Norman Cigar Strategic Studies Institute U. S. Arm
The phenomenon of Iraqs Shia warlords and the militias they lead has significant implications for the conduct of the war against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), including for U.S. policy interests and for U.S. Landpower forces deployed in-country. In this monograph, Dr. Norman Cigar analyzes the rapid resurgence of the Shia militias and the warlords thanks to a mass popular mobilization in response to the severe ISIS threat to the country in 2014. The militias have played a key role in helping to stabilize the situation on the ground, while the Iraqi Army has been rebuilding with the...
The phenomenon of Iraqs Shia warlords and the militias they lead has significant implications for the conduct of the war against Islamic State in Iraq...
Armed unmanned aerial vehicles-combat drones-have fundamentally altered the ways the United States conducts military operations aimed at countering insurgent and terrorist organizations. Drone technology is on track to becoming an increasingly important part of the countrys arsenal, as numerous unmanned systems are in development and will likely enter service in the future. The increasingly frequent use of drones raises profound questions about the nature and morality of warfare involving asymmetrical risks between opposing belligerents. Concerned citizens, academics, journalists,...
Armed unmanned aerial vehicles-combat drones-have fundamentally altered the ways the United States conducts military operations aimed at countering in...
In the past year, oil prices have plummeted. At first glance, the U.S. economy as a whole appears to be a big winner. Newspaper headlines talk about "Americas oil independence." In Carlisle, PA, we can gas up our cars in late-March 2015 for less than $2.50 a gallon. That means more money in our pockets for consumer goods. Therefore, consumers are big winners and are rejoicing. Is it time for a victory parade? Not so fast, says Dr. Leif Rosenberger, the Chief Economist at U.S. Central Command. As someone who has spent 3 1/2 decades connecting economics and security as a scholar, educator, and...
In the past year, oil prices have plummeted. At first glance, the U.S. economy as a whole appears to be a big winner. Newspaper headlines talk about "...
Christopher J. Sims Strategic Studies Institute U. S. Arm
The announcement that the Human Terrain System (HTS) was brought to a close in the fall of 2014 met with a flurry of responses. Commentators assessed the character and content of the social science research program and several identified plausible legacies that it may bequeath U.S. Armed Services. Often the conclusions therein were mixed, hinting instructively at the absence of a strong empirical record of the program. Therefore, this book is a welcomed larger study of the HTS, one of the first investigations to delineate the experiences of former program members, chart the stance of the...
The announcement that the Human Terrain System (HTS) was brought to a close in the fall of 2014 met with a flurry of responses. Commentators assessed ...
Jeffrey L. Caton Strategic Studies Institute U. S. Arm
Stories about unmanned vehicles now appear regularly in the national news-and not always in good ways. Within the last 2 years, privately-owned drones have crashed on the White House lawn, surveilled the U.S. Embassy in Paris, and buzzed German Chancellor Angela Merkel. When used in military operations, autonomous weapon systems (AWS) have the potential to save lives as well as apply lethal force across land, sea, and air. In this Letort Paper, Mr. Jeffrey Caton posits that the development of AWS policy and doctrine should characterize autonomy not as a discrete property of a given system,...
Stories about unmanned vehicles now appear regularly in the national news-and not always in good ways. Within the last 2 years, privately-owned drones...
cCicero once pointed out that the crucial sinew of war is, and always has been, "endless streams of money." Wars throughout history have been waged for only as long as the money has held out. If silver and gold continued to pour forth from a states treasury, then a ruler or government could tap a never-ending supply of soldiers and war materiel. However, soon after the supply of coin was expended, armies began to vanish and sources of supply would dry up. Only when new methods of providing long-term finances started to evolve, first in the Netherlands and soon thereafter through the Bank of...
cCicero once pointed out that the crucial sinew of war is, and always has been, "endless streams of money." Wars throughout history have been waged fo...
Richard Weitz Strategic Studies Institute U. S. Arm
The U.S. defense export system is in need of significant reform to reduce the impact of its core inefficiencies and weaknesses. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) create serious problems for the U.S. defense industry and thereby weaken U.S. national security in several important ways. While the ITAR is mostly successful in preventing U.S. arms from being used against the United States and its allies, the manner in which the ITAR regulations are enforced presents excessive barriers to U.S. firms that impede their ability to compete in the global defense market. These firms...
The U.S. defense export system is in need of significant reform to reduce the impact of its core inefficiencies and weaknesses. The International Traf...
Henry D. Sokolski Strategic Studies Institute U. S. Arm
Henry Sokolski has written an excellent, short book about what he sees as our not so peaceful nuclear future. While short in length, it covers a lot of ground, and because it is extensively footnoted, it can lead readers to the broader literature. The book provides a good picture of the growing stockpiles of separated plutonium and the stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, as well as the likely expansion of nuclear power programs in additional countries. When reading the book, my thoughts turned to the Per Bak book, How Nature Works, and the concept of self-organized criticality and its...
Henry Sokolski has written an excellent, short book about what he sees as our not so peaceful nuclear future. While short in length, it covers a lot o...
As the Army downsizes its personnel while still being asked to conduct a wide variety of missions globally, the need for increased effectiveness is paramount. Those interested in the possibilities presented by the Armys recently developed regionally aligned forces (RAF) concept will find this monograph thought- provoking and of particular interest. While the United States has long recognized the importance of "helping others help themselves," the author contends that, as Operation IRAQI FREEDOM demonstrated, U.S. Army conventional forces continue to falter in the realm of security force...
As the Army downsizes its personnel while still being asked to conduct a wide variety of missions globally, the need for increased effectiveness is pa...
The use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, has increased exponentially in the last 10 years, and this trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. But with this increased use has come increased controversy, in particular closer scrutiny of the legal and ethical dimensions of the use of armed drones. In this monograph, British academic and practitioner Dr. Shima Keene provides a comprehensive assessment of the lethal use of drone technologies, measured in terms of their legality, morality, and overall effectiveness in the fight against terrorism and counterinsurgency...
The use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, has increased exponentially in the last 10 years, and this trend is likely to continue for the foresee...