Recent Publications

Coup D’Oeil: Strategic Intuition in Army Planning
November 1, 2005 — Author: Dr William Duggan Dr. William Duggan shows how to reconcile analytical and intuitive methods of decisionmaking, by drawing on recent scientific research that brings the two together. He applies this new research to the Army's core methods of analytical decisionmaking as found in FM 5-0, Army Planning and Orders Production. The result is... MORE

2005 Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL)
July 1, 2005 — Author: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Half a decade into the new millennium, the strategic environment continues to change rapidly, and in important ways. Some of those changes, of course, challenge U.S. interests, while others advance them. And the challenges assume regular and, increasingly now, irregular forms. Yet, while the causes of change are... MORE

Developing Adaptive Leaders: The Crucible Experience of Operation Iraqi Freedom
July 1, 2004 — Author: Dr Leonard Wong The author examines the Operation IRAQI FREEDOM environment and concludes that the complexity, unpredictability, and ambiguity of postwar Iraq is producing a cohort of innovative, confident, and adaptable junior officers. They are learning to make decisions in chaotic conditions and to be mentally agile in executing... MORE

Strategic Leadership Competencies
September 1, 2003 — Authors: Dr Stephen J Gerras, COL William Kidd, COL Robert Pricone, COL Richard Swengros, Dr Leonard Wong The strategic leadership literature in both the academic and military contexts is replete with long lists of the knowledge, skills, and abilities. Unfortunately, long comprehensive lists are problematic. Looking across the literature on... MORE

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Leadership Using the Joint Strategic Planning System in the 1990s: Recommendations for Strategic Leaders
June 1, 2003 — Author: Dr Richard M Meinhart The Joint Strategic Planning System has been considered the primary formal means by which the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff executed his statutory responsibilities specified by Congress in Title 10 of the U.S. Code. Yet little has been written about this strategic planning system itself, although some of its products... MORE

Political Control over the Use of Force: A Clausewitzian Perspective
April 1, 2001 — Author: LTC Suzanne C Nielsen The author addresses the issues regarding the ideal relationship between the commander and the statesman in time of war and the balance between political control and military operational expertise by examining what Carl von Clausewitz has to say about civil- military relations and the use of force. She looks in depth... MORE

Future Leadership, Old Issues, New Methods
March 1, 2000 — Editor: Dr Douglas V Johnson II Each year, the Army After Next Seminar students are asked to orient their Strategy Research Papers on topics appropriate to the programs 30-years in the future focus. Thirty years ago, the United States Army was deeply involved in Vietnam and in the Cold War. Officers could reasonably expect to serve repetitive tours... MORE

Strategic Art: The New Discipline for 21st Century Leaders
October 10, 1995 — Author: LTG Richard A Chilcoat This essay develops a simple, yet comprehensive definition of strategic art. Strategic art entails the orchestration of all the instruments of national power to yield specific, well-defined end states. Desired end states and strategic outcomes derive from the national interests and are variously defined in terms of... MORE

Making Do with Less, or Coping with Upton’s Ghost
May 26, 1995 — Author: Dr Eliot A Cohen Each April the Strategic Studies Institute hosts a conference that addresses key strategic issues facing the Armed Forces and the Nation. This year's theme, "Strategy During the Lean Years: Learning from the Past and the Present," brought together scholars, serving and retired military officers, and civilian defense... MORE

American Civil-Military Relations: New Issues, Enduring Problems
April 1, 1995 — Authors: Dr Douglas V Johnson II, Dr Steven Metz The authors were invited to prepare a paper for a conference on Civil-Military Relations in the fall, 1994. That paper was translated into an article for the Winter, 1995 edition of The Washington Quarterly under the title "Civil-Military Relations in the United States: The State of the Debate."... MORE

The Military-News Media Relationship: Thinking Forward
December 1, 1993 — Authors: Dr Rod Lyon, COL Charles W Ricks, Prof William T Tow Over the course of the next six months, the Strategic Studies Institute will examine the impact of the media's technological advances on strategic and operational level planning and policymaking, first in an overseas theater, and subsequently on decisions made at the national level. The... MORE

Land Warfare in the 21st Century
February 1, 1993 — Authors: COL James M Dubik, Gen Gordon R Sullivan Land warfare in the 21st century will be shaped by the cumulative effects of many revolutionary changes that have yet to merge in a clear or predictable pattern. This paper identifies three elements of change that are likely to have the greatest impact on the Army and the joint conduct of land... MORE