LANDPOWER: Senior Leadership – Learning and Application
LANDPOWER: Senior Leadership – Learning and Application
Setting a New Course For Senior Leaders by Alan Bourque
A revised U.S. Army War College leadership development program for brigadier generals attempts to improve communication skills as well as expand understanding of the Army’s role in the bigger national security picture. The pilot program, conducted March 2–28, had just seven officers in the class—three colonels and four brigadier generals—a size aimed at providing an intimate educational environment. In this case, the selected leaders were young general officers or soon-to-be general officers with potential to serve in critical strategic assignments at the national level.
Global Leadership — Learning From History by John F. Troxell
We are in the season of discontent concerning the position of the United States in the world. Fortunately, this season of discontent corresponds with a season of momentous commemorations that offer valuable lessons that could help us get back on track toward demonstrating global leadership and responsibility: World War I, the Bretton Woods conference, and the Tiananmen Square crisis.
U.S. Must Rethink Unsustainable Counterterrorism Strategy by Steven Metz
While the world's attention this week was focused on Gaza and Ukraine, security remained precarious in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq and Afghanistan remain stark reminders that America's counterterrorism strategy, developed by the Bush administration after the 9/11 attacks and largely adopted by the Obama administration, is increasingly ineffective and unsustainable.
What NATO Needs to Do in the Wake of the Ukraine Crisis by John Deni
In just under two months, NATO heads of state will gather in Wales for their next summit meeting, which comes at a critical time for European security given Russia’s annexation of Crimea. NATO should seek 4 broad objectives:
- First, the alliance should announce its intent to permanently station troops in the East, most likely in Poland.
- Second, NATO should ditch its two-percent defense spending goal.
- Third, the alliance ought to move Allied Command Transformation (ACT) from Norfolk, Va., to Europe.
- Finally, NATO should either disband the NATO Response Force (NRF) or give U.S. Gen. Phil Breedlove, the alliance’s top military commander, greater peacetime operational control and authority over its use.
Revival of Political Islam in the Aftermath of Arab Uprisings: Implications for the Region and Beyond by Dr. Mohammed El-Katiri
Regime change during the Arab Spring allowed Islamist political forces that had long been marginalized to achieve political influence in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. The author cautions against an overly simplistic assessment of this rise in the influence and power of political Islam. He shows that the political crises besetting each of these Islamist governments are not necessarily of their own making, but instead are determined by objective circumstances.
We hope you will enjoy these insightful and thoughtful works and we always look forward to your feedback through comments to this blog, Landpower, or to me.
Regarding the article by Dr. John Deni & his first point about stationing a multi-national brigade (led by a US BCT HQ): good idea. But how would such an organization mitigate the national caveats that would likely dictate unit employment which have governed & restricted unit actions in Afghanistan? If the US BDE HQ tell its “subordinate” German armor BN to go to location X but Berlin says German units are not authorized in location X, what would we (The West/ the US/ NATO) do?
Given the drawdown from Afghanistan and the drawdown of the US military, creating such multi-national units seems to make sense. As a way of pooling resources & demonstrating collective resolve, I think there might be a lot of value in fielding a “Pacific BDE” made up of US, Canadian, and Australian battalions and an “Atlantic BDE” made up of US, UK, & Dutch battalions (and this Atlantic BDE could be the NATO force advocated by Dr Deni). But only by aligning “national caveats” will such a unit be able to function as an effective & seamless organization….but I think that will be quite difficult to do.
European defense for the average American citizen is like the Hotel California. You can check in, but you can never leave.
(I understand many Europeans feel the same way. What can I say? It’s an elite project so the everyday in many places have valid complaints).
From 1990. Crisis Prompts Query Over NATO’s Basic Role:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-09-10/news/1990253033_1_nato-north-atlantic-area-europe
I retain the Gen X-er fascination with Margaret Thatcher, although it all looks different from a distance, doesn’t it? NATO proved a bit unwieldy within the Afghanistan context. The paying for insurgency and counterinsurgency at the same time was especially brilliant. I reckon partial or sectoral Russian sanctions–given globalization–will follow the same pattern.
Landpower does an excellent job and is quite informative. Thank you for the articles.
My thanks for these articles is sincere. It just occurred to me that I am so sarcastic around here that some may have thought I was doing the same thing in this comments section. No, I think these articles are interesting and disagreement is good.
If Ukraine is a crisis of sovereignty, then how did the conversation switch to Putin-as-devil? Taking land is the worst of it, arms from outside the second worst of it, but early on, did our advice help or hurt the Ukrainians in asserting their sovereignty and creating a healthy state?
In the Council, a commenter from Estonia I believe, said something along the lines of, “we told them to control the borders and grab Russian passports.”
Ukrainian border patrol asked for help early on. Did they get it? The oligarchs that are in control raided the state and isn’t that partly why the border control doesn’t have the resources it needs? How did this issue of border control–and including ethnic Russians into the larger state order–become all about the US/NATO/EU and its battles with Russia?
I worry about the Ukrainians–look what internationalizing the issue did to the Kashmiris. Just because outsiders want to help, doesn’t mean that their help will actually work.
And how much of the NATO stuff is various constituencies using the crisis to get particular things, increasing budgets, directing the course of the EU. Some Eastern European nations are going to get big subsidies. What does this do to sovereignty and the ability to resist outside interference?
A bunch of random articles of no importance:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2010/03/the_candidates_wife.html
And, from June 9:
http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-separatists-battle-control-border-russia-160450789–finance.html
Good thing the West is bombing civilian areas in the East.
Yeah, I just don’t get it, I don’t get the “offensive against terrorists.” Something is fishy, eh?
It’s interesting, American reporting started to change a bit after that, a real shift, a dumb beat of one-sided articles. Every day, a different one on Yahoo from the same perspective, and then the terrible tragedy of the airliner, and then the drumbeat toward sanctions which the Obama administration had been pursuing for some time because he needs a foreign policy win and it polls well.
Tsk, Tsk, DC, you are not supposed to propagandize domestically….leak, leak, leak…Yes. Amusement is the only sane response.
It’s quite extraordinary. Even someone on WoTR was mentioning it–a non-American–that there was a curious omission of many important facts in many Western articles and on certain military oriented blogs. In a way, it’s good. It’s good for outsiders to see the hold the Borg has on its policy class and what we Americans have to deal with.
And punch above your weight! LOL.