Background Readings

US Strategy Documents 1991-2006: National Security Strategy, National Defense
& Military Strategy, Quadrennial Defense Review
Project on Defense Alternatives resource page, last updated 15 February 2006.

U.S. Strategy Plan Calls for Insuring No Rivals Develop
Patrick E. Tyler. The New York Times, 08 March 1992.

Lone Superpower Plan: Ammunition for Critics
Patrick E. Tyler. The New York Times, 10 March 1992.

Mapping the Global Future
Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project, December 2004.

The Pentagon's New Map
Thomas P.M. Barnett. April 2004.

Global Transaction Strategy
Thomas P.M. Barnett and Henry H. Gaffney, Jr. Free Republic, 05 September 2004.

An Argument for a New Liberalism - A Fighting Faith
Peter Beinart. The New Republic, 02 December 2004.

American Imperialism? No Need to Run Away From Label
Max Boot. USA Today, 05 May 2003.

War and Foreign Policy, American-Style
Zbigniew K. Brzezinski. Journal of Democracy, Vol. 11:1, 2000. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website.

American Empire, Not 'If' but 'What Kind'
Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay. The New York Times, 10 May 2003. Posted on The Brookings Institution website.

The Underpinnings of the Bush Doctrine
Thomas Donnelly. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 01 February 2003.

Imperial America
Richard N. Haass. Foreign Affairs, November 11, 2000. Posted on the Brookings Institution website.

The Case for 'Integration'
Richard N. Haass. The National Interest, 01 September 2005.

The Lonely Superpower
Samuel P. Huntington. Foreign Affairs, March/April 1999. Posted on the St. Martin's University website.

A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm
The Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, June 1996.

Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century
Donald Kagan, Gary Schmitt and Thomas Donnelly. Project for the New American Century, September 2000 (.pdf file).

Benevolent Empire
Robert Kagan. Foreign Policy, Summer 1998. Posted on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace website.

Power and Weakness
Robert Kagan. Policy Review, June 2002.

The Coming Anarchy
Robert D. Kaplan. Atlantic Monthly, February 1996. Posted on the Global Policy Forum website.

The Real New World Order: The American and Islamic Challenge
Charles Krauthammer. The Weekly Standard, 12 November 2001.

Toward a Neo-Reaganite Foreign Policy
William Kristol and Robert Kagan. Foreign Affairs, July/August 1996. Posted on the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace website.

Introduction: National Interest and Global Responsibility
William Kristol and Robert Kagan. Sample chapter from the book Present Dangers: Crisis and Opportunity in American Foreign and Defense Policy, 2000.

Fighting Smarter: A Five-Part Progressive Plan to Defend Liberal Democracy
Will Marshall and Jeremy Rosner. Blueprint Magazine, 17 May 2006.

A Winning Strategy: This Time, Democrats Can Win the National Security Debate with Positive Ideas for Protecting America
Will Marshall. Blueprint Magazine, 18 October 2006.

U.S. Security Policy: Challenges For The 21st Century
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda, July 1998.

Stability, America's Enemy
Ralph Peters. Parameters, Winter 2001-02.

A Duty to Prevent
Anne-Marie Slaughter and Lee Feinstein. United Nations Foundation, 15 August 2005 (.pdf file).

The Long War of the 21st Century
R. James Woolsey. Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, 2002 (.pdf file).

Policing Utopia: The Military Imperatives of Globalization
Andrew J. Bacevich. The National Interest, Summer 1999. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website.

Bush's Grand Strategy
Andrew J. Bacevich. The American Conservative, 29 September 2002. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

New Boys in Town: The Neocon Revolution and American Militarism
Andrew J. Bacevich. Excerpt from the book "The New American Militarism, How Americans Are Seduced by War." Posted on TomDispatch.com on 22 April 2005.

America Transforms the Middle East, But Not as Envisioned
James Carroll. The Boston Globe, 31 July 2006.

Fool's Errands: America's Recent Encounters with Nation Building
Gary Dempsey. Mediterranean Quarterly, Vol. 12:1, 2001. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website.

The Militarization of U.S. Foreign Policy
Mel Goodman. Foreign Policy in Focus, February 2004 (.pdf file).

Toward Universal Empire: The Dangerous Quest for Absolute Security
David C. Hendrickson. World Policy Journal, Fall 2002 (.pdf file).

The War of the Liberals
Stephen Holmes. The Nation, 14 November 2005.

Why Export Democracy?: The 'Hidden Grand Strategy' of American Foreign Policy
G. John Ikenberry. The Wilson Quarterly, Spring 1999. Posted on the Mt. Holyoke College website.

Clinton's World: Purpose, Policy and Weltanschauung
Josef Joffe. The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2001. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Threat Inflation and the Failure of the Marketplace of Ideas
Chaim Kaufmann. International Security, Summer 2004 (.pdf file).

Essential Elements Missing in the National Security Strategy of 2002
Charles Knight. Project on Defense Alternatives, 09 October 2002.

A Critique of the Bush Administration's National Security Strategy
Lawrence Korb and Caroline Wadhams. The Stanley Foundation, June 2006 (.pdf file).

A Tragedy of Errors
Michael Lind. The Nation, 23 February 2004.

The World After Bush
Michael Lind. New American Foundation Prospect, November 2006.

The Bad: A Review of Thomas P.M. Barnett's New Map
William S. Lind. On War #148, Defense and the National Interest, 20 January 2006.

The Question of Hegemony
William Pfaff. Foreign Affairs, January/February 2001.

Review of The Pentagon's New Map by Thomas P. M. Barnett
Chet Richards. Defense and the National Interest, 05 March 2005.

We Are the World
David Rieff. The Nation, 03 July 2006.

The Ideology of American Empire
Claes G. Ryn. Foreign Policy Research Institute, Summer 2003. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

When Terrorists Go Mainstream
Monica Duffy Toft. The Boston Globe, 27 January 2006.

Globalization and Governance
Kenneth N. Waltz. PS Online, December 1999. Posted on the Mt. Holyoke College website.

Democrats' Defense Budget Ideas as Ruinous as Republicans'
Winslow Wheeler. The Forward, 18 May 2006. Posted on the Center for Defense Information website.

Bush's Grand Strategy
Andrew J. Bacevich. The American Conservative, 29 September 2002. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The Remaking of a Unipolar World
Robert Jervis. The Washington Quarterly, Summer 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The New Geopolitics
Michael Klare. Monthly Review, July/August 2003.

Offshore Balancing Revisited
Christopher Layne. The Washington Quarterly, Spring 2002 (.pdf file).

Competing Visions of U.S. Grand Strategy
Barry R. Posen and Andrew L. Ross. International Security, Winter 1996-97. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

American Primacy: Its Prospects and Pitfalls
Stephen M. Walt. Naval War College Review, Spring 2002. Posted on the author's website at Harvard University (.pdf file).

In the National Interest: A New Grand Strategy for American Foreign Policy
Stephen M. Walt. Boston Review, February/March 2005.

In Search of Monsters to Destroy: American Empire in the New Millenium
Juan A. Alsace. Parameters, Autumn 2003. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The Empire Strikes Out: The 'New Imperialism' and its Fatal Flaws
Ivan Eland. CATO Institute, 26 November 2002.

The Mirage of Empire
John Gray. New York Review of Books, 12 January 2006.

Military Globalism
William Greider. The Nation, 31 March 2003.

America's Imperial Ambition
G. John Ikenberry. Foreign Affairs, September/October 2002 (.pdf file).

Imperial Reach
Michael Klare, The Nation, 25 April 2005.

Too Late for Empire
Jonathan Schell. The Nation, 14 August 2006.

The Army’s Empire Skeptics
Jason Vest. The Nation, 3 March 2003.

Fear Vs. Hope: America and Global Security
Gordon Adams. Foreign Service Journal, June 2005. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Post-Combat Stabilization and Reconstruction: The Lessons for US Government Organization and National Security Resource Planning
Gordon Adams. The Stimson Center, July 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The End of Civilization
James Carroll. The Boston Globe, 11 September 2006.

Terrorism or All-Hazards? Broadening Homeland Security
Anita Dancs. Security Policy Working Group, September 2006 (.pdf file).

An Alternative to Empire
John Feffer and Miriam Pemberton. AlterNet, 25 June 2003.

Fighting The 'Good Fight': An Alternatives to Current Democratic Proposals for a New National Security Strategy
William D. Hartung. Security Policy Working Group, August 2006 (.pdf file).

The Impossible Mandate? Military Preparedness, the Responsibility to Protect and Modern Peace Operations
Victoria K. Holt and Tobias C. Berkman. The Stimson Center, September 2006 (.pdf file).

The Korb Report: A Realistic Defense for America
Lawrence Korb. Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, 22 September 2005. Posted on the Center for Defense Information website(.pdf file).

Report of the Task Force on a Unified Security Budget for the United States, 2007
Lawrence Korb and Miriam Pemberton, principal authors. Foreign Policy in Focus and the Center for Defense Information, 03 May 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

A Strategy for a Long Peace - Executive Summary
Steven Kosiak, Andrew Krepinevich and Michael Vickers. Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 30 January 2001.

Strategic Defense Initiative
William S. Lind. The American Conservative, 22 November 2004. Posted on the Defense and the National Interest website.

A Balanced Foreign Policy
Daryl Press and Benjamin Valentino. Tobin Project Working Paper. Prepared for the National Security Working Group, 24 June 2006.

Liberating Ourselves
Paul W. Schroeder. The American Conservative, 9 October 2006.

Reforging the Sword: Forces for a 21st Century Security Strategy
Col. Daniel Smith, Marcus Corbin and Christopher Hellman. Center for Defense Information, September 2001 (.pdf file).

Holding the Line: U.S. Defense Strategy
Cindy Williams. Foreign Policy in Focus, May 2001 (.pdf file).

National Security Budgets To Make America Safer
Cindy Williams. Security Policy Working Group, September 2006 (.pdf file).

High Technology Military Dominance: The Opiate of Modern Empire
Brad Allenby. Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University, November 2005.

The Normalization of War
Andrew J. Bacevich. Excerpt from the book "The New American Militarism, How Americans Are Seduced by War." Posted on TomDispatch.com on 20 April 2005.

Empty Promises: Why the Bush Administration's Half-Hearted Attempts at Defense Reform Have Failed
David Isenberg and Ivan Eland. CATO Institute, 11 June 2002 (.pdf file).

What Justifies Military Intervention?
Charles Knight. Project on Defense Alternatives, 27 September 2001.

Command of the Commons: The Military Foundation of U.S. Hegemony
Barry R. Posen. International Security, Summer 2003. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The False Friends of the American Military: The Cowboy Culture
David Rieff. The New Republic, 10 October 2005.

The Evolving Clinton Doctrine on the Use of Force
Charles A. Stevenson. Armed Forces & Society, Summer 1996.

Terrorism In The Context of Other Threats: Assessing Risks and Solutions
David Colt. Security Policy Working Group, September 2006 (.pdf file).

Dislocating Alcyoneus: How to Combat al-Qaeda and the New Terrorism
Carl Conetta. Project on Defense Alternatives, 25 June 2002.

The Neocons' Long War
Robert Dreyfuss. TomPaine.common sense, 08 February 2006.

There is No War on Terror
Robert Dreyfuss. TomPaine.common sense, 13 September 2006.

The Phony War
Robert Dreyfuss. Rolling Stone, 21 September 2006.

Is The War On Terror 'Worth It'?
David Gold. Security Policy Working Group, September 2006 (.pdf file).

A Smaller Military to Fight the War on Terror
Charles V. Peña. Orbis, Spring 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Is There Still a Terrorist Threat?: The Myth of the Omnipresent Enemy
John Mueller. Foreign Affairs, September/October 2006.

Suicide Terrorism and Democracy: What We’ve Learned Since 9/11
Robert A. Pape. CATO Institute, November 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The Struggle Against Terrorism: Grand Strategy, Strategy, and Tactics
Barry R. Posen. International Security, Winter 2001-02. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Bounding the Global War on Terrorism
Jeffrey Record. Strategic Studies Institute, December 2003. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Religion, Civil War and International Order
Monica Duffy Toft. Discussion Paper 2006-03 of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, July 2006 (.pdf file).

Revisions in Need of Revising: What Went Wrong in the Iraq War
David C. Hendrickson and Robert W. Tucker. Strategic Studies Institute, December 2005 (.pdf file).

War Strategy: Dramatic Failure Requires Drastic Change
Douglas A. Macgregor. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 19 December 2004. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website.

Fire the Generals!
Douglas A. Macgregor. Center for Defense Information, 26 May 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Iraq Is Gone. Now What?
Monica Duffy Toft. Washington Post, 13 November 2006.

Willful Ignorance: How the Pentagon Sent the Army to Iraq Without a Counterinsurgency Doctrine
Jason Vest. The Bulletin on the Atomic Scientists, July/August 2005. Posted on the Center for Defense Information website.

Pentagon's New Budget, New Strategy, and New War
Carl Conetta. Project on Defense Alternatives, 25 June 2002.

QDR 2006: Do the Forces Match the Missions? DOD Gives Little Reason to Believe
Carl Conetta. Project on Defense Alternatives, 10 February 2006.

Pyrrhus on the Potomac: How America's Post-9/11 Wars Have Undermined U.S. National Security
Carl Conetta. Project on Defense Alternatives, 05 September 2006.

The Joint Force: A Decade, No Progress
Douglas A. Macgregor. Joint Force Quarterly, Winter 2000-01 (.pdf file).

A Swift, Elusive Sword: What if Sun Tzu and John Boyd Did a National Defense Review?
Chet Richards. Center for Defense Information, February 2003 (.pdf file).

Quadrennial Defense Review: What Went Wrong? How to Fix It
Franklin C. Spinney. Strategic Review, September 1997 (.pdf file).

America's Post 9/11 Military: Can Congress Reform Our Shrinking, Aging, Less Ready, More Expensive Forces?
Winslow T. Wheeler. Security Policy Working Group, September 2006 (.pdf file).

Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy
Stephen Biddle. Strategic Studies Institute, November 2002. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Toppling Saddam: Iraq and American Military Transformation
Stephen Biddle et al. U.S. Army, April 2004. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute (.pdf file).

Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom: Challenges for Rapid Maneuvers and Joint C4ISR Integration and Interoperability
Carl M. Bradley. Naval War College, 02 September 2004 (.pdf file).

Reshaping the Military for Asymmetric Warfare
Marcus Corbin. Center for Defense Information, 05 October 2001.

A New American Way of War? C4ISR in Operation Iraqi Freedom, A Provisional Assessment
Dr. John Ferris. Journal of Military & Strategic Studies (Canada), Spring 2003. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Understanding Fourth Generation War
William S. Lind. AntiWar.com, 15 January 2004.

Billions, and It Can't Make Change
Vernon Loeb. Washington Post, 13 September 2002.

Resurrecting Transformation: A New Structure for Post-Industrial Warfare
Douglas A. Macgregor. Defense Horizons, Center for Technology and National Security Policy, National Defense University, September 2001. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Beyond Goldwater-Nichols: New Proposals for Defense Reform
Clark A. Murdock and Richard W. Weitz. Joint Force Quarterly, Spring 2004 (.pdf file).

Changing Nature of Warfare
National Intelligence Council, 25 May 2004.

The Strange Battle of Shah-i-Kot: Was Operation Anaconda an 'Absolute Success' – or a 'Big Mistake'?
Brendan O'Neill. Spiked Politics, 22 March 2002.

The True Worth of Air Power
Robert A. Pape. Foreign Affairs, March/April 2004.

The Myth of Air Power in the Persian Gulf War and the Future of Warfare
Daryl G. Press. International Security, Fall 2001. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The RMA Debate
Project on Defense Alternatives, 01 August 2006.

Kosovo and the Current Myth of Information Superiority
Timothy Thomas. Parameters, Spring 2000. Posted on Phil Taylor's website at the University of Leeds, UK.

Learning to Adapt to Asymmetric Threats
John C. F. Tillson et al. Institute for Defense Analyses, August 2005 (.pdf file).

4GW & the Question of Reform
Jason Vest. The Atlantic Monthly, December 2001. Posted on the Defense and the National Interest website.

Transformation for What?
John P. White. Strategic Studies Institute, December 2005 (.pdf file).

Can We Afford a Revolution in Military Affairs?
Cindy Williams and Jennifer M. Lind. Breakthroughs, Spring 1999. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

The Hollow Army
James Fallows. The Atlantic Monthly, 01 March 2004.

Critique of Army Redesign Proves Highly Contentious Inside Service
Elaine M. Grossman. InsideDefense.com, 02 March 2006. Posted on the Defense and the National Interest website.

Reorganization or Reform?
William S. Lind. On War #156, Defense and the National Interest, 16 March 2006.

Army Transformation: Implications for the Future
Col. Douglas Macgregor. Testimony before the Armed Services Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, 15 July 2004. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Operation Allied Force: Yet Another Wake-Up Call for the Army?
Jeffrey Record. Parameters, Winter 1999-2000.

Defense Transformation: To What, For What?
Kevin Reynolds. Strategic Studies Institute, November 2006. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

Internal Review Finds Cost of Army Future Combat Program Soaring
Megan Scully. CongressDaily, 07 July 2006.

Mountain Division: Why the U.S. Can't Match the British at High Altitudes
Jason Vest. The American Prospect, 21 March 2002.

Insurgency: Modern Warfare Evolves into a Fourth Generation
Thomas X. Hammes. Strategic Forum, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, January 2005 (.pdf file).

Counterinsurgency by the Book
Fred Kaplan. Slate.com, 08 July 2006.

Beginning to Learn
William S. Lind. On War #180, Defense and the National Interest, 24 August 2006.

U.S. Military Is Split on Insurgency Strategy
Solomon Moore and Peter Spiegel. Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2006.

Willful Ignorance: How the Pentagon Sent the Army to Iraq Without a Counterinsurgency Doctrine
Jason Vest. The Bulletin on the Atomic Scientists, July/August 2005. Posted on the Center for Defense Information website.

The Full Costs of Ballistic Missile Defense
Richard F. Kaufman, ed. Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, January 2003 (.pdf file).

Three Myths About DoD's Weapons Modernization Requirements
Steven M. Kosiak. Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 18 June 2001.

Weapon Systems Die Hard, Especially on Capitol Hill
Vernon Loeb. Washington Post, 06 May 2002.

Watching Weapons Future Combat Systems 2005
Project On Government Oversight, 2005.

Stryker Interim Armored Vehicle
Project on Government Oversight Weapons Watch, 2005.

Description of Our Failing Defense Acquisition System as Exemplified by the History, Nature and Analysis of the USAF F-22 Raptor Program
Col. Everest E. Riccioni. Project on Government Oversight, 08 March 2005 (.pdf file).

The Flawed V-22 Osprey and the Marine Corps
Col. Everest E. Riccioni. Project on Government Oversight, 16 March 2006 (.pdf file).

Traditional Warfare Remains Focus of Weapons Budget
Megan Scully. CongressDaily, 07 February 2006.

Long Term Implications of Current Defense Plans: Summary Update for Fiscal Year 2007
Congressional Budget Office, October 2006 (.pdf file).

Economic Issues in Homeland Security
Richard F. Kaufman. Paper for the EEA Panel on "The Economics of Homeland Security," Philadelphia, 24 February 2006 (.pdf file).

QDR Does Little To Improve Affordability of Long-Term Defense Plans
Steven M. Kosiak. Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 03 February 2006 (.pdf file).

Funding For Defense, Military Operations, Homeland Security and Related Activities Since 9/11
Steven Kosiak. Security Policy Working Group, September 2006 (.pdf file).

Financial Management Problems Facing the Defense Department
Franklin C. Spinney. Testimony before the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, 04 June 2002.

Skullduggery in the Pentagon's Budget
Franklin C. Spinney. CounterPunch, 27 September 2006.

Can We Afford a Revolution in Military Affairs?
Cindy Williams and Jennifer M. Lind. Breakthroughs, Spring 1999. Posted on the Commonwealth Institute website (.pdf file).

GAO Chief Warns Economic Disaster Looms
Matt Crenson. The Associated Press, 28 October 2006. Posted on the Washington Post website.

Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change
HM Treasury, UK, 30 October 2006.

The Inevitable Peaking of World Oil Production
Robert L. Hirsch. The Atlantic Council of the United States, October 2005 (.pdf file).

America at a Crossroads
David M. Walker. Speech before the Independent Sector's CEO Summit, Minneapolis, MN, 23 October 2006 (.pdf file).

United States in 6th Place in the World Economic Forum's 2006 Competitiveness Rankings
World Economic Forum, 27 September 2006 (.pdf file).