US Army War College

FEATURED PUBLICATIONS

Sun, November 22, 2009

Alien: How Operational Art Devoured Strategy

With the publication of the 1982 version of Army Field Manual (FM) 100-5, Operations, the U.S. Army introduced the concept of an operational level of war encompassing the planning and conduct of campaigns and major operations. It was followed three years later by the introduction of the term "operational art" which was, in practice, the skillful management of the operational level of war. This conception of an identifiably separate level of war that defined the jurisdiction of the profession of arms was, for a number of historical and cultural reasons, attractive to U.S. practitioners and plausible to its English-speaking allies. The authors argue that as warfare continues to diffuse across definitional and conceptual boundaries and as the close orchestration of all of the instruments of national power becomes even more important, the current conception of campaigns and operations becomes crippling. To cope with these demands by formulating and prosecuting national campaigns, the authors propose that the responsibility for campaign design should return to the political-strategic leadership of nations supported by the entirety of the state bureaucracy. This would mark the return of the campaign to its historical sources. If the United States and its allies fail to make this change, they risk continuing to have a “way of battle” rather than a “way of war.”

Sun, November 22, 2009

A "New" Dynamic in the Western Hemisphere Security Environment: The Mexican Zetas and Other Private Armies

This monograph is intended to help political, military, policy, and academic leaders think strategically about explanations, consequences, and responses that might apply to the volatile and dangerous new dynamic that has inserted itself into the already crowded Mexican and hemispheric security arena; the privatized Zeta military organization. In Mexico, this new dynamic involves the migration of traditional hard-power national security and sovereignty threats from traditional state and non-state adversaries to hard and soft power threats from professional private non-state military organizations. This dynamic also involves a more powerful and ambiguous mix of terrorism, crime, and conventional war tactics, operations, and strategies than were experienced in the past. Moreover, this violence and its perpetrators tend to create and consolidate semi-autonomous enclaves (criminal free-states) that develop into quasi-states—and what the Mexican government calls "Zones of Impunity." All together, these dynamics not only challenge Mexican security, stability, and sovereignty, but, if left improperly understood and improperly countered, also challenge the security and stability of the United States and Mexico's other neighbors.

Sun, November 15, 2009

Congressional Gridlock, Town Hall Vitriol...and the Information Environment

While massive amounts of information can provide the opportunity to broaden and expand thought, it also can, and does, overwhelm people already constrained by time as they juggle the daily requirements of life.

Sun, November 15, 2009

Escalation and Intra-war Deterrence During Limited Wars in the Middle East

This monograph reexamines the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the 1991 Gulf War for insights that may be relevant for ongoing dangers during limited wars involving nations possessing chemical or biological weapons or emerging nuclear arsenals. Both of these wars were fought at the conventional level, although the prospect of Israel using nuclear weapons (1973), Egypt using biological weapons (1973), or Iraq using chemical and biological weapons (1991) were of serious concern at various points during these conflicts. This monograph discusses why efforts at escalation control and intra-war deterrence were successful in these two case studies and assesses the points at which these deterrence efforts were under the most intensive stress that might have caused them to fail.

Sun, November 15, 2009

Baghdad ER—Revisited

The "China Dragons" of the 28th Combat Support Hospital deployed in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM from September 2006 until November 2007. This combat tour was historic in many regards, with the team challenged by unprecedented casualty numbers and indirect fire attacks. Not only did they save thousands of lives; they helped advanced trauma medicine, as leading hospitals worldwide have benefitted from military initiatives in the areas of bleeding control and hemostatic resuscitation. Their service epitomizes the strides that have been made in military combat medicine, and their challenges highlight the areas in which our medical system can improve further.

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