Can the United States successfully impose democracy by force without resorting to the same level of total warfare it waged on Germany and Japan in the Second World War? The hypothesis for this research is that the U.S. can successfully force...
The execution of the post-hostilities phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom has prompted many to ask did why the U.S. military plan so poorly for stability and reconstruction operations (SRO)? Many studies have suggested that the lack of interagency...
The attacks of 11 September 2001 taught the United States that weak states can pose as great a danger to our national interests as strong states. With this lesson still fresh in the minds of policy makers, and the mixed results of several...
This thesis examines the employment of long-range missiles, such as the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile and the Army Tactical Missile System, in U.S. military operations from Operation DESERT STORM to the present. The thesis reviews long-range missile...
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...
In meeting the challenges of post-hostility Iraq, the area of information operations (IO) has received a great deal of attention. Unlike combat operations, the center of gravity in post-conflict Iraq has been restoration of basic services and...
The U.S. (U.S.) Government’s ability to influence friends and foes around the world has immense strategic implications that can either enhance U.S. strategic objectives or contribute to a loss of U.S. power. Nine years after the beginning of the...
The end of the Cold War is just one of several changes in the operational environment facing young officers entering the military at the dawn of the twenty-first century. There is no longer a single, clearly identified threat to the United States...
US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan caused the U.S. Government to reassess its interagency capabilities. In the wake of these conflicts, Congress held hearings in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the interagency process...
The closing of the July–August 2006 Second Lebanon War left the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) an introspective organization. Once an example looked to by much of the world for lessons on martial prowess, the nation’s military—indeed, the...
The Coalition's success in Iraq will be defined by how well it balances the strategy of Rapid Decisive Operations (RDO) against the realistic requirements for post-conflict reconstruction operations. There are many questions posed about how the...
This research explores how the peaking of world oil production influences the global balance of power. On the one hand, the geological phenomenon of peaking, modeled by the Hubbert's peak curve, gives the timeframe and the evolution of oil...
The study concludes that US Army force structure is inconsistent with US strategic policies, is not based upon nor informed by practical lessons of the past, and does not strike a balance among the suite of capabilities necessary to conduct full...
The Defense Acquisitions System (DAS) supports the defense of our nation by developing and procuring weapons systems for the Armed Services. Unfortunately, the DAS frequently fails to produce the weapons systems within budget or on time. Thus, the...
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....
The question this monograph attempts to answer is whether "coercive strategies and their associated defeat mechanisms provide valid courses of action (COAs) for the US against global terrorists networks and nations that harbor terrorists?" The...
This monograph discusses the challenges of maintaining the Army's effectiveness through the process of change. As conditions of warfare change, the methods and techniques of our doctrine must evolve with them. Knowing what to change will be more...
This monograph addresses the question, "Is the 1999 edition of FM 100-25, Doctrine for Army Special Operations Forces, adequate to integrate the actions of special operations forces (SOF) and conventional forces on the contemporary battlefield?" ...
The 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act (GNA) was a call to jointness, an attempt to correct the overwhelming service centric nature of the U.S. military. In 1988, the Panel on Military Education of the One Hundredth Congress of the Committee on Armed...
The purpose of this monograph is to recommend the retention, modification, or abandonment of certain concepts of the current elements of operational design based on their continued validity within the contemporary operational environment. Military...