The US "War on Drugs" was introduced to the US public. The US military had worked with other countries combating illicit narcotics production and trafficking before that time. President Bush's February 1989 primetime speech, however, marked a shift that would lead to billions of taxpayer dollars being spent by the Department of Defense in its counternarcotics mission, named a national priority by then-President Bush and every US President since then. This book will question the results of the US military's counternarcotics effort and propose that in today's constrained fiscal environment,...

For more than 2 decades, Somalia has been the prime example of a collapsed state, thus far resisting no fewer than 15 attempts to reconstitute a central government, while the 16th such undertaking, the current internationally-backed but struggling regime of the "Federal Republic of Somalia," just barely maintains a token presence in the capital and along the southeastern littoral-and that due only to the presence of a more than 17,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force. In fact, for much of the period, insurgents spearheaded by the Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (Movement of Warrior...

With the expanding Chinese economy and the increasing demand for energy, China's pursuit of natural resources, (oil, natural gas, coal or renewable energy sources) is reshaping the world's energy security. The United States is currently the biggest consumer of natural resources with China in at a close second. China's economic rise coincides with the decrease in the world's energy supply. This confluence of economic prosperity and energy demand concerns the U.S. China and the U.S. are the world's superpowers and will continue to protect their respective natural resource territories and...

Since 2009, the Department of the Army has granted religious accommodations for six soldiers to allow relief from the Army's grooming policy for males to be clean-shaven. It is an unprecedented number given the Army had not granted any such exceptions since the 1980s. This book reviews the evolution of the need to wear and use uniforms to develop discipline, Army need for discipline, then uses a recent accommodation for a Jewish Orthodox rabbi allowing him a temporary accommodation to attend chaplain initial military training as an example to highlight potential policy challenges and ways to...

Libya has overthrown its long time dictator Muammar Gadhafi with the aid of both Western and Arab militaries. The United States acted under the authority of U.N. mandate 1973 as part of a broad coalition of both NATO and Arab Nations primarily in a supporting role. In Libya, as in its neighbors Egypt and Tunisia, the successful revolution has now established transitional governments who's effectiveness is yet to be determined. Unlike other Arab nations, Libya possesses a combination of vast oil reserves, a small and balanced population, and a relatively high education level in its citizens....

The research collected here was presented at the Fourth annual Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) conference on Russia in May 2012. They focus largely, though not exclusively, on the interactions of the great powers in, about, and around Central Asia. That said, it is imperative that anyone trying to make sense of the complex situation in Central Asia remember that the contemporary or new great game is not played upon a chessboard of inert Central Asian subjects, as was the case in Kipling's time. Today the Central Asian states are all active subjects, as well as objects of international...

While scientific debate continues over the degree to which carbon emissions derived from human activity drive climate change, discernable trends toward change in the world's climate are clear. These changes have the potential to accelerate instability, likely providing the tipping point for humanitarian disasters, major population migrations, conflict over scarce resources, and failed states. With its vast ocean expanses, tremendous amount of coastline and increased competition for resources, the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR) covers a geographic region...

Over the past decade, the cyber threat to critical infrastructure has grown to potentially catastrophic dimensions. Critical Infrastructure protection has become a matter of national security, public safety, and economic stability. It is imperative the U.S. Government (USG) examine current responsibilities, develop a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, cybersecurity regulations, impose standards, and enforce the strongest security measures possible to protect the Nation from cyber attacks to critical infrastructure. This paper provides a background of what constitutes national critical...

The U.S. employs the practice of targeted killing as part of a multi-pronged approach to defeat Al-Qaeda and other terrorists. Targeted killing has increasingly become the weapon of choice, has caused notable collateral damage and civilian casualties, and has garnered a healthy measure of controversy. Questions swarm regarding the policy's legality, justness, and efficacy. A reasonable examination of international law and contemporary just war theory shows that a measured practice of targeted killing can be morally just and legal. However, eleven years later, the policy's effectiveness at...