Jun 12, 2014

By Mr. Nathan P. Freier

Mr. Nathan P. Freier Not surprisingly, the Army has an image problem. It is not difficult to see why. While Army, Marine, and Special Operations Forces (SOF) were away campaigning in two unpopular wars with—to be very generous—only indeterminate and costly outcomes to show for their effort, Washington moved on decisively toward yet another

Jun 11, 2014

By Dr Thomas M Chen

Author: Dr Thomas M Chen View the Executive SummaryThe discovery of STUXNET was a recent milestone in the arena of cyber security because it was the first malware designed to cause real world damage to industrial control systems. It demonstrated that a sufficiently determined adversary might be able to cause physical damage to U.S. critical

Jun 3, 2014

By Dr John R Deni

Author: Dr John R Deni View the Executive SummaryThe time has come for a reappraisal of the U.S. Army’s forward presence in East Asia, given the evolving strategic context and the extraordinarily high, recurring costs of deploying U.S. Army forces from the 50 states for increasingly important security cooperation activities across the

Jun 1, 2014

By Prof John F Troxell

Author: Prof John F Troxell Part II was updated December 9, 2014Parts I and III were updated October 31, 2014For several years, the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) has annually published the Key Strategic Issues List (KSIL). The purpose of this document is to make students and other researchers aware of strategic topics that are of special

May 23, 2014

By Ms Leslie S Lebl

Author: Ms Leslie S Lebl View the Executive SummaryU.S. experts fear violence could once again break out in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and some even want the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to mount another military mission there. Yet few of these experts focus on the danger of gradually expanding Islamism. In Bosnia, it appears to have made

May 16, 2014

By Dr. Leonard Wong

Dr. Leonard Wong Click here for PDF of this article.In a profession as large as the U.S. Army, trying to influence the way organizational members think about specific issues can be a vexing proposition. Certainly new systems, policies, and procedures can force changes in behavior, but often what senior decisionmakers truly desire is a shift in

May 16, 2014

By Dr Jean-Loup Samaan

Author: Dr Jean-Loup Samaan View the Executive SummaryOver the last 7 years, the border between Israel and Lebanon has remained quiet. Against all odds, in a Middle East experiencing tremendous challenges, Israel and Hezbollah did not trigger a new conflict. To understand this paradox, the monograph explores the mechanisms of deterrence in the

May 13, 2014

By Dr Thomas R Mockaitis

Author: Dr Thomas R MockaitisView the Executive Summary In examining the role of security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, the author draws broad lessons from which he provides concrete recommendations to improve the conduct of further missions. Rather than do away with contractors altogether, the author recommends limiting their roles,

May 6, 2014

By Dr Azeem Ibrahim

Author: Dr Azeem Ibrahim View the Executive SummaryThe Syrian civil war has allowed al-Qaeda to recover from its setbacks up to 2010. Its main affiliate in the region seems to be testing a new strategy of collaboration with other Salafist-Jihadist groups and a less brutal implementation of Sharia law in areas it controls. In combination, this might

May 5, 2014

By Dr. W. Andrew Terrill

Dr. W. Andrew Terrill The Syrian civil war is widely understood to have a strong sectarian component. In this conflict, Bashar Assad’s Alawite–dominated regime is seeking to crush an uprising led by majority Sunni Arabs. The Alawites are a branch of Shi’ite Islam and have been supported by Shi’ite allies including Iran, the Lebanese terrorist group

May 5, 2014

By Mr Keir Giles, Dr Andrew Monaghan

Authors: Mr Keir Giles, Dr Andrew Monaghan View the Executive SummaryThe Russian Armed Forces have been undergoing major structural reform since 2008. Despite change at the most senior levels of leadership, the desired endstate for Russia's military is now clear; but this endstate is determined by a flawed political perception of the key threats

May 2, 2014

By Dr Richard J Krickus

Author: Dr Richard J Krickus View the Executive SummaryDespite many obstacles, the leadership in Washington and Moscow must find ways to address security threats even as the United States rebalances toward Asia. Moreover, he agrees with prominent statesmen like Zbigniew Brzezinski and Henry Kissinger that ultimately, Russia must be integrated into