MONOGRAPH: From the new Middle Ages to a new dark Age: The Decline of the State and U.S. Strategy, by Dr. Phil Williams, June 2008.

This monograph presents key insights into the shifting security environment and considers how the United States can best respond. The author suggests the decline in state power will accelerate, taking us into a New Dark Age where the forces of chaos could be overwhelming. Whether or not one agrees with the author’s gloomy prognosis, he identifies trends and potential challenges that will affect U.S. strategy and military posture in the next few decades and offers suggestions about possible responses.

MONOGRAPH: Wars of Ideas and The War of Ideas by Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria II. June 2008.

This monograph analyzes how the United States and its allies and strategic partners might proceed in the current “war of ideas” with al-Qaeda and other groups. Two diverging schools of thought exist. The first treats the conflict as a matter of public diplomacy, and calls for revitalizing the U.S. State Department and reestablishing many traditional tools of statecraft. The second advocates waging the war of ideas as a “real war,” destroying the influence and credibility of the opposing ideology. It calls for continuing the transformation of the U.S. Defense Department so that it can better leverage information-age weapons. The author presents recommendations concerning these approaches as well as others in the “war of ideas.”

Israel, Iran And The Bomb
(Wall Street Journal)…John R. Bolton, July 15, 2008, Pg. 19

Iran’s test salvo of ballistic missiles last week together with recent threatening rhetoric by commanders of the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards emphasizes how close the Middle East is to a fundamental, in fact an irreversible, turning point.

….  State Department comments to Congress last week – even as Iran’s missiles were ascending – downplayed Iran’s nuclear progress, ignoring the cost of failed diplomacy. But the confident assumption that we have years to deal with the problem is high-stakes gambling on a policy that cannot be reversed if it fails. If Iran reaches weaponization before State’s jaunty prediction, the Middle East, and indeed global, balance of power changes in potentially catastrophic ways.

That is why Israel is now at an urgent decision point: whether to use targeted military force to break Iran’s indigenous control over the nuclear fuel cycle at one or more critical points. If successful, such highly risky and deeply unattractive air strikes or sabotage will not resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis. But they have the potential to buy considerable time, thereby putting that critical asset back on our side of the ledger rather than on Iran’s.

…  When the real source of the threat, not just a surrogate, nears the capacity for nuclear Holocaust, can anyone seriously doubt Israel’s propensities, whatever the impact on gasoline prices?

Thus, instead of debating how much longer to continue five years of failed diplomacy, we should be intensively considering what cooperation the U.S. will extend to Israel before, during and after a strike on Iran. We will be blamed for the strike anyway, and certainly feel whatever negative consequences result, so there is compelling logic to make it as successful as possible. At a minimum, we should place no obstacles in Israel’s path, and facilitate its efforts where we can.

These subjects are decidedly unpleasant. A nuclear Iran is more so.

Mr. Bolton, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of “Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations” (Simon & Schuster, 2007).

In terms of the elements of national power, Diplomatic/Political, Information, Military, Economic (DIME),  article (information) touches on them all.

‘Different Kind Of War’, (Washington Times)…Shaun Waterman, United Press International, July 3, 2008
Pg. B1

The new leadership of the Air Force faces the challenge of redefining the service’s role in what many see as the kind of combat the U.S. military will face in the immediate future, namely counterinsurgency. The problem, critics say, is that the Air Force priorities of establishing air supremacy and perfecting the timely and pinpoint delivery of high explosives tend to be less useful in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Interview With Author Of New Army Study
(PBS)…Ray Suarez

…For more on what’s in the new Army study and its significance, we turn to Donald Wright, the lead author of the study; retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey had a 32-year career in the Army, he’s been to Iraq numerous times since the U.S. invasion; and retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor writes frequently about military issues and is the author of “Transformation Under Fire: Revolutionizing How America Fights.”

Reservists’ Duty Costs City $65M
(New York Post)…Rebecca Rosenberg, July 1, 2008

More than 2,000 city workers have been called up to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11, costing the city $65 million, Rep. Anthony Weiner said yesterday.

Adding to the cost of war – impact/cost on communities.

OPINION: Taking Ownership Of Iraq?(New York Times)…Thomas L. Friedman, June 25, 2008

One of the first things I realized when visiting Iraq after the U.S. invasion was that the very fact that Iraqis did not liberate themselves, but had to be liberated by Americans, was a source of humiliation to them. It’s one reason they never threw flowers. When someone else has to liberate you in your own home, that is humiliating — and humiliation, I believe, is the single-most underestimated force in international relations, especially in the Middle East.

What seems to have happened in Iraq in the last few months is that the Iraqi mainstream has finally done some liberating of itself. With the help of the troop surge ordered by President Bush, the mainstream Sunni tribes have liberated themselves from the grip of Al Qaeda in their provinces. And the Shiite mainstream — represented by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the Iraqi Army — liberated Basra, Amara and Sadr City in Baghdad from both Mahdi Army militiamen and pro-Iranian death squads.

We may one day look back on this as Iraq’s real war of liberation. The one we led five years ago didn’t count.

PRESS RELEASE: Enterra Solutions CEO Joins U.S. Chamber of Commerce as Co-Chair of Effort in Iraq (pdf)

“Enterra Solutions’ Kurdistan Business Center, and its creation of a repeatable process and infrastructure to enable foreign direct investment and joint venture transactions will be of great value to our Initiative Members,” said Aram Zamgochian, the Chamber’s Project Director for Middle East and Africa Affairs. “I look forward to highlighting this innovative and much-needed investment promotion vehicle in a strategically vital part of the world—Iraq.”

Enterra Solutions, at http://www.enterrasolutions.com, is the global leader in applying Advanced Enterprise
Management Systems™ to help public and private sector clients transform into resilient organizations
that proactively mitigate strategic risk, further competitive advantage and optimize enterprise
performance.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Speaks Before AWC Class (Carlisle (PA) Sentinel)…Joseph Cress, June 8, 2008

Admiral Mike Mullen had one standing order for the strategic leaders of tomorrow: Turn the page on book learning and take the lessons of the Army War College beyond the classroom.

“Seek balance in all you do,” Mullen said. “Draw from, do not dwell in the past.

The United States must continue to be ready to fight insurgents, counter terrorism and tackle regional threats, Mullen said. “The specter of major conflict may have diminished, but it has not disappeared.”

He urged students to stay engaged and strive to achieve the right balance of equipment, training and personnel ready to meet a range of military operations both in war-fighting and peace-making.
 
All too often, peace-loving nations find themselves ill-prepared for strategic surprise, Mullen said. That happened at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and to New York and Washington D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Wants Refocus On Major-Combat Skills
(Los Angeles Times)…Julian E. Barnes, June 8, 2008

The U.S. military’s top uniformed officer on Saturday urged the armed forces to rebuild combat capabilities that have atrophied during the protracted counter-insurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mullen, speaking at graduation ceremonies at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., said the military’s “most pressing long-term problem” was maintaining armed services that are correctly shaped, equipped and trained.

“We must also stay prepared for a range of military operations,”

Mullen said. “We cannot sacrifice the future for the sake of the ‘now.’ “

A senior aide to Mullen said the chairman was not trying to draw a contrast with Gates. The aide said the two men were in full agreement on likely future threats faced by the U.S.