Recent Publications

Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine
March 27, 2024 — Strategy | Book Review: Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to UkraineAuthors: David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts | Reviewed by Dr. John A. Nagl, professor of warfighting studies, US Army War College | Dr. John A. Nagl provides readers a roadmap to navigate—and a lens with which to interpret—General David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts's... MORE

Dr. John A. Nagl provides readers a roadmap to navigate—and a lens with which to interpret—General David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts's best-selling book, Conflict, which Nagl considers "'[t]he closest thing to a memoir" of Petraeus and "likely . . . the best first-person account in history of [Petraeus's] efforts and results in Iraq and Afghanistan that made him the most important Army officer of his generation."

The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers
October 17, 2023 — Book Review: The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers Author: Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr. | Reviewed by Zachery Tyson Brown, defense analyst, Office of the Secretary of Defense | Andrew F. Krepinevich has questions for policymakers when it comes to emerging technologies and warfare. In The... MORE

Book Review: The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/28
Author: Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr.
Reviewed by Zachery Tyson Brown, defense analyst, Office of the Secretary of Defense

Andrew F. Krepinevich has questions for policymakers when it comes to emerging technologies and warfare. In The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers, Krepinevich asks: How do states gain advantages in military competition during periods of disruptive change? How are developmental technologies best incorporated into legacy military structures? Or are entirely new structures necessary?

The Air War in Vietnam
September 21, 2023 — 76th Birthday of Air Force | Book Review: The Air War in Vietnam Author: Michael E. Weaver | Reviewed by Vince Alcazar, Air Force (retired) planner and fighter pilot, Department of Defense | The Air War in Vietnam addresses President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration’s use of airpower (or lack of it) and why American airpower underperformed, as... MORE

Book Review by Vince Alcazar of
The Air War in Vietnam

Author: Michael E. Weaver
Reviewed by Vince Alcazar, Air Force (retired) planner and fighter pilot, Department of Defense

The Air War in Vietnam addresses President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration’s use of airpower (or lack of it) and why American airpower underperformed, as well as airpower innovations that influenced the US warfare model in the Vietnam War. The reviewer bills this work as “…an indispensable volume of airpower scholarship. It is a richly developed analysis of airpower in a decade-long war with challenging hybrid characteristics and shifting US strategies.”

War in the Villages: The U.S. Marine Corps Combined Action Platoons in the Vietnam War
April 21, 2023 — 50th Anniversary of Vietnam War in the Villages: The U.S. Marine Corps Combined Action Platoons in the Vietnam War by Ted N. Easterling | Reviewed by Dr. William Thomas Allison, professor of history, Georgia Southern University | Former Marine and Vietnam War veteran Ted Easterling evaluates the Marine Combined Action Platoons and their... MORE

War in the Village
US Army War College Press Parameters Bookshelf -- Online Book Reviews

The Paracel Islands and U.S. Interests and Approaches in the South China Sea
June 1, 2014 — Author: LTC Clarence J Bouchat (USAF, Ret) View the Executive SummaryThe Paracel Islands and South China Sea disputes require better understanding by U.S. policymakers in order to address the region’s challenges. To attain that needed understanding, legal aspects of customary and modern laws are explored in this monograph to analyze the differences... MORE

An Army Transformed: The U.S. Army’s Post-Vietnam Recovery and the Dynamics of Change in Military Organizations
September 1, 2010 — Author: LTC Suzanne C Nielsen During the 2 decades preceding the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the U.S. Army went through tremendous reform and rejuvenation. In explaining this important case of military change, this paper makes four central arguments. First, leaders within military organizations are essential; external developments most often have an... MORE

Cover for An Army Transformed: The U.S. Army's Post-Vietnam Recovery and the Dynamics of Change in Military Organizations

The Political Context Behind Successful Revolutionary Movements, Three Case Studies: Vietnam (1955-63), Algeria (1945-62), and Nicaragua (1967-79)
March 1, 2008 — Author: LTC Raymond A Millen Following the collapse of the Soviet Empire, the new world order did not bring about a closure of revolutionary warfare. In fact, the Soviet-inspired wars of liberation against imperialism have been eclipsed by reactionary, jihadist wars. By all indications in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Somalia, and Iraq, Islamic militants... MORE

Iraq and Vietnam: Differences, Similarities, and Insights
May 1, 2004 — Authors: Dr Jeffrey Record, Dr W Andrew Terrill U.S. political and military difficulties in Iraq have prompted comparisons to the American war in Vietnam. The authors conclude that the military dimensions of the two conflicts bear little comparison. Among other things, the sheer scale of the Vietnam War in terms of forces committed and losses... MORE

Avoiding Vietnam: The U.S. Army’s Response to Defeat in Southeast Asia
September 1, 2002 — Author: Dr Conrad C Crane As American operations against terrorism spread around the globe to places like Afghanistan and the Philippines, an increasing tendency has been for commentators to draw parallels with past experience in Vietnam. Even soldiers on the ground have begun to speak in such terms. The author analyzes the Army's response to that... MORE

Civil-Military Relations and the Not-Quite Wars of the Present and Future
October 1, 1996 — Author: Dr Vincent Davis Three papers presented at the Patterson School-Strategic Studies Institute Symposium focused on civil-military relations at various levels. West Point professor Don M. Snider maintains that continued pressures on the armed forces—especially the Army—to put aside war-fighting missions in favor of other missions will further... MORE