Books on politics, international affairs, defense and military topics, economics and history.
The Islamic State (IS, aka the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL/ISIS, or the Arabic acronym Da’esh) is a transnational Sunni Islamist insurgent and terrorist group that controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria from 2014 through 2017. The group attracted a network of global supporters and its leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi,… Continue Reading Islamic State and U.S. Policy
The U.S. Constitution establishes a system of dual sovereignty between the states and the federal government, with each state having its own government, endowed with all the functions essential to separate and independent existence. Although the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution designates “the Laws of the United States” as “the supreme Law of the… Continue Reading Federalism-Based Limitations on Congressional Power
Since having its boundaries drawn by France after the First World War, Lebanon has struggled to define its national identity. Its population included Christian, Sunni Muslim, and Shia Muslim communities of roughly comparable size, and with competing visions for the country. Seeking to avoid sectarian conflict, Lebanese leaders created a confessional system that allocated power… Continue Reading Lebanon
This Leavenworth Paper chronicles the introduction of chemical agents in World War I, the U.S. Army’s tentative preparations for gas warfare prior to and after American entry into the war, and the AEF experience with gas on the Western Front. Chemical warfare affected tactics and almost changed the outcome of World War I. The overwhelming… Continue Reading Chemical Warfare in World War I: The American Experience, 1917-1918
One hundred years ago, the US Army suddenly found itself at the center of one of the greatest human conflicts until that time. World War I came at a time when the Army lost the institutional knowledge of how to raise and employ large armies in the decades after the Civil War. Our Army needed… Continue Reading Supporting the Doughboys: US Army Logistics and Personnel During World War I
“Multi-Domain Battle in the Southwest Pacific Theater of World War II” provides a historical account of how US forces used synchronized operations in the air, maritime, information, and land domains to defeat the Japanese Empire. This work offers a historical case that illuminates current thinking about future campaigns in which coordination among all domains will… Continue Reading Multi-Domain Battle in the Southwest Pacific Theater of World War II
Written by a reserve officer who spent a tour in the Philippines producing a classified history for US Special Operations Command, this first-ever publicly available history of OEF-P provides both a detailed accounting of the operation’s successes and a model for trainers and advisers providing assistance to host-nation security forces around the globe. Stentiford emphasizes… Continue Reading Success in the Shadows: Operation Enduring Freedom–Philippines and the Global War on Terror, 2002–2015
Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future, Second Edition explores what nuclear future we may face over the next three decades and how we currently think about this future. Will nuclear weapons spread in the next 20 years to more nations than just North Korea and possibly Iran? How dire will the consequences be? What… Continue Reading Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future-Second Edition
The 2018 National Defense Strategy and National Space Strategy both reaffirm the vital interests that the United States has in the domain of space. However, space remains an inherently hostile environment that has become congested, contested, and competitive among the nations. What are ways for the U.S. Army to assure the success of its space-dependent… Continue Reading Impacts of Anti-Access/Area Denial Measures on Space Systems
Syria has become one of the most vexing and complex problems for U.S. strategic planners in recent times. Currently, the United States has about 2,000 troops in the northeastern part of the country whose primary mission has been to aid the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up primarily of Kurds and some Arab tribesmen,… Continue Reading Security Role for the United States in a Post-ISIS Syria?