• Return of the Balkans: Challenges to European Integration and U.S. Disengagement

    By Mr Janusz Bugajski

    Author: Mr Janusz Bugajski View the Executive SummaryFor the first time in its modern history the entire Balkan Peninsula has the opportunity to co-exist under one security and developmental umbrella combining NATO and the European Union (EU). Unfortunately, European and American leaders have been unable to complete such a unique historic vision,

  • Asia-Pacific: A Strategic Assessment

    By Dr David Lai

    Author: Dr David Lai View the Executive SummaryDr. David Lai provides a timely assessment of the geostrategic significance of Asia-Pacific. His monograph is also a thought-provoking analysis of the U.S. strategic shift toward the region and its implications. Dr. Lai judiciously offers the following key points. First, Asia-Pacific, which covers

  • By Dr. Robert J. Bunker, Dr. John R. Deni

    Dr. Robert J. Bunker, Dr. John R. DeniThe annual convention of the International Studies Association (ISA) was held in San Francisco, CA, on April 3-6, 2013. The 54th annual convention theme was, “The Politics of International Diffusion: Regional and Global Dimensions.” This conference was a major academic event with over 1,000 panels and round

  • The Challenge of Drug Trafficking to Democratic Governance and Human Security in West Africa

    By Mr David E Brown

    Author: Mr David E Brown View the Executive SummaryInternational criminal networks mainly from Latin America and Africa—some with links to terrorism—are turning West Africa into a key global hub for the distribution, wholesaling, and production of illicit drugs. These groups represent an existential threat to democratic governance of already

  • War and Insurgency in the Western Sahara

    By Geoffrey Jensen

    Author: Geoffrey Jensen View the Executive SummaryAt a crucial crossroads between Africa and Europe, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and the “Arab World” and the West, Morocco has long had a special place in U.S. diplomacy and strategic planning. Since September 11, 2001, Morocco’s importance to the United States has only increased, and the

  • By Dr. Leonard Wong

    Dr. Leonard Wong John Carpenter, film director of horror movies such as Halloween, was once asked what he thought it was that scared theater audiences the most. His answer was simple: “Uncertainty.” Carpenter understood that not knowing what will happen next often produces more anxiety and angst than actual traumatic events. As anyone who has sat

  • Cyber Infrastructure Protection: Vol. II

    By Dr Vincent Boudreau, COL Louis H Jordan Jr, Dr Tarek N Saadawi

    Authors: Dr Vincent Boudreau, COL Louis H Jordan Jr, Dr Tarek N Saadawi View the Executive SummaryIncreased reliance on the Internet and other networked systems raise the risks of cyber attacks that could harm our nation’s cyber infrastructure. The cyber infrastructure encompasses a number of sectors including: the nation’s mass transit and other

  • Sharing Power? Prospects for a U.S. Concert-Balance Strategy

    By Dr Patrick Porter

    Author: Dr Patrick Porter View the Executive SummaryThe subject of U.S. grand strategy has been getting increasing attention from the policy and academic communities. However, too often the debate suffers from being too reductionist, limiting America’s choices to worldwide hegemony or narrow isolation. There is a wide spectrum of choices before

  • Egypt's New Regime and the Future of the U.S.-Egyptian Strategic Relationship

    By Mr Gregory Aftandilian

    Author: Mr Gregory Aftandilian View the Executive SummaryThis monograph examines the strategic importance of Egypt for the United States by exploring Egypt's role in the Arab-Israeli peace process, its geographical role (providing air and naval access) for U.S. military assets heading to the Persian Gulf, and joint training programs. With so much

  • By Dr. Jeffrey D. McCausland

    Dr. Jeffrey D. McCauslandIntroduction.       Now that President Obama’s national security team has been confirmed, the administration can begin to consider its priorities and the policies for the second term. Many might suggest that one of the greatest foreign policy achievements of the President’s first term was the negotiation and eventual

  • Making Strategic Sense of Cyber Power: Why the Sky Is Not Falling

    By Dr Colin S Gray

    Author: Dr Colin S Gray View the Executive SummaryCyber is now recognized as an operational domain, but the theory that should explain it strategically is, for the most part, missing. It is one thing to know how to digitize; it is quite another to understand what digitization means strategically. The author maintains that, although the technical

  • From Chaos to Cohesion: A Regional Approach to Security, Stability, and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

    By Ms Diane E Chido

    Author: Ms Diane E Chido View the Executive SummaryPrevention is the key to effective policies in Africa, whether the issue is equitable resource exploitation, ethnic conflict, infectious diseases, or famine. African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) have moved beyond their initial purpose of a loose confederation of trading partners to become