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Operationalizing Intelligence Dominance, Roy Godson

CIWAG Case Studies

Newer, fragile states often lack the police, administrative, and economic resources needed to govern effectively, and many cannot provide basic goods and services to significant sectors of their population. The vacuum inside these states is being filled by armed groups and political movements that are growing in both numbers and capability. The global competition for power, influence, and legitimacy leads to struggles for control of populations, territory, and resources.

Reading The Tea Leaves: Proto-Insurgency In Honduras, John D. Waghelstein

CIWAG Case Studies

(IWS/04 - Irregular Warfare Studies, book 4)

This case is about an insurgency that apparently had all the essentials for success but never transitioned beyond Phase One, the proto-insurgency phase. According to Daniel Byman, the success or failure of a proto-insurgency depends in large part on the reaction of the state. This case examines a wide range of issues that worked against the Honduran governments success at extirpating the insurgency, including institutional indifference and preoccupation with external threats on the part of the Honduran Army, bureaucratic inertia on the part of the American in- country entities, and turf sensitivity by …

Organizational Learning And The Marine Corps: The Counterinsurgency Campaign In Iraq, Richard H. Shultz Jr

CIWAG Case Studies

Organizational Learning and the Marine Corps: The Counterinsurgency Campaign in Iraq examines how the U.S. Marine Corps was able to learn from and adapt to conditions on the ground in Anbar province from 2006–2008 and develop a three-dimensional strategy that resulted in stability. Dr. Richard Shultz views this success through the lens of organizational theory, arguing that the Marine Corps’ organizational culture underscores learning and embeds lessons from its history into the Corps memory.

Cmsi Archive Translation: “Marching West,” The Rebalance Of China’S Geo-Strategy, Wang Jisi [王缉思]

CMSI Translations

Wang Jisi argues that China should adopt a “Marching West” strategy to balance against the U.S. “pivot to Asia” and avoid zero-sum rivalry in East Asia. By deepening economic, political, and security engagement with Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, China can secure energy routes, expand markets, and strengthen regional influence while contributing to stability. The strategy emphasizes building a New Silk Road, enhancing multilateral cooperation through mechanisms like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and cultivating expertise on western regions. While offering opportunities for strategic maneuvering and U.S.–China cooperation, the approach carries risks of instability, regional rivalries, and perceptions …

Cmsi Archive Translation: National Maritime Strategy Founded On Seapower Theory, Liu Yang [刘洋]

CMSI Translations

This article applies Alfred Thayer Mahan’s seapower theory to China’s maritime strategy, stressing far seas training, overseas bases, and cultivating seapower consciousness among the masses. It argues that China must shift from a “low profile” approach to “positive action,” stabilize a long-term maritime strategy, and openly declare its core interests. The author identifies securing the South China Sea, achieving influence over Southeast Asia, and protecting maritime energy routes to the Indian Ocean as essential objectives for sustaining China’s rise as a maritime power.

Naval Services Game '12, Wargaming Department, Hunter R. Kellogg, John Y. Delateur, Howard Kee, Steve Burke, Hank Brightman, Lindsay Kaiser, Janelle Gatchalian

Game Reports

The United States Naval War College (NWC) in Newport, Rhode Island, in partnership with the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL), hosted the Naval Services Game (NSG) from 11-13 September 2012. The NSG was developed and executed under the sponsorship of the Naval Board. The purpose of the NSG was to explore the challenges associated with aggregating naval forces in response to an emerging conflict.

Piracy, Martin Murphy

CIWAG Case Studies

(MIWS/05 - Maritime Irregular Warfare Studies, book 5)

Piracy, by Dr. Martin Murphy, examines the security challenges created by piracy around the Horn of Africa. Murphy examines the linkages between piracy and weak states, in addition to considering the threat piracy poses to shipping and global trade. In particular, he argues that Somali pirates have proved to be masters of adaptation, both strategically and tactically, as they exploit the chaos within Somalia and in the international maritime order. Moreover, Somali piracy cannot be seen in isolation from the wider geostrategic issues of free movement and safe passage to trade …

Concluding Remarks On Non-International Armed Conflicts, Yoram Dinstein

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Methods And Means Of Naval Warfare In Non-International Armed Conflict, Wolff Heintschel Von Heinegg

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Perfidy In Non-International Armed Conflicts, Richard B. Jackson

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents (Volume 88)

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Introduction (Volume 88)

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Small Wars: The Legal Challenges, Kenneth Watkin

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Will-O' -The-Wisp? The Search For Law In Non-International Armed Conflicts, John F. Murphy

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Self-Defense Targeting: Blurring The Line Between The Jus Ad Bellum And The Jus In Bello, Geoffrey S. Corn

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

The Status Of Opposition Fighters In A Noninternational Armed Conflict, Michael N. Schmitt

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Present And Future Conceptions Of The Status Of Government Forces In Non-International Armed Conflict, Sean Watts

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Difference In The Law Of Weaponry When Applied To Non-International Armed Conflict, William Boothby

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

War And Peace: Where Is The Divide?, Charles Garraway

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Twenty-First-Century Challenges: The Use Of Military Forces To Combat Criminal Threats, Juan Carlos Gomez

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Detention Of Terrorists In The Twenty-First Century, William K. Lietzau

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Full Volume 88: Non-International Armed Conflict In The Twenty-First Century (2012)

International Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Not Congruent But Quite Complementary: U.S. And Chinese Approaches To Nontraditional Security, Lyle J. Goldstein

CMSI Red Books

U.S.-China relations, difficult in the best of times, have lurched in a dangerous direction since 2009. Against the backdrop of a weakened global economy and sharpened ideological tensions, there has been a disturbing new atmosphere of crisis in East Asia over the last two years, with incidents occurring in greater frequency and sowing serious doubts about the sustainability of the "long peace" that this region has enjoyed for decades. Indeed, any one of the following incidents could have escalated into a serious regional crisis: the sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan; the collision between a Japanese coast guard …

Taliban Networks In Afghanistan, Antonio Giustozzi

CIWAG Case Studies

Dr. Antonio Giustozzi relies on his extensive experience as a researcher in Afghanistan to create an insightful analysis of a wide range of topics including assessments of the Taliban’s strengths and weaknesses, their ability to reassess and adapt, and their operational and strategic successes and failures. He has presented a balanced treatment of the subject matter; however, balance does not mean that the case study will be uncontroversial. In fact, Giustozzi’s analysis contains some rather blunt appraisals of many of the major actors in this conflict; including both ISAF and the Taliban.

Varieties Of Insurgency And Counterinsurgency In Iraq, 2003–2009, Jon Lindsay, Roger Petersen

CIWAG Case Studies

Varieties of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Iraq, 2003-2009 offers a useful analytical framework for understanding how and why rebellions either grow or diminish. This case study was created to focus on two specific challenges that operators and practitioners faced in Iraq: how to understand the actors and the complex irregular warfare environment; and how to manage interaction, adaptation, and reassessment in irregular warfare.

High Seas Buffer, Bruce A. Elleman

Newport Papers

Following its defeat on the mainland in 1949, the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan. Although the Nationalist navy was comparatively large, to many it seemed almost certain that the People's Republic of China (PRC) would attack and take Taiwan, perhaps as early as summer 1950. The Korean War began on 25 June 1950, however, and the possibility of a PRC invasion of Taiwan was countered when on 27 June President Harry S. Truman ordered the Seventh Fleet to "neutralize" the Taiwan Strait. Mao Zedong at first postponed and eventually canceled altogether his planned invasion of Taiwan.

Ciwag - Annual Symposium Report - 2012, The U.S. Naval War College

CIWAG Events

The Center for Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups at the US Naval War College presented its fourth annual symposium, “Exploiting Seams and Closing Gaps,” on June 26-27, 2012. Over 60 US and international academics, practitioners, and operators attended to discuss the strategic and operational challenges associated with irregular warfare and armed groups. Attendees also included members from DHS, DIA, NCIS, the intelligence community, and Special Operations Forces.

Maritime Stability Operations Game '11, Wargaming Department, Doug Ducharme, Hank Brightman

Game Reports

During the period of 6-8 December 2011, the United States Naval War College (NWC) in Newport, Rhode Island hosted the Maritime Stability Operations Game (MSTOG). The MSTOG was developed and executed at the request of the game sponsor, the Navy Irregular Warfare Program Office (NIWO).

The purpose of the MSTOG was to explore how to conduct maritime stability operations (MSTO) in order to prevent and respond to instability, thus building upon previous NIWO-sponsored efforts, such as the Irregular Challenges 2010 Game. Based on NIWO’s areas of interest and informed by this literature review, the MSTOG was structured to explore the …

Kuznetsov Naval Academy Game '11, Wargaming Department

Game Reports

The 2011 KNA-NWC War Game was the third event in a series of college-to-college contact events agreed to during a series of talks between The President of the U.S. Naval War College and The Chief of the Kuznetsov Naval Academy in 2004 and 2005.

At the conclusion of the second round of talks, on 19 October 2005, then-President of the Naval War College, RADM Jacob L. Shuford, and then-Chief of KNA, VADM Yuriy N. Sysuev, signed a Memorandum of Talks which envisioned a growing relationship between the two institutions which would include combined war games, faculty and student exchanges, and …

Twentieth International Seapower Symposium: Report Of The Proceedings, The U.S. Naval War College

International Seapower Symposium

No abstract provided.