Learning Counterinsurgency: Observations from Soldering in Iraq Lieutenant General David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army The Army has gained a great deal of experience in Iraq and Afghanistan about COIN operations. Here, one of the Army's most experienced...
The World Factbook is a guide to country profiles containing fields including geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.
Joint Vision 2020 prescribes the goal of creating a force for 2020 and beyond that is "dominant across the full-spectrum of military operations." Full-spectrum dominance implies access to, freedom to operate in, all domains, in other words,...
This project examines the military ramifications of the emerging revolution in military affairs and the changing strategic environment. Assessing two strategic approaches, Joint Vision 2010 (evolutionary force design) and a rising advocacy of...
The United States Army has changed from a Cold War threat based, forward deployed force, to a CONUS based full spectrum, threats-adaptive, capabilities based force as seen throughout the 1990's and 2000. Operationally, the Army is transforming to...
“Combat is about breaking things and killing people . . . war is about much more.”1 Fred Kagan. The leadership development and professional education system since the end of the Cold War has been a key factor in many U.S. battlefield...
"Presidential Study Directive on Mass Atrocities/PSD-10" and the 2010 National Security Strategy elevated mass atrocities to a core national security interest. This study argues that PSD-10 will be implemented in a world where international borders...
"Toward a Universal Society and the United States Army" is a research thesis examining social and political theories relevant to defining the post-Cold War era operationally. Two prevailing schools of thought are examined; the school of pacific...
A common perspective among U.S. interagency partners today is that any step towards more effective and coordinated responses to contemporary security challenges requires an improved and shared understanding of the nature of the conflict and the...
A confluence of factors led to American engagement in one of Central America's most violent uprisings: the Salvadoran civil war. By the time of President Ronald Reagan's first term as president, the civil war had created social, political and...
A historical case study concerning the Israeli Army's response to the Palestinian "Intifada" or uprising in the late 1980's and early 1990's provides instructive planning considerations for likely future application of U.S. military force in an...
A key requirement of military forces following major hostilities is to reestablish security. Lasting security can only be achieved with the restoration of civil authority, the reestablishment of the rule of law, and the institutions that uphold the...
A legacy of the Cold War, indeed a legacy of the past century of the tumult that is Northeast Asia, the Korean peninsula remains divided. The Republic of Korea, the South, has prospered into an "Asian Tiger" and stands as one of the economic...
A special edition of the Combined Arms Center research and publication index (January-December 2005) which contains information on the availability of research products and how to acquire them. Most of the research products listed in this index are...
Accounting for religion and other cultural aspects of the operational environment continues to be a challenge for the United States military. The basis for this is scientific rationalism embedded in military problem solving processes. It is also a...
Accurate assessment and usable measures of effectiveness are essential to success in stability operations. Improving the ability of a host nation (HN) government to deliver services expected by its populace is necessary to enhance the stability of...
Actions taken or not taken by law enforcement agencies, in ungoverned spaces reduce US ability to forestall hostile actions on US soil. The current organization of the United States civil authorities and their limitations to impact "Ungoverned...
Addendum: Anbar awakens. Colonel Sean MacFarland, U.S. Army; A major player in the Anbar Awakening recalls how joint-force cooperation led to the turnaround in Ramadi.
The most important thing: legislative reform of the national security...
Afghanistan looms as the key foreign policy challenge for the Obama administration. Under the previous Bush administration, foreign policy was driven primarily by security considerations, and Afghanistan was viewed a frontline state in the Global...
Afghanistan once had a well-developed and productive agricultural sector. As late as 1978, the country was self-sufficient in cereal grains and had a strong export market for horticultural products. It also produced industrial crops such as cotton...