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241. Defense Monitor, Civil Wars Turned Regional

Author:
Col. Daniel Smith
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
No conventional, state-sponsored opposing armies took to the field of battle in 2006. Nonetheless, the number of overt armed interventions by out-side powers in other nations civil wars increased, illustrating a trend away from conventional armed conflicts and toward more complex civil wars that increasingly transform into larger regional wars.
Topic:
Defense Policy, International Political Economy, and War
Political Geography:
United States

242. Defense Monitor, Who Will Pay for this Puny Defense Budget?

Author:
Eric Hagt, Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Victoria Samson, and Rhea Myerscough
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
This analysis first appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegramon March 5, 2007.The new 2008 defense budget has been on the street for weeks. A consensus has emerged in Washington about its size. That consensus has little to do with the facts and much to do with political maneuvering, which has been orchestrated with brilliant success by the very same White House that everyone in Washington discounts as washed up.
Topic:
Defense Policy and Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Asia

243. The Defense Monitor, U.S. Missile Defenses in Europe: The Putin Alternative

Author:
Philip E. Coyle, Whitney Parker, Theresa Hitchens, and Richard May
Publication Date:
07-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
At the G-8 Summit in early June, the difficulties and complexities of proposed U.S. missile defenses in Europe were on full display. In the weeks preceding the G-8 Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin had set the Bush administration – and the world – back on its heels with talk of Russian missiles aimed at Europe in retaliation for proposed U.S. missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic. This set the stage for what the Bush administration thought might be a G-8 confrontation over its proposed missile defense system. Then, on June 7, Putin proposed a smart missile defense technical and policy solution that the Pentagon should have thought of first: establishing a missile defense radar site at the existing Qabala early warning radar station in Azerbaijan.
Topic:
Defense Policy and Nuclear Weapons
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, and Asia

244. The Defense Monitor, Conventional Weapons Pose Challenges for U.S. Forces in Afghanistan

Author:
Rachel Stohl, Winslow Wheeler, Mark Burgess, Marta Conti, Monica Czwarno, and Ana Marte
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
Six years Ago, the United States began its operations in Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At the time, scant attention was paid to the dangers of landmines, unexploded ordnance and small arms that plagued the country. Now, six years later, U.S. and coalition military forces serving in Afghanistan continue to face a variety of dangers, beyond the unfriendly geography and resurgent Taliban forces. Troops supporting the international Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and operation enduring Freedom (OEF) face additional challenges from landmines, unexploded ordnance, man-portable air defense systems and other small arms.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Asia

245. The Defense Monitor, The U.S. Military: By the Numbers

Author:
Winslow Wheeler and Ana Marte
Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
This issue of the Defense Monitor will highlight CDI's 2007 Military Almanac, a compilation of government, academic and other research data that depicts the cost, structure, history and makeup of the U.S. military. For this issue, we have chosen to display several Almanac charts that highlight significant issues such as the recent composition of the U.S. Armed Forces, the basic U.S. force structure relative to the military service budget, the companies being awarded top defense contracts for new weapons, the size of the U.S. military spending relative to the defense budgets of other countries around the globe, and the overall composition of the U.S. military commands.
Topic:
Defense Policy and Political Economy
Political Geography:
United States

246. "Making Riflemen from Mud": Restoring the Army's Culture of Irregular Warfare

Author:
James D. Campbell
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
Prior to World War II, the Army had a deeply ingrained facility with and acceptance of what we now term unconventional warfare—raising, training, advising, and cooperating with tribal militias, local paramilitaries, and other non-state armed groups. This culture of irregular warfare was attributable to nearly 300 years of American military tradition from the colonial period until 1941, including extensive experience in cooperating with Native American tribes and individual scouts during the expansion of the western frontier. These traditions of unconventional war reached maturity in the years of fighting on the western plains after the Civil War, and were given ultimate expression in the creation of the Philippine Scouts at the beginning of the 20th century. Since World War II, the wider military has lost this expertise in and comfortable familiarity with unconventional operations, with the Special Operations community taking on the sole proprietorship of this role. Given the variety of political environments in which today's conventional soldiers may find themselves and the current nature of conflicts ongoing and likely to occur in the world, the Army culture as a whole can and must readapt itself to the new old realities of irregular war.
Topic:
Defense Policy and War
Political Geography:
United States

247. The Military Strategy of Global Jihad

Author:
Sarah E. Zabel
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
America entered the Global War on Terrorism with little understanding of the enemy it faced. Al-Qaeda plays a leading role in the larger movement of global jihad, a splinter faction of militant Islamism intent on establishing its vision of strict Islamic rule in the Muslim world through armed action. Global jihadis have spent more than 40 years refining their philosophy, gaining experience, building their organization, and developing plans to reestablish what they see as the only true Islamic state on earth. The September 11, 2001 (9/11), attacks set this plan in motion.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Islam, Terrorism, War, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:
United States

248. Turning on the DIME: Diplomacy's Role in National Security

Author:
Anton K. Smith
Publication Date:
10-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
The differences in approach and culture between the U.S. Departments of State and Defense are stark despite the fact that these organizations are members of the same team and share related national objectives. Understanding the nature of these differences is key to improving interagency cooperation between the two key agents of our national foreign policy.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
United States

249. Right Sizing the People's Liberation Army: Exploring the Contours of China's Military

Author:
Andrew Scobell and Roy Kamphausen
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
China is the emerging power having “the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States and field disruptive military technologies that could over time offset traditional U.S. military advantages absent U.S. counter strategies,” according to the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review from the U.S. Department of Defense. With military spending and modernization that have persisted with little or no abatement or recantation for well over a decade, China has the entire international community wondering to what ends such growth will be put.
Topic:
Defense Policy and War
Political Geography:
United States and China

250. The Implications of Preemptive and Preventive War Doctrines: A Reconsideration

Author:
Colin S. Gray
Publication Date:
07-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
Preemption has been, and remains, a leading concept of this decade. But despite its ubiquity in public discourse and its policy relevance, it is a source of great confusion. The term is misused, in some cases deliberately one suspects, but it must be admitted that strategic theorists have offered very little worthwhile reading on the subject. This monograph clarifies the meaning of preemption and distinguishes it from prevention and precaution. It critically reviews the principal charges levelled against preventive warfare and uses that analysis to provide at least the bare bones of strategic theory, more strictly of an alternative to theory relevant to such warfare. The analysis concludes with a set of policy and strategy relevant implications for the United States.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and War
Political Geography:
United States