Recent Publications

Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Instability in Mexico, Colombia, and the Caribbean: Implications for U.S. National Security
January 1, 2010 — Authors: Mr Evan Brown, Dr Dallas D Owens Key Insights from the conference included:(1) The relationships between powerful criminal groups and states are complex and create transnational issues of corruption and the production, transportation, marketing, and consumption of illegal products and services that have national security implications for... MORE

Pakistan’s Nuclear Future: Reining in the Risk
December 1, 2009 — Author: Mr Henry D Sokolski Unfortunately, a nuclear terrorist act is only one—and hardly the most probable—of several frightening security threats Pakistan now faces or poses. We know that traditional acts of terrorism and conventional military crises in Southwest Asia have nearly escalated into wars and, more recently, even threatened Indian and... MORE

A “New” Dynamic in the Western Hemisphere Security Environment: The Mexican Zetas and Other Private Armies
September 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Max G Manwaring This monograph is intended to help political, military, policy, opinion, and academic leaders think strategically about explanations, consequences, and responses that might apply to the volatile and dangerous new dynamic that has inserted itself into the already crowded Mexican and hemispheric security arena, that is, the... MORE

A Comprehensive Approach to Improving U.S. Security Force Assistance Efforts
September 1, 2009 — Authors: LTC Theresa Baginski, COL Brian J Clark, LTC Francis Donovan, Ms Karma Job, LTC John S Kolasheski, COL Richard A Lacquement Jr, COL Michael J McMahon, Brigadier Simon "Don" Roach, COL Sean P Swindell, COL Curt A Van De Walle Security Force Assistance is analyzed, and some specific recommendations designed to improve U.S. performance are... MORE

Mexico’s Narco-Insurgency and U.S. Counterdrug Policy
May 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Hal Brands In late 2007, the U.S. and Mexican governments unveiled the Merida Initiative. A 3-year, $1.4 billion counternarcotics assistance program, the Merida Initiative is designed to combat the drug-fueled violence that has ravaged Mexico of late. The initiative aims to strengthen the Mexican police and military, permitting them to... MORE

New NATO Members: Security Consumers or Producers?
April 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Joel R Hillison This monograph examines the burden-sharing of new members in NATO. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used to test the hypothesis that new NATO members are burden-sharing at a greater rate than older NATO members. An analysis of the burden-sharing behavior of NATO’s 1999 wave of new members reveals that new NATO... MORE

Beyond the Strait: PLA Missions other than Taiwan
March 1, 2009 — Author: Mr Roy Kamphausen, Dr David Lai, Dr Andrew Scobell SSI and NBR conducted a book launch event for this book. Audio is available on the NBR site.While preventing independence likely remains the central aim of the PLA vis-a-vis Taiwan, Chinese foreign policy objectives worldwide are rapidly growing and diversifying. This volume analyzes the... MORE

Stability Operations and State Building: Continuities and Contingencies
October 1, 2008 — Author: COL Greg Kaufmann The Department of Defense published its Directive 3000.05, “Military Support for Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTR) Operations,” in November 2005, to address this area of state building and stability operations. The process of arriving at this point, however, indicates that no consistent view of the... MORE

China-Russia Security Relations: Strategic Parallelism without Partnership or Passion?
August 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Richard Weitz This report argues that, although Chinese-Russian relations have improved along several important dimensions, security cooperation between Beijing and Moscow has remained limited, episodic, and tenuous. The two governments support each other on select issues but differ on others. Since these interests conflict as well as... MORE

U.S. Army War College Guide to National Security Issues, Vol. II: National Security Policy and Strategy, 3rd Edition
June 1, 2008 — Author: Dr J Boone Bartholomees Jr Hardcopies are only available to active duty members of the Department of Defense. Volume II of this edition of the U.S. Army War College Guide (USAWC) to National Security Issues corresponds roughly to one of the two core courses that the Department of National Security and Strategy (DNSS) teaches: “Theory of War... MORE

From the New Middle Ages to a New Dark Age: The Decline of the State and U.S. Strategy
June 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Phil Williams Security and stability in the 21st century have little to do with traditional power politics, military conflict between states, and issues of grand strategy. Instead they revolve around the disruptive consequences of globalization, declining governance, inequality, urbanization, and nonstate violent actors. The author... MORE

Borders: Technology and Security–Strategic Responses to New Challenges
May 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Douglas V Johnson II The following points were put forth by colloquium participants. The concept of a border as a line on the ground is insufficient for today’s realities. The concept of border security obscures larger issues of control and humane management. The European Union approach to interior border management differs from that of... MORE