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From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Summer 2024 issue of Parameters. We open this issue with a special “In Memoriam” by General Charles A. Flynn, Commander US Army Pacific, honoring the life and legacies of our director and consummate colleague, Carol V. Evans. We dedicate this issue to her. General Flynn’s memoriam is followed by an In Focus commentary on China’s Belt and Road Initiative. We then feature three forums covering the Russia-Ukraine War, the Middle East, and Professional Development. This issue also contains special essays on the role of professional writing, the US Army War College’s Civil-Military Relations Center, …

Book Review: Conflict: The Evolution Of Warfare From 1945 To Ukraine, John A. Nagl

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Authors: David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts

Reviewed by Dr. John A. Nagl, professor of warfighting studies, US Army War College

Teaser: Dr. John A. Nagl provides readers a roadmap to navigate—and a lens with which to interpret—General David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts's best-selling book, Conflict, which Nagl considers "'[t]he closest thing to a memoir" of Petraeus and "likely . . . the best first-person account in history of [Petraeus's] efforts and results in Iraq and Afghanistan that made him the most important Army officer of his generation." Nagl focuses on what he believes are Petraeus's main contributions to the …

Book Review: The Good Captain: A Personal Memoir Of America At War, Joseph J. Collins

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: R. D. Hooker Jr.

Reviewed by Joseph J. Collins, PhD, retired US Army colonel

Retired Army colonel Rich Hooker’s The Good Captain is a memoir spanning the Cold War through the Global War on Terror. Hooker’s deployments take up the bulk of the book and include Grenada with the 82nd Airborne Division, Somalia to work with legendary Ambassador Bob Oakley, Zaire to coordinate humanitarian operations in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Kosovo as a parachute infantry battalion commander, the Sinai Peninsula for peacekeeping operations, command of the Dragon Brigade in Iraq and, in his last year of service, Afghanistan with the …

Parameters Autumn 2022, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Why America’S Army Can’T Win America’S Wars, John A. Nagl

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Since achieving victory in World War II, the United States military has a less than enviable combat record in irregular warfare. Through a detailed historical analysis, this article provides perspective on where past decisions and doctrines have led to defeat and where they may have succeeded if given more time or executed differently. In doing so, it provides lessons for future Army engagements and argues that until America becomes proficient in irregular warfare, our enemies will continue to fight us at the lower levels of the spectrum of conflict, where they have a good chance of exhausting our will to …

From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Grand Strategy Of Gertrude Bell: From The Arab Bureau To The Creation Of Iraq, Heather S. Gregg

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The remarkable life of early-twentieth-century British adventurer Gertrude Bell has been well documented through her biographies and numerous travel books. Bell’s role as a grand strategist for the British government in the Middle East during World War I and the postwar period, however, is surprisingly understudied. Investigating Gertrude Bell as both a military strategist and a grand strategist offers important insights into how Great Britain devised its military strategy in the Middle East during World War I—particularly, Britain’s efforts to work through saboteurs and secret societies to undermine the Ottoman Empire during the war and the country’s attempts to stabilize …

Coin Doctrine Is Wrong, M. Chris Mason

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Counterinsurgency does not increase the legitimacy of, or support for, central governments engaged in internal conflicts. Recent research shows quantifiable degrees of government legitimacy, national identity, and population security are necessary precursors and accurate predictors of a government’s ability to outlast a civil uprising. Because the first two predictors—government legitimacy and national identity—can be measured and do not increase during a conflict, the probability of government failure in most cases can be accurately predicted when the conflict starts.

A Policy Response To Islamic State Extremist Fighter Battlefield Migration, Robert J. Bunker Dr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

June 2014 to December 2017 represented the high tide of radical Islamist (Salafi-jihadist) territorial control under the authority of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. This monograph analyzes and provides policy response options for US national security and Army planners concerning the potential for postterritorial caliphate battlefield migration by the sizable contingent of battle-hardened Islamic State foreign fighters situated within various enclaves in Syria and Iraq. The monograph achieves these ends by

• discussing Islamic State territorial eras and demographics;
• offering an overview of the initial inflows of these fighters into the territorial caliphate, outflows to the United States, and …

Professionalizing The Iraqi Army: Us Engagement After The Islamic State, C. Anthony Pfaff Dr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The United States has spent—and continues to spend—billions of dollars building Iraq’s military capabilities. Despite that fact, Iraq’s military performance, even after wresting control of its territory from the Islamic State, remains inconsistent at best. A survey of Iraqi military history suggests a pattern of strengths, weaknesses, and performance that includes courageous soldiers, cohesive units, incompetent leaders, divided loyalties, poor combat support, and weak institutions that have, on occasion, risen to the defense challenge. If the United States is going to be more successful in developing Iraqi military capabilities, it will need to change its approach to better account for …

Educating Strategic Lieutenants At Sandhurst, An Jacobs

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

This article examines how well military education at the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst delivers lieutenants capable of coping with the complexities of their operational environment and the strategic implications of their decisions.

The Walter Reed Scandal And The All-Volunteer Force, Richard G. Malish

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Strategic Insights: Proxy War Norms, C. Anthony Pfaff

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

The Us Army's Postwar Recoveries, Brian Mcallister Linn

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Information And Warfare: The Israeli Case, Gideon Avidor, Russell W. Glenn

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Making Sense Of "Long Wars" — Advice To The Us Army, Tami Davis Biddle

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

State-Building: America's Foreign Policy Challenge, Charles J. Sullivan

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Nation-Building Is An Oxymoron, M. Chris Mason

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Strategic Insights: The Sinister Shadow Of Escalating Middle Eastern Sectarianism, W. Andrew Terrill

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

Defeating The Islamic State: Commentary On A Core Strategy, Huba Wass De Czege

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Strategic Insights: America's Strategic Debate – And Why It Matters To The Army, Steven Metz

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

Towards A Regional Strategy Contra Isis, Ross Harrison

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Insights From The Army's Drawdowns, Jason W. Warren

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Small-Footprint Interventions, Stephen Watts, Stephanie Pezard

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Options For Avoiding Counterinsurgencies, David H. Ucko, Robert C. Egnell

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

The Female Soldier, Anthony C. King

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Brithish National Strategy: Who Does It?, Hew Strachan

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Looking Back: Understanding Abu Ghraib, George R. Mastroianni

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.