Simons Center News

Featured article: Achieving Civil-Military Unity of Effort: Jordan Case Study by William J. Hackenbracht Following a joint planning session comprised of representatives from Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Jordan Mission, the U.S. Ambassador to Jordan approved the integration of a four-man Civil Military Support Element (CMSE) into […]

Featured article: Intellectual Habits in Understanding the Operational Environment by James T. Wilson Einstein acknowledges the importance of understanding the operational environment. If we do not understand the complex environment in which we operate, then we are likely wasting effort or possibly worsening the condition. The Interagency Conflict Assessment Framework (ICAF) was developed by the U.S. […]

Featured article: Fiscal Crises Experimentation: A Darwinian Approach by Allan D. Childers and Mark H. Sweberg History demonstrates that periodically the nation goes through fiscal evolutions that change the environment in which U.S. government departments and agencies shape their organizations, programs, and activities. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution posits that the struggle for resources favors […]

Mr. Ralph Erwin, Senior Geospatial Intelligence Officer, spoke on the roles and missions of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) on Jan. 28, 2020, in the Arnold Conference Room in the Lewis and Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth. His presentation was the sixth presentation of the InterAgency Brown-Bag Lecture Series for CGSC academic year 2020. Erwin briefed those gathered […]

Retired Ambassador Deborah McCarthy, the 2018 DACOR Visiting Professor of Diplomacy for the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC), has expanded her podcast series “The General and the Ambassador: A Conversation.” McCarthy’s podcast promotes interagency cooperation and is produced […]

Featured article: A Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Operations in Mali and Somalia by Lawrence J. Richardson The theory of a joint interagency task force (JIATF) operating in a predatory state or disparaging regime is perhaps the largest practical and contemporary challenge that military and interagency officers face in the field today. Utilizing the doctrinal terms and […]

The application period is now open for the CGSC Foundation’s competitive scholarship program. Eligible students who are children or grandchildren of U.S. Army Command and General Staff College alumni who are Life Members of the Foundation’s Alumni Association may submit their applications now through March 31. The scholarship program is open to high school seniors […]

Featured article: The Challenges in Joint Interagency Task Force operations in a Predatory State by Mark D. Natale The theory of a joint interagency task force (JIATF) operating in a predatory state or disparaging regime is perhaps the largest practical and contemporary challenge that military and interagency officers face in the field today. Utilizing the doctrinal terms and […]

Featured article: Bureaucracy in Service of a Madman by Matthew Tompkins When President Nixon attempted his “Madman Theory” gambit to pressure the North Vietnamese into peace talks, he is said to have instructed Henry Kissinger to “slip word to them that ‘For God’s sake, you know Nixon is obsessed about Communism. We can’t restrain him when […]

Featured article: Organizational Ethics Gone Wrong by Jonathan Bailey and Ted Thomas “Fat” Leonard Francis, owner of Glenn Defense Marine Asia and a good friend to the Navy leadership for over a decade, defrauded the U.S. Navy for $35 million dollars. The investigation that followed implicated scores of Navy personnel, including admirals, in the corruption […]