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The studies featured in this second case study volume by the Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) confirm the conclusions of other PNSR analyses that the performance of the U.S. national security apparatus is inconsistent. Although some cases illustrate relatively clear, integrated strategy development, unified policy implementation, and coherent tactical planning, coordination, and execution, others depict flawed, divided, contradictory, and sometimes nonexistent strategy promulgation and enactment. This book concludes with a cross-case analysis that evaluates the most important observations from the entire case study collection.

Since the Fall of 2009, the Center for Complex Operations has been coordinating a project to gather lessons and best practices from civilian and military members serving on Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan and Iraq. The CCO partnered with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) to conduct interviews of recently returned civilian PRT members and collaborated with the Services which have been interviewing military members of the PRTs. This collection effort concluded with over 200 interviews available for ongoing analysis by CCO and its interagency partners.

America's Hegemonic Dilemmas: Building Legitimate and Loyal States in an Age of Global Insurgency

The Budget Control Act of 2011 has set the government on a path to dramatically reduce spending over the next decade, and a congressional "super committee" is now seeking to trim spending by more than $1 trillion beyond the cuts already enacted this year. As additional cuts are made, we must ask: How can the United States responsibly and effectively maximize its security in this era of growing fiscal austerity?  

The United States Institute of Peace is hosting an event called Starting Dialogue on Iraq's Disputed Territories on 28 February 2011 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.

Below is an excerpt from the event's summary:

The status of Kirkuk and other disputed territories has been one of the greatest conundrums in Iraqi politics not just since 2003, but since the foundation of the modern Iraqi state after World War I. As the U.S. military draws down in 2011, no universally accepted political or constitutional framework exists among Iraqis for addressing what some have called the greatest threat to the country's stability.