Institute for National Strategic Studies
at the National Defense University
News & Updates
- Post-Asad Syria: Opportunity or Qagmire? A new Strategic Forum from Patrick Clawson
- Op-Ed in International Herald Tribute: A Leaner NATO Needs a Tighter Focus by Hans Binnendijk, Director
- Space and the Joint Fight - a new Strategic Forum by Robert L. Butterworth
- Sino-American Strategic Restraint in an Age of Vulnerability - a new Strategic Forum by Gompert and Saunders
- Severe Space Weather Threats: Grid Vulnerability to Geomagnetic Storms After Action Report Released
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CRRC Releases the 9-11 Conference Event Report
On 13-14 September 2011, CRRC and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Advanced Governmental Studies hosted a conference to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Entitled “Ten Years Later: Insights on al-Qaeda’s Past & Future through Captured Records,” the conference explored what scholars and policy-makers knew about al-Qaeda and Associated Movements (AQAM) before 9/11 and what they have learned since, offering thoughts about the future of AQAM as well as directions for future research and policy.
In the News
"A New Principle of War."
Frank Hoffman, Director of the National Defense University Press, has just had an article published in the Armed Forces Journal entitled "A New Principle of War." In it, he suggests that "understanding" has to take a rightful place among the principles of warfare.
"The post-Cold War era has generated new vulnerabilities and new forms of adversaries and combat applications. A decade of combat and complex operations has pulled up the roots of strategic thought and operational habits framed in response to a monolithic threat. That threat no longer exists, but it is imprinted into the U.S. military culture. The challenge is adapting to new demands, new threats and an evolving character of conflict. We must discard what is no longer relevant and reinforce everything that is immutable or enduring."
Publications
Iraq, Its Neighbors and the United States:
Competition, Crisis, and the Reordering of Power
Barkey, Lasendksy, and Marr, editors
Distinguished Research Fellow Dr. Judith S. Yaphe has written a chapter in a new book on Iraq, entitled "Iraq and Its Gulf Arab Neighbors: Avoiding Risk, Seeking Opportunity (p. 119.).
The book, "Iraq, Its Neighbors and the United States: Competition, Crisis, and the Reordering of Power" is published by the United States Institute of Peace, Washington, DC. Barkey, et.al., focus on Iraq's current transformation to a more open and democratic society and the evolving political fragmentation that is ensuing both in the country and in the region.
In the volume's case studies, acclaimed scholars and experts review Iraq's bilateral relationships with Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Arab States, Syria, and Jordan and explore how Iraq's neighbors could advance the country's transition to security and stability.
Internship Program
Welcome to INSS - Spring 2012 Interns!
Our Spring cohort includes an impressive line-up of students from the US and abroad. Loyola, Cornell, Wellesley, Penn State, Georgetown, UC Irvine and UC Davis are just some of the schools represented this semester. Our interns research interests range from Energy to Peace and Conflict, from International Law to International Service, from NATO to Asian Studies. Expect to hear more from them in the coming months.
Read the Intern Biographies....
For more information on the INSS Internship Program, click here......
Attention Alums! We are reaching out to you to share your experiences both here and in the market place with our incoming interns. Some of you have landed impressive jobs - and we want to hear about how you got there! Read more....
SPOTLIGHT:
Research Highlights Vol. 2 No. 1
The current edition of the Research Highlights newsletter has been released, highlighting recent research conducted by the Centers under the Office of the Vice President for Research and Applied Learning (OVPR/AL) at the National Defense University. Some of the headlines are:
- The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) has been exploring "grand strategy options" in times of austerity, which is consistent with the direction of DoD "Sustaining US Global Leadership."
- Conflict Rectords Research Center (CRRC) and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars co-hosted a conference on the Iran-Iraq War which brought together a wide array of scholars and former policymakers to discuss insights from captured Iraqi records.
- Center for Strategic Research Strategic Perspectives No. 8 "A Review of the 2001 Bonn Conference and Application to the Road Ahead in Afghanistan" written by Senior Military Fellow Colonel Mark Fields and INSS intern Ms. Ramsha Ahmed analyze the process that produced the 2001 Bonn Agreement and offers recommendations for the 2011 Bonn Conference.
- The Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP) released a new Defense & Technology Paper (No. 85) by Baranick, Sciarretta, Staniec and Applebaugh, examining key documents to determine focal areas for socieconomic development in Afghanistan.
- "State Reponsibility for Cyber Attacks: Competing Standards for a Growing Problem" written by Dr. Rich Andres with Scott Shackelford, published in the Georgetown Journal of International Law (GJIL), discusses anonymity of cyber attacks and resulting difficulty of defining "state responsibility."