The strategic and operational environment in which the United States military will operate in for the foreseeable future is characterized by its complexity. Historically the United States military has taken a linear approach to understanding the...
The present situation in Afghanistan is not being resolved by the current U.S. strategic approach. Given the recent uptick in insurgent violence, the shift in emphasis with regards to Afghanistan, and the change in presidential administrations, the...
The military is increasingly using and relying on the term "narrative" in its lexicon. United States strategic guidance documents generally implore commanders to "shape the narrative," doctrinal publications recommend commanders to "exploit a...
This thesis seeks to illustrate both the benefits and limitations associated with using road building in COIN campaigns in South Asia, as well as highlight factors that should be considered from planning through long-term use. When employed in a...
The current rebalancing of U.S. forces to the Pacific requires an understanding of a number of factors. Among the factors are a greater understanding of emerging trends in the Chinese military and a clear assessment of the Chinese regional...
This research discusses the high murder rate in Jamaica as a consequence of gang activity. It higlights the negative impact of gangs in regard to national security. The complexity of the gang problem is identified by describing the gangs'...
United States. Army. Engineer Center and Fort Leonard Wood.
The Guidon came into being as a weekly publication in 1966 under the title Fort Leonard Wood Guidon. Between 1966 and 1987 the title was simplified to Guidon before becoming Essayons in 1988. The name reverted back to Guidon in 1999. It has been...
The drug war in Mexico is entering its fourth year as of 2011. The level of violence has spread throughout Mexico raising doubts as to Mexico's ability to win and assert its State authority. The violence in the Northern part of Mexico causes...
This thesis examined China's demographic, social, and economic factors, and their effect on China's economic growth. The study used Michael Porter's economic development model and various economic indicators to compare China's economic growth from...
The essence of Cuba's strategic assessment comprises two phenomena. One is the diffusion of political power. The ruling elite is finding it increasingly difficult to control events to the extent that they once did. Power is shifting downward, being...
Since India began developing its nuclear program it has continually encountered issues with the United States and other nuclearized countries over whether India should be able to establish a nuclear program, and subsequently a nuclear weapons...
From its beginning in the American Revolution to its current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States (US) Army has had to deal with tribal societies. In order to succeed in tribal societies it is essential that the US Army understand...
From 1990 to 2010, China's military experienced a massive modernization effort. U.S. efforts to determine the scale and scope of this effort were incorrect. In the case of the People's Liberation Army Air Forces (PLAAF), advanced technology and a...
Since Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared war on the drug cartels in December 2006, more than 35,000 Mexicans have died due to narco-violence. This monograph examines whether the various Mexican drug trafficking organizations are insurgents...
China and the United States have been competitors on a global scale since Deng Xiaoping changed China's trading policies in 1976. The policies resulted in increased tensions between the two nations over time. This monograph uses Commercial...
With the U.S. high domestic consumption of illicit drugs, a relationship has formed between transnational gangs and powerful Latin American drug cartels. The ineffectiveness of the war on drugs, along with the high cost of such a program, begs the...
The crux of the debate as to whether the United States (US) should immediately field space weapons is not whether another nation will eventually field like weapons of its own. Rather, the primary issue is whether an immediate space weaponization...
Bias caused by organizational culture is a constant companion of military planning. Cognitive models dominated by Newtonian, mechanistic, and reductionist thinking, have all but entrenched bias at the operational level of war where contextual, or...
Changes in the world situation since the end of the cold war has resulted in national interest worldwide no longer concentrating on military might and competition. The focus has turned to economic prosperity, competitiveness and its resulting...
The study reviews the Battle of Hattin to determine why the army of the Crusaders was decisively defeated. The Battle of Hattin was one of the most critical battles of the Middle Ages. The battle resulted in the virtual destruction of the Crusader...