Recent Publications

21st-Century Challenges of Command: A View from the Field
May 31, 2017 — Author: Dr Anna SimonsView the Executive Summary Leadership receives a tremendous amount of attention, but what about the day-to-day command challenges that confront O-4s, O-5s, and O-6s in today’s war zones? What has command entailed over the past decade and a half for special operations force (SOF) commanders who have deployed to Afghanistan (and... MORE

Parameters VOL. 47 NO. 1 SPRING 2017
May 1, 2017 — Editor: Dr Antulio J Echevarria II Mission Command: Strategic Implications – Anthony C. King, Russell W. Glenn, and Thomas-Durell Young.After 15 Years of Conflict – Charlotte F. Blatt, Stanley J. Wiechnik, Ellen "Elle" Klein, Douglas A. Sims II, and Amy B. Adler.Modernization Among US Partners – Ian Langford, and Rémy Hémez.Review Essay – Larry D... MORE

Strategic Insights: Strategic Questions Loom Large for President Trump in the Middle East
April 11, 2017 — Dr. Christopher J. Bolan“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Sun TzuThe primary shortcoming of U.S. policymakers since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has been a consistent inability to translate tactical and operational military successes into sustainable... MORE

Antiquities Destruction and Illicit Sales as Sources of ISIS Funding and Propaganda
April 3, 2017 — Author: Dr W Andrew TerrillView the Executive Summary The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has embarked on a campaign to destroy or sell priceless world heritage relics throughout the area under its control. While images of the outrageous destruction of priceless artifacts have been seen throughout the world, the strategic and military... MORE

Strategic Insights: Unlearned Lessons and the Dual-System Problem
January 25, 2017 — Dr. Robert D. LambIn early 2003, the Association of the U.S. Army and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released the final report from their joint, blue ribbon Commission on Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR) that had completed its year-long study in 2002.1 The PCR Commission had extracted lessons from U.S. and international... MORE

Strategic Insights: Syria Safe Zones
January 9, 2017 — Dr. Azeem IbrahimSummary. Diplomacy has all but failed in Syria, and it is difficult to envisage when and how diplomatic efforts could be restarted in light of the continued difficulties between Russia and the West. With these difficulties, it is imperative to change focus and tackle the one area where the United States might still be able to have... 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

Enabling Others to Win in a Complex World: Maximizing Security Force Assistance Potential in the Regionally Aligned Brigade Combat Team
December 18, 2015 — Author: CPT (P) Liam P WalshView the Executive Summary Beginning in 2013, the U.S. Army began an effort to “engage regionally and respond globally.” A central tenant of this strategy, building upon National strategic guidance, is the necessity to build partner capacity. Army units, through the regionally aligned forces concept, may find themselves... MORE

The Human Terrain System: Operationally Relevant Social Science Research in Iraq and Afghanistan
December 11, 2015 — Author: Dr Christopher SimsView the Executive Summary The Human Terrain System embedded civilians primarily in brigade combat teams (BCTs) in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2007 and 2014 to act as a collection and dispersal mechanism for sociocultural comprehension. Set against the backdrop of the program’s evolution, the experiences of these social... MORE

Training Humans for the Human Domain
November 2, 2015 — Authors: Mr Keir Giles, Dr Steve TathamView the Executive Summary Experience from Afghanistan and Iraq has demonstrated the vital nature of understanding human terrain, with conclusions relevant far beyond counterinsurgency operations in the Islamic world. Any situation where adversary actions are described as “irrational” demonstrates a... MORE

Arab Threat Perceptions and the Future of the U.S. Military Presence in the Middle East
October 22, 2015 — Author: Dr W Andrew TerrillView the Executive Summary The threat perceptions of many Arab states aligned with the United States have changed significantly as a result of such dramatic events as the 2011 U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, the emergence and then fading of the Arab Spring, the rise of Iranian power and Tehran’s nuclear agreement with... 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