USAWC Crest
  • Cover of Occupation: Russian Rule in South-Eastern Ukraine by David Lewis

    In this timely and penetrating study, David Lewis examines the mechanisms and consequences of Russian governance in occupied southeastern Ukraine. Through on-the-ground analysis and geopolitical insight, the book reveals how local institutions, identity, and resistance are reshaped under foreign rule. It’s an essential read for understanding the evolving dynamics of power, control, and legitimacy in one of Europe’s most contested regions.

  • Cover of Obama and the Bomb: New START, Russia and the Politics of Post–Cold War Arms Control by Frank Leith Jones

    A close examination of how nuclear arms control shaped military planning, diplomacy, and domestic politics during a pivotal moment in post–Cold War relations. This review explores how treaty negotiations became a test of trust, strategy, and civil-military engagement at the highest levels of US national security decision making.

  • cover of The New Calculus of Escalation: Avoiding Armageddon in Great Power Conflict by Martin C. Libicki

    In The New Calculus of Escalation, Martin C. Libicki redefines how we understand the thresholds between peace, conventional war, and nuclear conflict in an era shaped by cyber warfare and emerging technologies. Drawing lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war and Cold War doctrines, he offers a fresh framework for managing escalation to prevent catastrophic outcomes. This timely and thought-provoking book is essential reading for strategists, policymakers, and anyone concerned with the future of great power conflict.

  • Covers of Tubby: Raymond O. Barton and the United States Army, 1889–1963 by Stephen A. Bourque; 
Patton’s Tactician: The War Diary of Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes Edited by James W. Holsinger Jr.

    Two revealing studies shed light on overlooked World War II commanders whose leadership shaped key moments from Normandy to the early Cold War. These dual studies uncover the complexities of senior Army leadership—showing how personal relationships, hard‑won experience, and strategic insight shaped victory in Europe.

  • Decisive Point podcast: On “Restoring the Primacy of Army Mobilization Planning: Lessons from the Interwar Period (1919–41)”, Tim Devine and Jonathan Gerson

    In this episode, Tim Devine and Jon Gerson argue that the US Army must restore the primacy of mobilization planning to prepare for the growing likelihood of a protracted large-scale war involving the United States. While the Army’s transformation initiatives have emphasized important tactical matters, Devine and Gerson call attention to critical strategic vulnerabilities associated with mobilization—one of the Army’s enduring core functions. They offer insights, identify challenges, and offer recommendations for contemporary leaders and practitioners by analyzing the body of thought on mobilization planning during the interwar period (1919–41) and drawing connections to the present day.

  • CLSC Dialogues podcast episode 29: "An Enviable Position in the Pacific," an interview with GEN Xavier Brunson

    Guest host Tom Spahr and General Xavier Brunson, commander of United Nations Command, ROK-US Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea (UNC/CFC/USFK), discuss Korea, the Indo-Pacific, and mission command.

  • CLSC Quick Takes: Corruption and PLA Generals by Rick Gunnell

    Rick Gunnell

  • Slide for SRAD Quick Take: The Peru F-16 Sale: The Relationship Between Partner Politics, Extra-Hemispheric Adversaries, and US Defense Access by R. Evan Ellis

    On April 18, 2026, interim Peruvian President José María Balcázar temporarily suspended signing a $3.42 billion agreement for the purchase of 24 new F-16 C and D block 70 fighters, associated equipment, and support. The Peruvian government authorized the official purchase decision in January 2026, following a formal two-year evaluation process ratifying the need for the capabilities and finding the US offer met Peruvian needs better than other contender’s products, including the Swedish JAS-39 Grippen and the French Dassault Rafale F4. . . .

  • Slide for Decoding China’s 15th Five-Year Plan by COL Kyle Marcrum, published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute

    By COL Kyle Marcrum

    China’s latest Five-Year Plan signals that it has become more pessimistic about the global environment, seeing it as uncertain and unstable. However, the Chinese Communist Party sees opportunity in that instability to promote the Community of Common Destiny, their new model of global governance. The Five-Year Plan also signals that the Chinese will continue to use the United Nations to advance this new global governance system.