Recent Publications

Training Indigenous Forces in Counterinsurgency: A Tale of Two Insurgencies
March 1, 2006 — Author: Dr James S Corum The author examines the British experience in building and training indigenous police and military forces during the Malaya and Cyprus insurgencies. These two insurgencies provide a dramatic contrast to the issue of training local security forces. In Malaya, the British developed a very successful strategy for training the... MORE

Victories are Not Enough
December 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Samuel J Newland Since the early stages of World War II, militaries in general, and the U.S. Army in particular, have studied the German way of war, specifically as practiced in the 20th century. While acknowledging that Germany—and before that nation came into existence, Prussia—produced some excellent armies, major problems with the... MORE

Insurgency in Iraq: An Historical Perspective
January 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Ian FW Beckett The continuing proliferation of insurgent organizations suggests that insurgency is still widely perceived as an effective means either of achieving power and influence, or of bringing a cause to the notice of an international or national community. The end of European decolonization and the collapse of the Soviet Union... MORE

Shadows of Things Past and Images of the Future: Lessons for the Insurgencies in Our Midst
November 1, 2004 — Author: Dr Max G Manwaring This monograph begins with a short discussion of contemporary insurgency. It makes the argument that, in studying terror war, guerrilla war, or any other common term for insurgency war, we find these expressions mischaracterize the activities of armed groups that are attempting to gain political control of a nation-state... MORE

Female Suicide Bombers
June 1, 2004 — Author: Ms Debra D Zedalis Female suicide bombers were used in the past, but the spate of these type bombings in different venues, in different countries, and for different terrorist organizations encourages closer examination of this phenomenon. The author looks at the history, characteristics, and changes, and also provides within a strategic... MORE

Keep the Reserves in the Fight
September 1, 2003 — Author: COL James R Pullen Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the September 2003 newsletter.Read Now MORE

The Lessons of History: The Chinese people’s Liberation Army at 75
July 1, 2003 — Authors: Ms Laurie Burkitt, Dr Andrew Scobell, Dr Larry M Wortzel With the armed forces of the People's Republic of China (PLA) celebrating its 75th anniversary on August 1, 2002, it only seemed appropriate and timely to take stock of the world's largest military. The PLA has officially been in existence for three-quarters of a century, and its... MORE

Reconstructing Iraq: Challenges and Missions for Military Forces in a Post-Conflict Scenario
February 1, 2003 — Authors: Dr Conrad C Crane, Dr W Andrew Terrill With the winds of war swirling around Iraq, it is time to plan for its post-conflict reconstruction. To assist such planning, this study proposes a construct for identifying the postwar missions to be accomplished following a victory over the Hussein regime and suggests the time phasing for the... MORE

The Past as Prologue: A History of U.S. Counterinsurgency Policy in Colombia, 1958-66
March 1, 2002 — Author: Mr Dennis M Rempe The author outlines the history of U.S. counterinsurgency policy and the recommendations made by U.S. Special Survey Teams in Colombia from 1958-66. An examination of that history and the concomitant recommendations indicates that a review of that record would be in order. This monograph comes at a time when the United... MORE

Defeating Terrorism: Strategic Issue Analyses
January 1, 2002 — Author: Prof John R Martin Within only a few days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Army War College initiated a series of short studies addressing strategic issues in the war on terrorism. This collection of essays analyzes a broad array of subjects of great strategic importance. This volume provides historical... MORE

Transforming Defense an Era of Peace and Prosperity
December 1, 2001 — Author: Dr Conrad C Crane The ideas and issues presented in this collection of papers from the Twelfth Annual Strategy Conference conducted by the U.S. Army War College in April 2001 will educate and inform anyone interested in the past and future course of American defense reform. Though conference attendees had many differing opinions about the... MORE

W(h)ither Corps?
August 1, 2001 — Author: Dr D Robert Worley Army transformation has many dimensions with change in technology, operational methods, and organizations. So far, the focus of organizational transformation has been on the redesign of tactical units such as the interim brigade combat teams. But corps--the Army's operational level organizations--must also be transformed... MORE