Recent Publications

The Al-Qaeda Organization and the Islamic State Organization: History, Doctrine, Modus Operandi, and U.S. Policy to Degrade and Defeat Terrorism Conducted in the Name of Sunni Islam
February 6, 2017 — Author: Dr Paul KamolnickView the Executive Summary The al-Qaeda Organization (AQO) and the Islamic State Organization (ISO) are transnational adversaries that conduct terrorism in the name of Sunni Islam. It is declared U.S. Government (USG) policy to degrade, defeat, and destroy them. The present book has been written to assist policymakers,... MORE

Strategic Insights: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) and Trinidad and Tobago: Establishing a Dangerous Presence in the Western Hemisphere
May 13, 2016 — Dr. José de Arimatéia da Cruz In his National Security Strategy (February 2015), President Barack Obama stated that, “the threat of catastrophic attacks against our homeland by terrorists has diminished but still persists . . . Our adversaries are not confined to a distinct country or region. Instead, they range from South Asia through the Middle... MORE

Cover for Strategic Insights: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) and Trinidad and Tobago: Establishing a Dangerous Presence in the Western Hemisphere

Strategic Insights: The Coming Perfect Storm of Europe
April 15, 2016 — Lieutenant Colonel Michael A. Adelberg A collection of social and security trends are at play in Europe that may threaten the peace and stability of the continent. The array of challenges, threats, and frictions could converge at such a point that an unintentional spark could ignite a major crisis or even a regional war of some type.The most... MORE

Cover for Strategic Insights: The Coming Perfect Storm of Europe

Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future
December 22, 2015 — Author: Mr Henry D SokolskiView the Executive Summary With the world focused on the nuclear crisis in Iran, it is tempting to think that addressing this case, North Korea, and the problem of nuclear terrorism is all that matters and is what matters most. Perhaps, but if states become more willing to use their nuclear weapons to achieve military... MORE

The Rise of iWar: Identity, Information, and the Individualization of Modern Warfare
October 16, 2015 — Author: COL Glenn J VoelzView the Executive Summary During a decade of global counterterrorism operations and two extended counterinsurgency campaigns, the United States was confronted with a new kind of adversary. Without uniforms, flags, and formations, the task of identifying and targeting these combatants represented an unprecedented... MORE

The Ethics of Drone Strikes: Does Reducing the Cost of Conflict Encourage War?
September 29, 2015 — Authors: Dr Marcus Schulzke, Dr James Igoe WalshView the Executive Summary Armed unmanned aerial vehicles—combat drones—have fundamentally altered the ways the United States conducts military operations aimed at countering insurgent and terrorist organizations. Drone technology is on track to become an increasingly important part of the country’s... MORE

Strategic Insights: The Will To Fight
September 11, 2015 — Dr. M. Chris MasonEvents on world battlefields over the past two years should give the U.S. Army pause to reconsider the entire Foreign Internal Defense (FID) mission. The seemingly unarguable axiom that "good training makes good soldiers" has been proven to be not always true. Good training does not always make good soldiers. If the definition of... MORE

Terrorist and Insurgent Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Use, Potentials, and Military Implications
August 27, 2015 — Author: Dr Robert J BunkerView the Executive Summary This manuscript focuses on the present threat posed by terrorist and insurgent use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as well as associated future threat potentials. This work presents a counterintuitive analysis in the sense that armed drones are typically viewed as a component of America’s... MORE

The Army War College Review Vol. 1 No. 3
August 1, 2015 — Author: Dr Larry D Miller The Army War College Review, a refereed publication of student work, is produced under the purview of the Strategic Studies Institute and the United States Army War College. An electronic quarterly, The AWC Review connects student intellectual work with professionals invested in U.S. national security, Landpower, strategic... MORE

Reassessing the Barriers to Islamic Radicalization in Kazakhstan
July 29, 2015 — Authors: Ms Zhulduz Baizakova, Mr Roger N McDermott View the Executive SummaryCentral Asia has been experiencing an increase or activation of radical Islamic movements over the last decade or so. These complex processes include increasing urbanization, institutional and individual corruption, the growing gap between rich and poor, the inability of... MORE

Joining the New Caravan: ISIS and the Regeneration of Terrorism in Southeast Asia
June 25, 2015 — Dr. Zachary AbuzaIntroduction.Since early-2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has made gradual inroads into Southeast Asia. There are an estimated 500 Southeast Asians, not including family and kin, in Iraq and Syria fighting for ISIS, as well as al-Nusra, which at first attracted far more Southeast Asians. Since August 2014, there has... MORE

Assessing Egyptian Public Support for Security Crackdowns in the Sinai
February 10, 2015 — Author: Mr Gregory Aftandilian View the Executive SummaryThis monograph examines the terrorist groups in Egypt emanating from the Sinai and assesses the level of Egyptian public support for the government's security crackdown. These terrorist groups have not only targeted Egyptian security personnel and foreign tourists in the Sinai Peninsula but... MORE