Strategic and Net Assessments

by

Joseph Cerami

• LAST REVIEWED: 22 July 2020
• LAST MODIFIED: 02 March 2011
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0069

Introduction

The role of strategic and net assessment has evolved since its inception during the Cold War and now must evaluate threats from both state and nonstate actors. The first portion of this annotative bibliography presents a list of works that have influenced the founding of strategic and net assessments, the nuclear weapon thinkers and post–Cold War perspectives. The middle section focuses on contemporary net assessment and the various forms it takes in analysis of threats and scenarios in the context of current events. The last portion of the annotative bibliography contains online resources and publications available from the leading domestic and international think tanks and organizations.

Journals

Journals on international security and studies related to strategic and net assessments continue to proliferate, as the concept of security has broadened throughout the post–World War II era. The early journals focused on what the discipline would now consider traditional foreign and defense policy issues. The topics included superpower relationships, the nuclear balance of power, and high-level defense policy and military strategic issues. The role of science and technology, advanced military systems, nuclear deterrence, and military innovation were all topics of interest. These more traditional journals include International Security, Journal of Strategic Studies, Orbis, Survival, and The Washington Quarterly. The post–Cold War period brought renewed attention to sub-state conflict involving longstanding religious and ethnic violence. In addition, the emergence of peace studies and transnational issues received increasing attention. Peace studies and transnational threats took center stage during the 1990s, furthered by the expansion of the United Nations’ and member states’ increasing attention to peacekeeping, peacemaking, and humanitarian interventions. Journals that focused more on substate actors, and peace and conflict research, include the Journal of Peace Research and Peace and Conflict Studies. In addition, a renewed emphasis on international development and governance issues, especially regarding failed, failing, and fragile states added to the range of security studies. For instance, International Security and the other early journals now also routinely include articles on issues concerning national resources, energy, and the environment. Post-9/11, of course, there was a dramatic increase in research devoted to the subject of terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and counterinsurgency warfare. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism is an example of a journal that specifically addresses newer, emerging threats and 21st-century international security issues.

• International Security.

  Leading journal on contemporary, theoretical, and historical security topics. Defines security broadly, including military, economic, governance, energy, and science, as well as technology, food, and natural resource issues. In an age of globalization, trade, terrorism, and the environment are viewed as transnational security issues. Edited by Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

• Journal of Peace Research.

  Interdisciplinary and international journal of scholarly research on peace research. Mix of theoretical, empirical, and policy articles on peace and conflict. Special interest themes published periodically.

• Journal of Strategic Studies.

  First issued in 1978. Focuses on the use of force in contemporary statecraft, the post–Cold War reshaping of world politics, and the development of innovative military technologies. Combines historical and theoretical approaches to the study of modern warfare, defense policy, and modern strategy.

• Orbis: A Journal of World Affairs.

  Founded in 1957 as a forum for policymakers, scholars, and the informed public. Offers discourse on topics relating to American foreign policy, national security, and international affairs. Published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

• Peace and Conflict Studies.

  Current theoretical and conceptual academic research on conflict analysis and resolution, peace building and peacekeeping, and humanitarian intervention. Published biannually by the Network of Peace and Conflict Studies, which includes, among others, George Mason University and the Mershon Center at the Ohio State University.

• Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.

  Provides insights on the origins and implications of 21st-century conflict. Theoretical and empirical studies on the growth of substate violence and the causes of these conflicts and their resolution, in the global security context. Covers contemporary threats of terrorism, ethnic and religious conflict, national resource disputes, and transnational organized crime.

• Survival: Global Politics and Strategy.

  Journal of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Covers a range of strategic studies issues and case studies. Articles often include detailed maps, charts, and graphics. Seeks lively, critical debates and challenges to conventional wisdom on current strategic issues.

• The Washington Quarterly.

  Journal published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Addresses strategic security challenges and public policy. Topics include the role of the United States in the world, the emerging great powers, regional issues and flashpoints (especially in the Middle East and Asia), proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missile defenses, and terrorism.