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Book Reviews, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Drones And The Changing Character Of War, Erik A. Davis

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Cheap drones have transformed the character of war by creating a “mass effect” that challenges traditional principles of force concentration. Unlike commentary focused on offense-defense debates or ethics, this article explains how Jevons’s Paradox, the Red Queen Effect, and models like Lanchester’s Laws and Hughes’s Salvo Equations underpin this shift. Drawing on lessons from Ukraine, historical theory, and production trends, it explains why the production of cheap “precision mass” is expected to accelerate. For military and policy practitioners, the analysis offers urgent guidance for adapting tactics, procurement, and doctrine to a battlefield dominated by ubiquitous, low-cost drones—before adversaries exploit this …

Parameters Winter 2025-26, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Winter 2025–26 issue of Parameters. We open with an In Focus commentary: “Responsibly Pursuing Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) for the War Fighter” by A. Blair Wilcox and C. Anthony Pfaff. The issue also features two forums (Indo-Pacific Deterrence and Considerations for Modern Warfare) and the inaugural Strategic Competition Corner.

Wales In Ww1: Soldiers, Home, And Memory, Remington J. Hill

History Theses

Much of the history of Wales during the First World War discusses the fighting Welsh soldiers endured during the war years. There is also some fairly sparse information that discusses events on the home front. Historiography of the United Kingdom and World War I is dominated by England and the English battle and home front experience, with some attention paid to Scotland and Ireland. Yet, Wales has received little academic attention despite the Welsh having fought and helped on the home front in relative equality with their English counterparts. In examining Welsh soldiers battle experience against the Central Powers forces …

Operation Paperclip And The Use Of National Security: Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum, Kirsten Hawkins

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

National security is a term that many are familiar with in the twenty-first century. In the United States it is commonly believed that its widespread use began after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. However, this work examines how the United States government has used the term and changed its definition in its application during Operation Paperclip. Operation Paperclip was a Second World War operation created to secure the scientific and technical research of German scientists at the end of the war in 1945.

This thesis examines Operation Paperclip and its expansion …

"Forgive Our Living And Our Dead": Colonial Warfare In The Philippines, Mattie Fitzpatrick

History

In March of 1906, American troops massacred over 1,000 Filipino civilians on Bud Dajo mountain. American service members were commended for this incident. My research examines this massacre to ask why wars of insurgency are specifically subject to abuses of power, particularly during the American-Philippines War and the ensuing colonial warfare between 1898 and 1906 under the colonization of the US. My research will focus on the circumstances created to excuse US soldiers after atrocities were committed and the colonial attitudes of the time in addition to the brutal methods used by the American government in Philippines. American colonial administrators …

Civilization, Brutality, And The Cherokee Nation During The Civil War, Sabrina L. As'ous

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

This thesis explores the role that the Cherokee Nation played during the Civil War in Indian Territory and in the border states. The Cherokee people were divided in loyalties between the Traditionalist Party led by Cherokee Chief John Ross and the Treaty Party of Major John Ridge. After the Treaty Party signed the New Echota Agreement with the United States Government, the Cherokee were expelled from their homelands in the Southeast and relocated to Indian Territory. With the murders of his family members, Stand Watie assumed the role of the leader of the Treaty Party and aligned with the Confederate …

Dynamics Of Infanticides Among The Ngoni Of Tanzania, 1850s-1916, Andrew S. Kasambala, Oswald J. Masebo

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Infanticide is one of the key factors in explaining changes in human populations since the antiquity. This paper examines dynamics of infanticide practices among the Ngoni of Tanzania from the late pre- colonial to the end of German colonial rule in 1916. Relying on primary and secondary sources, it argues that while infanticide remained a critical problem in Songea from the 19th century to the end of German colonialism in 1916, the context in which it was practiced and the interventions devised to alleviate it changed over time. While it was primarily practiced in Songea by pre-Ngoni communal based clans …

The Morality Of The Civil War: Just War Theory And Union Policy And Conduct, Michael Payne

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This article shall argue that the Union army, which was composed primarily of Christian soldiers and officers, prosecuted the Civil War in as moral a fashion as possible. It shall examine the different ways in which one can judge the morality of war, concluding that the tenets of Just War Theory are the best standard by which to judge a belligerent’s actions. It shall then examine Union war policy to determine if it is consistent with Just War Theory. This shall be done through a side-by-side comparison of Just War Theory’s tenets and Union policy. It shall then explore whether …

The Boxer Rebellion And Missionaries: A Study Of Historical Context And Ideological Perspectives, Danielle Russano-Simpkins

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper examines the complex interplay between missionary activity, imperial ambitions, and indigenous resistance in China during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901). Analyzing primary sources and revisionist accounts, it is argued that the rebellion exposed the contradictions between missionaries' spiritual goals and their complicity in imperial structures. The study highlights how missionary theology, imperial relationships, and local resistance converged to create one of modern history's most significant anti-foreign uprisings, shaping subsequent Sino-Western relations and Chinese nationalism.

Thou Art Not Yet Dead: The Existential Struggle Of Indians In Eighteen-Century North America, I. B. Landry

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The popular narrative of Indians in America typically has its genesis in the era of the Revolution. By pushing the scope of this narrative back only twenty years, one would find thriving indigenous population groups, contrary to the perception given to them in a story of America that begins with the War of Independence. By taking a traditionally neutral position, the Indians helped in maintaining a North American balance of power in every conflict preceding the Seven Years’ War. The wars ebbed and flowed according to the allegiances of the Indians. Not only would the Seven Years’ War be …

In The Hull Of The Uss Disregard: An Analysis Of Secretary Of State Cordell Hull’S Execution Of Foreign Policy In East Asia And The Precipitation Of Armed Conflict Between Japan And The United States, Eric B. Hawkins

Theses

The political career of Cordell Hull was motivated primarily by trade policy and the courting of Central America through the negotiation of reciprocal trade treaties that helped stabilize, for the most part, the entire Western Hemisphere. He was an obvious choice for Roosevelt’s cabinet to address economic instability. But why was he chosen for Secretary of State? The Open Door Policy, adopted by many Western nations in East Asia during the early 20th century, was a petri dish primed for the growth of political strife and international conflict. With the warnings from Hull’s predecessor, Henry Stimson, placed on the back …

0896: John F. Smith Collection, 1978-2017, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

John F. Smith was a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army and former director of the Big Green Scholarship Foundation at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

The collection includes records of the Big Green Scholarship Foundation, research and papers of John F. Smith, and framed Marshall University basketball and football memorabilia.

Healing On The Homefront: Convelescent Homes In England During Wwi, Elizabeth Rogerson

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

This paper explores the response to soldiers needing rehabilitation in World War One and how convalescent facilities impacted the everyday lives of injured men, nurses, and military medicine. During the Great War, there was an influx of the diversity of injuries due to the expanse of biological and machine warfare. Recognizing that field hospitals were insufficient, England’s War Office executed a plan to requisition public facilities and use volunteer forces not only to heal English men but soldiers from across the world. This paper establishes the context for the convalescing system in England and then its accommodation and improvisation for …

Parameters Autumn 2025, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Autumn 2025 issue of Parameters. We open with two In Focus commentaries. The first, “A Case for Military Proportionality: Disabling Nuclear Plants” by Henry Sokolski, offers practical ways in which military planners can disable civilian targets, such as nuclear infrastructure, without undermining operational goals, alliance cohesion, or long-term political objectives. Our second commentary, “The Consequences of Declining Patriotism in the United States” by Neil N. Snyder, presents findings from a national survey showing a decline in patriotism, especially among Generation Z nonveterans. His article highlights a growing civil-military values gap with implications for recruitment and national …

Russian Arctic Land Forces And Defense Trends Redefined By Nato And Ukraine, Troy J. Bouffard, Lester W. Grau, Charles K. Bartles, Mathieu Boulègue

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article argues that Russia’s Arctic land forces have been weakened by the Russia-Ukraine War and NATO’s northern expansion, creating a strategic window for Western militaries to bolster their Arctic capabilities. Unlike existing studies that focus on maritime operations and the Northern Sea Route, it integrates technical assessments of ground-based Arctic platforms with analysis of military-district reforms. Using a mixed methodology that incorporates equipment specifications, Russian government documents, media reports, and NATO strategic-response evaluations, this article constructs a comprehensive baseline understanding of Russia’s Arctic land-force potential and readiness. Policy and military practitioners will benefit from actionable insights into Arctic force-design …

Britain And The Mediterranean: Empire And Culture In The Georgian-Victorian Era, James Brown

The Ozark Historical Review

I will examine the high age of British expansion into the Mediterranean – the mid- to late years of the Georgian- Victorian era. Since Britain’s imperialistic ventures were always intimately connected with domestic forces, I have chosen to divide my investigation into two main sections: the first analyzing the role of the Mediterranean, particularly Greece, in British culture and intellectual history prior to and during full-scale expansion, and the second presenting an account of Britain’s Mediterranean campaigns proper.

The German Press's Coverage Of The Bavarian Freikorps, Chase Kinder

Research from the Berry Summer Thesis Institute, 2025

The Freikorps (Free Corps) was a German paramilitary group that primarily consisted of former World War I soldiers who experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and continued their military combat by suppressing communist revolutions in Germany throughout the early Weimar Republic. My research investigates how the German press in Munich covered the Bavarian Freikorps’ swift removal of armed communists and their violence against German civilians during the suppression of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in May 1919. This news coverage influenced how a large portion of German civilians viewed and interacted with German veterans of World War I and the Freikorps after …

A Complex Border: Intractability And The Physical Roots Of Discursive Legitimations In Cyprus, Hilmi Ulas

Peace Studies Faculty Articles and Research

The Cypriot conflict is one of the most intractable conflicts of the modern era, and the collapse of complexity among the actors in the conflict—mainly the Republic of Cyprus, North Cyprus, and Turkey—appears to be the main cause of the continued “no war, no peace” state. Subsequent socio-psychological self-organization among these actors then produces conflict-perpetuating feedback loops and dynamics. These dynamics include identity narratives, narratives of “the other,” and narratives of the nature of the conflict, which, at the grassroots level, can legitimize ongoing engagement in the conflict, whereas peace is painted as an undesirable and undeserved/unjust compromise. Given this, …

Uncle Sam Plays Matchmaker: Intimate Encounters, War Brides, And Marital Policy In The Vietnam War Era, Daniel P. Ward

Dissertations

During the Vietnam War era, thousands of American GIs married Southeast Asian women who immigrated to the United States together. While considerable scholarly attention has focused on the political and social dimensions of the Vietnam era sex work industry, the regulation of marriage and immigration policies for Vietnamese American couples provide new perspectives to explore. Although intimate encounters with local women also pervaded other twentieth century conflicts, the Vietnam War saw the American military implement a new system to screen and regulate war bride marriages. In doing so, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) constructed the first interservice set of marriage …

From Heaven To Hell: A Reinterpretation Of Comparison Between Germany’S Airborne Fallschirmjäger Operations And The Allied Airborne Operation At Arnhem In World War Ii, Jeremy Herbert

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines the legacy of the German paratrooper corps and compares them to similar Allied operations during World War II. Relying on archival documents as well as 80 years of analysis by historians, the thesis argues that the overwhelming consensus among historians of the German Fallschirmjäger as a failed experiment is undeserved, since the pitfalls experienced during their operations pale in comparison to similar British operations. The German invasion of Crete in 1941 serves as the base example for Anglophone historians who favor the idea of German failure solely based on the number of German casualties. In reality, the …

The Soldier Saint: Latter-Day Saint Veterans Of The Vietnam War, Cassie Evans

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This digital exhibit and accompanying paper explore the experiences and contributions of Latter-day Saint veterans during the Vietnam War, focusing on their role within both military and religious contexts. Despite representing only a small percentage of the American military forces in Vietnam, Latter-day Saints influenced the war's cultural and spiritual landscape. Through personal narratives, interviews, and historical analysis, the study sheds light on how these veterans navigated the complexities of their faith amidst the challenges of combat.

Additionally, it considers the relationship between military service and missionary efforts, highlighting how the presence of Latter-day Saint soldiers contributed to later religious …

Historiography Of The Medieval Tournament: How The Study Of Jousting Reflects Medieval Studies, Maddux L. Mullinax

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

In the modern age, sports are more than just athletes on a field in front of screaming fans; instead, they are dynamic showcases of strategic prowess, cultural expression, and societal values. Long before stadiums and sports arenas became the centers of competition and entertainment, medieval tournaments enthralled audiences with their unique blend of martial skill and pageantry. From the electrifying clash of a joust to the elaborate courtly dances, the history of the tournament weaves a vivid tapestry of medieval life. This merging of chivalry and combat creates an enduring spectacle that has captivated historians and enthusiasts for centuries. The …

Origins Of The Great War: The European Powder Keg, I.B. Landry

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The weakened state of Russia in the years following the Russo-Japanese War offered the best chance for the Schlieffen Plan to work, because Russia was not prepared to fight a general war during this period. Instead, what occurred was a constant rise in tension over competing powers who were not willing to concede on their intransigent foreign policies. While it is true that Germany was aggressive, powers like Britain, France, and Russia imposed limitations on German growth. The arms race and the militarism that grew in tandem did no favors for the competing interests of the European “powder keg.”

Combat Motivation And Swift Trust In Canada’S Battle Of Hong Kong, 1941, Robert C. Engen, Maxwell Putnam

Canadian Military History

Abstract: In December 1941, the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong was the site of a doomed last stand, when the Imperial Japanese Army assaulted the British enclave near-simultaneously with the strike on Pearl Harbor. Among Hong Kong’s multinational defenders were two battalions of Canadian infantry, designated “C Force.” They held out for a significant period and inflicted heavy casualties upon the Japanese, despite the fact that the Canadians were under-trained, under-equipped and fighting a battle that could not be won. This article is the first major study of combat motivation in the Battle of Hong Kong, taking the Canadian …

The Insurgent’S Dilemma: A Struggle To Prevail, David E. Spencer

Joint Force Quarterly

David E. Spencer’s review of The Insurgent’s Dilemma highlights David Ucko’s nuanced analysis of the strategic challenges insurgent movements face in balancing military efficacy with political legitimacy. Drawing on his expertise in Latin American insurgency, particularly the FARC, Spencer uses Ucko’s framework to explain why some insurgent groups, like the FARC, failed to adapt to post-Cold War conditions, while others, like the Zapatistas, successfully evolved ideologically, locally, and institutionally. Ucko argues that modern insurgencies must navigate complex trade-offs between violence and popular support, especially as traditional strategies become obsolete. The book offers critical insights into how both insurgents and counterinsurgents …

Space Warfare: Strategy, Principles And Policy, 2nd Ed., Todd W. Pennington, Emmy Kanarowski

Joint Force Quarterly

The second edition of Space Warfare by John J. Klein offers a timely and comprehensive update to a foundational text in spacepower strategy. Reviewed by Pennington and Kanarowski, this expanded volume deepens Klein’s signature analogies between maritime and space domains while addressing the significant geopolitical, doctrinal, and legal changes that have reshaped military space operations since the book’s original release in 2006. Notable additions include new chapters on space-based offensive and defensive platforms, “Guardian Angels” and “Celestial Demons,” and a thought-provoking call for a future Space National Guard. While some proposals are forward-looking, Klein’s work remains grounded in strategic theory, …

Human, Machine, War: How The Mind-Tech Nexus Will Win Future Wars, Frank Hoffman

Joint Force Quarterly

In his review of Human, Machine, War, Frank Hoffman explores a timely and thought-provoking anthology that examines how the fusion of human cognition and advanced technologies will define success in future warfare. Edited by Nicholas Wright, Michael Miklaucic, and Todd Veazie, the book argues that winning tomorrow’s conflicts hinges not just on technological superiority, but on mastering the interplay between human factors and emerging capabilities like AI, neuroscience, and cognitive enhancement. Featuring insights from leading defense thinkers, including retired Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan and defense neuroscientist James Giordano, the volume delves into the ethical, operational, and strategic dimensions of …

The Long Pivot: The Development Of The Joint Warfighting Concept, Wilson C. Blythe Jr.

Joint Force Quarterly

In the wake of America’s long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military faced an urgent need to pivot from counterinsurgency back to conventional warfighting, especially against peer competitors like China and Russia. This article traces the decade-long struggle to realign Department of Defense priorities, culminating in the development of the Joint Warfighting Concept (JWC). Early efforts, such as the Third Offset Strategy, highlighted technological innovation but lacked a unifying vision for how to fight future wars. The Services led their own modernization efforts, while analytical tools like Support for Strategic Analysis (SSA) fell short in shaping a cohesive …