlargement will be perhaps the most important defense and foreign policy issue of 1997. Certainly, its impact will exert a decisive influence on the future evolution of European security and the institutions that comprise it. This process raises a host of serious issues concerning Europe, not the least being the... MORE

Why Russian Policy is Failing in Asia
April 2, 1997 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Since its inception as a state, Russia has been both a European and an Asian power. Although Russia today, as was true during much of its history, is torn by an identity crisis over where it belongs, its elites have never renounced Russia's vital interests in Asia and the belief that it should be recognized as a great... MORE

The Dynamics of Russian Weapon Sales to China
March 4, 1997 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Russia has recently sold or transferred many military weapons or technologies to China. Russian state policy has also officially joined with China in a relationship described as a strategic cooperative partnership. Some Russian diplomats also say that there is virtually complete identity with China on all issues of Asian... MORE