Recent Publications

Scenario Planning and Strategy in the Pentagon
January 29, 2019 — Author: Dr Michael FitzsimmonsView the Executive Summary Scenario planning should be one of the Pentagon’s most important tools for developing strategy for an uncertain future. However, the formalized joint scenario planning process to support strategy and force development—Support for Strategic Analysis—has faced many challenges over the past 2... MORE

Cover for Scenario Planning and Strategy in the Pentagon

Evaluation of the 2015 DoD Cyber Strategy: Mild Progress in a Complex and Dynamic Military Domain
November 2, 2017 — Author: Mr Jeffrey L CatonView the Executive Summary In 2011, the Department of Defense (DoD) released its Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace, which officially recognized cyberspace as an operational domain akin to the traditional military domains of land, sea, air, and space. This monograph examines the 2015 DoD Cyber Strategy to evaluate how... MORE

Strategy and Grand Strategy: What Students and Practitioners Need to Know
December 31, 2015 — Author: Dr Tami Davis BiddleView the Executive Summary In this monograph, Dr. Tami Davis Biddle examines why it is so difficult to devise, implement, and sustain sound strategies and grand strategies. Her analysis begins with an examination of the meaning of the term “strategy” and a history of the ways that political actors have sought to employ... MORE

Mastering the Gray Zone: Understanding a Changing Era of Conflict

Governance, Identity, and Counterinsurgency: Evidence from Ramadi and Tal Afar
March 1, 2013 — Author: Dr Michael Fitzsimmons View the Executive SummaryThe premise of most Western thinking on counterinsurgency is that success depends on establishing a perception of legitimacy among local populations. The path to legitimacy is often seen as the improvement of governance in the form of effective and efficient administration of government and... MORE

The Strategy Deficit
March 20, 2008 — Author: Mr Nathan P Freier Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the April 2008 newsletter.Read Now MORE

U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Policy and Strategy, 1st Edition
July 1, 2004 — Author: Dr J Boone Bartholomees Jr Although the Department of National Security and Strategy, U.S. Army War College, uses several of the chapters in this volume as readings for its core course "War, National Policy and Strategy," this is not a textbook. It does reflect, however, both the method and manner used to teach strategy formulation to... MORE