Recent Publications

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

Regional Spillover Effects of the Iraq War
December 1, 2008 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill The Iraq war has been one of the dominant factors influencing U.S. strategic thinking in the Middle East and globally since 2003. Yet the problems of this highly dynamic and fluid war have sometimes forced U.S. policymakers to address near-term issues that cannot be safely postponed at the expense of long-term strategic... MORE

Opportunities for Engaging Minorities
March 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Dallas D Owens Five aspects of minority community engagement in national security issues were examined: two concerned engagement in specific minority communities (Muslim and Latino), one a “field” of engagement (public health), one a traditional type of engagement (military service), and one a prerequisite for successful community... MORE

The Military Strategy of Global Jihad
October 1, 2007 — Author: LTC Sarah E Zabel America entered the Global War on Terrorism with little understanding of the enemy it faced. Al-Qaeda is a splinter faction of militant Islamism intent on establishing its vision of strict Islamic rule in the Muslim world through armed action. Global jihadis have spent more than 40 years refining their philosophy, gaining... MORE

ASEAN and Its Security Offspring: Facing New Challenges
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Sheldon W Simon Southeast Asian states within ASEAN agree that security relations with the great powers are best achieved by enmeshing the latter in ASEAN procedures. The primary goal of ASEAN is that China, Japan, the United States, and India commit to maintaining Southeast Asia's autonomy, integrity, and prosperity. ASEAN is less... MORE

Kuwaiti National Security and the U.S.-Kuwaiti Strategic Relationship after Saddam
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill The U.S.-Kuwaiti military and political relationship has been of considerable value to both countries since at least 1990. This alliance was formed in the aftermath of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s brutal invasion of Kuwait and the U.S. decision to free Kuwait with military force in 1991. Saddam’s later defeat and... MORE

Egypt: Security, Political, and Islamist Challenges
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Sherifa D Zuhur This monograph approaches three issues in contemporary Egypt: failures of governance and political development, the continued strength of Islamism, and counterterrorism. The Egyptian government forged a truce with its most troublesome Islamist militants in 1999. However, violence emerged again from new sources of Islamist... MORE

The Emerging Pattern of Geopolitics
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Peter W Rodman Without ignoring the two wars that are currently taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) sought to reframe the debate over security within a global context. Thus Mr. Rodman’s address sets contemporary security challenges to the United States within a framework of both an Islamist... MORE

Roots of Terror
May 1, 2007 — Author: Ms Corinna Johnson Many of the traditional processes used to identify and prosecute terrorists operate at a pace too slow to keep up with terrorists’ ability to change and reorganize. Terrorists have adopted structurally independent modes of organization in diverse environments; counterterrorism policies must adopt methods to track... MORE

The New Totalitarians: Social Identities and Radical islamist Political Grand Strategy
January 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Douglas J Macdonald The author argues that the social identity theory behind the “clash of civilizations” thesis is useful for analyzing the tasks before us in the “Long War” on Terrorism. The “clash of civilizations” is not actually occurring, he argues, but is rather the end goal of radical Islamist political grand strategy.Radical... MORE

A Nation at War
January 1, 2007 — Author: Prof John R Martin One of the basics of strategy is understanding the foe and the type of war in which a nation is involved. Perhaps even more basic than that is the seemingly simple requirement to understand that the nation is at war. The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) does not fit easily into the mold of war, but that is because of too... MORE

Strategic Challenges for Counterinsurgency and the Global War on Terrorism
September 1, 2006 — Author: Dr Williamson Murray In March 2006, President George W. Bush signed a new National Security Strategy that he refers to as a “wartime national security strategy” and states that to follow the path the United States has chosen, we must “maintain and expand our national strength.” One way to do this is to study and propose solutions to the... MORE