Free In The Forest: Montagnards And U.S. Special Forces In Vietnam’S Central Highlands,
2026
Texas Tech University
Free In The Forest: Montagnards And U.S. Special Forces In Vietnam’S Central Highlands, Jake L. Brooks
Madison Historical Review
When America began to send U.S Army Special Forces to South Vietnam as advisors in the late 1950s, they needed allies that were familiar with the lush jungles of Indochina. In the Central Highlands of Vietnam, the Montagnard people partnered with the U.S. Army Special Forces in an attempt to keep their homelands safe from the Communists. As an ethnic minority, the Montagnards had been through years of abuse and cultural suppression by their ruling government; kept down by a Vietnamese dominated regime which viewed them as backwards and rebellious tribesmen. For the Green Berets that worked alongside them, the …
Geopolitical Chessboard: How Vietnam Shapes American-Chinese Competition,
2026
US Army War College
Geopolitical Chessboard: How Vietnam Shapes American-Chinese Competition, Kiet H. Lê, Hiep X. Trần
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
Vietnam’s geostrategic position—bordering China and commanding key South China Sea maritime routes—makes it a pivotal actor in shaping great-power competition in Southeast Asia. This article argues that the United States should support Vietnam’s neutrality and strategic autonomy as a means of countering Chinese influence. Unlike prior studies that portray regional states as passive players, this analysis highlights Vietnam’s active role in influencing regional dynamics. Through comparative analysis with the Philippines, using historical case studies, geographic assessments, and policy reviews, the article offers practical insights for military and policy practitioners on how geography shapes alliance formation and strategic competition.
Key Themes In Sino-American History,
2026
US Army War College
Key Themes In Sino-American History, David J. Lorenzo, Ian Murphy
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
This article examines how historical narratives shape the messaging of the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China, particularly regarding Sino-American relations. It identifies three key historical themes—trade, discriminatory policies, and Taiwan—that are frequently invoked in China’s statements and information campaigns. By contextualizing these themes, the article argues that military and national security professionals need a deeper understanding of Sino-American history to interpret China’s messaging correctly and counter its influence effectively. The article advocates for the integration of Sino-American historical content into professional military education curricula to enhance strategic awareness and policy formulation.
From The Editor In Chief,
2026
US Army War College
From The Editor In Chief, C. Anthony Pfaff
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
Welcome to the Summer 2026 issue of Parameters, which consists of two In Focus special commentaries, three forums (Indo-Pacific, Strategy, and Historical Studies) and the Strategic Competition Corner.
Parameters,
2026
US Army War College
Parameters, Usawc Press
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
No abstract provided.
Rethinking Power: E. H. Carr’S Enduring Lessons For Modern Strategists,
2026
US Army War College
Rethinking Power: E. H. Carr’S Enduring Lessons For Modern Strategists, Brian J. Hasse
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
This article argues E. H. Carr’s classic conception of power provides enduring lessons for national security, but these lessons are easily lost in application. Unlike much of the existing literature, this article emphasizes how modern conceptions of power convey an illusion of balance, while the national security bureaucracy constrains the effective synchronization of power. The analysis leverages both historical and contemporary case studies to identify what a balanced conception of power looks like in practice, with the hope of informing US national security strategy and policy in today’s complex security environment.
How Is Going To War Like Buying A Car?: The Bargaining Model Of War,
2026
US Army War College
How Is Going To War Like Buying A Car?: The Bargaining Model Of War, Richard R. Johnson
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
The bargaining model of war, a popular, yet complex international relations theory, emphasizes how nations communicate signals regarding military strength, resolve to fight, and foreign policy goals. Since the military plays a major role in communicating these signals, its leaders should understand this theory, despite its complexities. This article explains the model and its components through the used car sale bargaining process and supplements the analogy with real-world examples of international events. This article will help military and foreign policy professionals easily grasp the concepts of the model.
A New Security Framework For Nato’S Eastern Flank,
2026
US Army War College
A New Security Framework For Nato’S Eastern Flank, Matthew J. Kukla, Anna Batta
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
This article argues for a NATO-EU–led security strategy to achieve long-term deterrence in Ukraine after the end of the Russia-Ukraine War. Unlike existing analyses, this article straddles the strategic level of deterrence, outlining an operational road map. Its historical example of the Iraq War shows that long-term security requires the development of plans before a conflict ends, long-term commitments, and multilateral—not unilateral—security efforts. The proposed solution provides strategic planners and policymakers with a low-risk, high-reward approach that leverages burden sharing through a multinational framework.
Turning Tactical Victories Into Strategic Success: Counterinsurgency In The Irish Civil War, 1922–23,
2026
US Army War College
Turning Tactical Victories Into Strategic Success: Counterinsurgency In The Irish Civil War, 1922–23, Gareth Prendergast, John A. Nagl
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
The fundamentals the Irish National Army used in the Irish Civil War (1922–23) are a model for the successful application of a classic counterinsurgency which, if understood earlier, could have made a difference in the United States’ most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Irish Civil War has not been examined in-depth through the lens of modern counterinsurgency doctrine. This article draws on military history and recent counterinsurgency doctrines to provide US policymakers and military practitioners practical guidance for how counterinsurgent forces can foster trust and use appropriate tactics that lead to strategic success.
The Battle Of Tupelo Hospital Cemetery National Register Nomination,
2026
Stephen F Austin State University
The Battle Of Tupelo Hospital Cemetery National Register Nomination, Madeline K. Weems
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
On July 14, 1864, the Battle of Tupelo, or the Battle of Harrisburg as it is also known, occurred within fifteen miles of the community of Palmetto in northeast Mississippi. As the battle ensued, wounded and dying soldiers were transported to different sites in and around Tupelo, including the home of Dr. William Henry and Jane Calhoun in Palmetto that served as the main hospital. The bodies of some of those soldiers still remain on the former Calhoun Plantation, including the grave of D. D. Drake. This public history capstone thesis evaluates this Civil War era cemetery’s history and integrity, …
A Weapon Waiting To Be Used: The Strategic Importance Of The Women Airforce Service Pilots Of World War Ii,
2026
Chapman University
A Weapon Waiting To Be Used: The Strategic Importance Of The Women Airforce Service Pilots Of World War Ii, Piper Hanson
Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters
The Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, were a group of women pilots who worked in a civilian capacity with the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) during World War II. The air war in both Europe and the Pacific Theaters was extremely deadly with high casualty rates, and the USAAF struggled to train new aircrews. Established in 1943, the WASP program aimed to free male pilots on the home front for combat duties by allowing women pilots to take over non-combat roles. WASPs ferried military planes from manufacturers to bases, test-piloted damaged or dangerous aircraft, and trained military personnel …
Nails In The Confederacy's Coffin: The Wilson Raid And The End Of The Civil War,
2026
University of North Alabama
Nails In The Confederacy's Coffin: The Wilson Raid And The End Of The Civil War, Chad A. Bowen
History
Over the course of this thesis, I argue that the Wilson Raids of March-April 1865 played a decisive role in ending the Civil War and beyond it. With this raid, Wilson denied the Confederacy access to the last of its major industrial cities, forcing the Confederate government to concede defeat. The raid, however, faded into the background both due to the proximity of the events to the end of the war and the lack of reporting conducted on the operations. This led to the rise of two groups that sought to deliberately misinterpret events to garner support for Southern writers …
Faith Under The Führer: Protestant Pastors In Nazi Germany,
2026
Liberty University
Faith Under The Führer: Protestant Pastors In Nazi Germany, Katie Cassady
Senior Honors Theses
This research examines Protestant churches in Nazi Germany and their varied reactions to Hitler’s Third Reich, tracing the Nazi rise to power, the Kirchenkampf (Church Struggle), the Confessing Church’s resistance, and figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemoller, and Karl Barth. Hitler campaigned on a platform purporting to support religious freedom, but the state-sponsored persecution of Christian churches later revealed such promises as a facade. The Kirchenkampf exemplifies the reactions of Protestant German churches to Hitler’s rule: The German Christian Movement (GCM) endorsed Hitler’s radical racial theories, while the Confessing Church confronted the unbiblical rhetoric used by the GCM.
An Alternative To Armageddon: O.P. Weyland And The Development Of Tactical Air Power,
2026
University of New Orleans
An Alternative To Armageddon: O.P. Weyland And The Development Of Tactical Air Power, Paul Wells
LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations
Theorists and advocates of air power argued that aircraft, not ground forces, would become the dominant platform for victory in war. They promoted the concept of strategic bombing, using aircraft to bypass ground forces and directly attack a nation's industrial capacity to wage war, hoping to ensure quick victory and avoid a repeat of the prolonged slaughter in the trenches of WWI. In 1947, led by advocates of strategic bombing, the United States Air Force (USAF) became an independent and equal branch of the U.S. military. The USAF developed the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to meet the requirements of the …
“We Have Not Failed Our Country In The Past; We Shall Not Fail Her In The Future.”: The Army National Guard In Peace And War During The Interwar Period And World War Ii,
2026
University of Southern Mississippi
“We Have Not Failed Our Country In The Past; We Shall Not Fail Her In The Future.”: The Army National Guard In Peace And War During The Interwar Period And World War Ii, Bearington C. Curtis
Dissertations
This dissertation explores one of the most fundamental questions in the War & Society field of American history: how the American people organize for war and how the citizenry has negotiated with themselves and their government to formulate a compromise that is culturally acceptable and militarily practical. Addressing such an elemental yet sweeping question of how a society organizes for war necessitates engagement with a broad swath of historiography, including institutional history, traditional and new military history, cultural assumptions of race and masculinity, politics, and civil-military relations. By taking a holistic approach, the various interests that shaped American military policy …
They Returned Fighting: World War I, Disillusionment, And The Remaking Of African-American Political Life In New York City,
2026
CUNY Hunter College
They Returned Fighting: World War I, Disillusionment, And The Remaking Of African-American Political Life In New York City, Michael Frank
Theses and Dissertations
They Returned Fighting examines how Black New Yorkers used World War I service, wartime activism, and postwar protest to press claims to citizenship and democracy, even as racial violence, discrimination, and contested public memory exposed the limits of that belonging in New York City and the United States.
Microcosms & Warscapes,
2026
University of Texas at El Paso
Microcosms & Warscapes, Heather J. Lathers
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
This poetry collection features sensory-centered writing and common objects, scenes, and interactions to authentically capture the multi-perspective and nuanced experiences of wartime. Detailed language is critical when poets become mouthpieces for those enduring war's pain. Focusing closely on items such as teacups, boots, bones, mud, rice, and rats creates a kind of intimacy not often found in war writing. Specific conflicts addressed include World War I, Vietnam, and The Cambodian Genocide. The poems here, in various forms and voices, aim to spotlight the lost, marginalized, abused, and forgotten-- the much-needed humanity war stories tend to neglect. Ultimately, these pieces seek …
Hitler's Foreign Legions: Non-German Recruitment And Formations In The Waffen Ss,
2026
University of Arkansas-Fayetteville
Hitler's Foreign Legions: Non-German Recruitment And Formations In The Waffen Ss, Jacob O'Bannon
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
During the Nazi regime, the armed bodyguard of the National Socialist Party the, the SS grew rapidly and eventually recruited foreign manpower. This thesis analyzes the rapid expansion of the SS as an armed military force and traces their forays into non-German states to recruit as the demands of World War II increased. The SS fielded thirty-eight divisions by the end of the war with hundreds of thousands of members not being from Germany. This rapid expansion, undertaken with soldiers from a variety of backgrounds, created a series of fractures between the ideological tenets of the SS and their practices. …
America’S Nazis: Denazification, Operation Paperclip, And The Cold War,
2026
University of Mary Washington
America’S Nazis: Denazification, Operation Paperclip, And The Cold War, Oliver L. B. Marcel
Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects
This essay examines how Operation Paperclip and the postwar recruitment of German scientists influenced American denazification policy during the Cold War. I argue that the United States’ pursuit of scientific and technological advancement repeatedly took precedence over moral and legal accountability. From the Truman and Eisenhower administrations to the Space Race and the creation of the Office of Special Investigations, federal policy reflected a consistent pattern of prioritizing progress over justice. The study demonstrates that Cold War imperatives fundamentally reshaped U.S. political identity and its relationship with former World War II enemies.
Historians At War: A Comparative Analysis Between Thucydides And Xenophon's Accounts Of The Peloponnesian War,
2026
University of South Carolina - Columbia
Historians At War: A Comparative Analysis Between Thucydides And Xenophon's Accounts Of The Peloponnesian War, Juleeanna S. Fuller
Caroliniana Undergraduate Research Journal
This essay analyzes Thucydides and Xenophon's accounts of the Peloponnesian War, reflecting on the intersection of historical narratives, personal bias, and political perspectives. Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War presents Athens’ decline through the lens of moral and political collapse, emphasizing human nature, rationalism, and realism. Despite his reputation for objectivity, his reconstruction of speeches and selective focus revealed an underlying critique of Athenian democracy, shaped by his own life experiences. However, Xenophon's Hellenica continues the narrative with a pronounced Spartan bias, depicting Spartan hegemony and the Thirty Tyrants in a largely favorable or justified light, while minimizing their brutality …
