Recent Publications

War with China: A View from Early 2024
April 11, 2024 — US defense analysts are overdue for a fundamental reassessment of the strategic factors that would shape a future Sino-American war. The United States may lower the overall risk of sparking a war between Washington and Beijing by more formally committing advanced US capabilities in intelligence collection and targeting, long-range fires, and theater air and missile defense to Japan and South Korea and by initiating bilateral planning to introduce such capabilities in Taiwan in the future. The US defense community still lacks a broad and integrated national strategy for successfully managing the rivalry with China. A clear-eyed assessment of a possible United States-China war could lead to a national strategy... MORE

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Strategy Education Across the Professional Military Education Enterprise
May 18, 2015 — Colonel John C. Valledor We can find plenty to read and study on the subject of leadership; in fact, there is a veritable mountain of studies, essays, and books explaining how to build leaders. Not so if one wants to build (or become) a strategist.General John Galvin1Emerging Realities and the Education of Strategists. Since the horrific... MORE

Final Response to “America’s Flawed Afghanistan Strategy”
October 14, 2010 — Dr. Steven Metz MAJ Dvorscak's thoughtful letter makes a number of important and powerful points. In some cases, I suspect that I simply expressed my idea poorly or was limited by time constraints in the extent to which I could explain them. On others, though, we'll agree to disagree.MAJ Dvorscak is exactly right that al Qaeda and the Taliban have... MORE

America’s Flawed Afghanistan Strategy
August 1, 2010 — Author: Dr Steven Metz Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the August 2010 newsletter.Read Now MORE

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The Serpent in Our Garden: Al-Qa’ida and the Long War
January 1, 2009 — Author: COL Brian M Drinkwine The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11) caused Americans to realize that our sense of invincibility had been shattered. This paper will identify al-Qa’ida and Salafi-Jihadists as our enemy and will recommend new approaches to fighting terrorism. Colonel Brian Drinkwine will explore al-Qa’ida’s organization,... MORE

COIN of the Realm: U.S. Counterinsurgency Strategy
January 1, 2008 — Authors: Dr Steven Metz, Mr Ralph Wipfli Participants at the seminar developed these key insights: Regardless of whether counterinsurgency (COIN) will be the dominant form of military activity in the future or simply one of several, the United States needs an effective national strategy which explains when, why, and how the nation should undertake... MORE

Confronting the Unconventional: Innovation and Transformation in Military Affairs
October 1, 2006 — Author: Dr David Tucker Are there limits to military transformation? Or, if it seems obvious that there must be limits to transformation, what are they exactly, why do they arise, and how can we identify them so that we may better accomplish the transformation that the U.S. military is capable of? If limits to military change and transformation... MORE

The Information Revolution and National Security
August 1, 2000 — Author: Mr Thomas E Copeland The effects of the information revolution are particularly profound in the realm of national security strategy. They are creating new opportunities for those who master them. The U.S. military, for instance, is exploring ways to seize information superiority during conflicts and thus gain decisive advantages over its... MORE

Germany, France and NATO
October 1, 1994 — Authors: Ms Maria Alongi, Dr Peter Schmidt U.S. national strategy and U.S. Army doctrine explicitly establish the overwhelming need for, and value of, coalitions and alliances in the post-cold war era. Two generations of U.S. civil officials and military officers have been inculcated with the precept of NATO's importance to security and stability... MORE