The Caucasus is developing into a vital strategic region. It emerged from the Soviet Union’s shadow in 1991 and spawned wild oil and gas speculation, and U.S. policy makers developed relationships with the region’s countries as it matured....
With Russia’s inability to improve conditions in Chechnya and the international community’s failed attempts to negotiate a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, Islamic extremism in Chechnya is growing precipitously and risks spilling over...
This paper looks at the Russian conquest of the Caucasian mountaineers (1801-59), the subjugation of Central Asia (1831-81), the reconquest of Central Asia by the Red Army (1918-33), and the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979-89). The history of...
Eastern European Section, European Branch, Intelligence Group
A survey of the population, available resources, industrial capacity, government, etc. of the U.S.S.R. in order to determine her ability to defeat the German Army.
This monograph focuses on a region of geopolitical and strategic importance to the United States. The region of Central Asia comprises five countries; Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Historically, this area of the...
The history of the Chechnya and that of the Sultanate of Patani, comprised by the southern Thai provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, and Pattani, share a religion, Islam, and a long history of insurgency against an ethnically and religiously dissimilar...
The Russian battles for Grozny, Chechnya provide relevant contemporary examples for the study of urban combat involving modern, conventional forces on one side and a guerrilla force on the other. The first and fourth battles for Grozny, a city of...
The Second Chechen War, which began on 23 September 1999 with massive Russian air strikes, bore little resemblance to the inconclusive campaign that had ended just three years earlier. In the earlier conflict, Russian Air Force operations...
The National Security Strategy of Georgia describes the possibility of a large-scale military intervention into its territory as one of the major threats to the security of Georgia. The political goals of an aggressor, who may challenge the...
The US will not always fight a cooperative enemy in urban operations. The Panamanian Defense Forces and Haitian military surrendered without significant fighting and bloodshed. Urban fighting against a more determined opponent, such as the clans of...
In December 1994 Russian armored forces assaulted Grozny, Chechnya in an attempt to subdue armed opposition groups seeking independence. Within twenty-four hours of urban combat the Chechens destroyed two brigade-sized units while suffering minimal...
This monograph examines the NATO Alliance and its transition from a 1949 defense security guarantee, between 16 independent nations into a collective security arrangement. The 1991 NATO Summit formalized this shift from an adversarial relationship...
Blau, George E.; Office of the Chief of Military History
The purpose of this study is to describe German planning and operations in the first part of the campaign against Russia. The narrative starts with Hitler's initial plans for an invasion of Russia and ends at the time of Germany's maximum...
This monograph posits that military operations in high mountains or intense cold require forces with specialized organization, training and equipment. The author compares characteristics of military operations in mountains and cold weather, and...
Blitzkrieg has been variously described as strategy, tactics, and even operational art. This ambiguity, coupled with a misinterpretation of this form of offensive combat, can cause false conclusions when studying the history of World War II and...
This study is a historical analysis of the campaign waged by Field Marshal von Manstein on the Russian southern front during the winter 1942-1943. The study begins just after the 6th Army's encirclement in Stalingrad and describes the four...
This thesis explores the Russian Federation‘s resurgence as a center of influence and the implications of this resurgence for United States European Command. This is accomplished by examining three countries within European Command‘s area of...
Central Asia has become the forefront of US and Chinese foreign policy since its independence in 1991. The US foreign policy toward Central Asia focuses on security, economics and energy and has not changed since its development in the mid...