Transforming for Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations by Hans Binnendijk and Stuart E. Johnson, National Defense University

Recent military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq were characterized by the rapid defeat of the enemy's military forces, by the relatively small size of the U.S. force, and by a very limited destruction of the critical civilian infrastructure. This success can be credited in large part to the ongoing transformation of the U.S. military evident in its effective use of information superiority, precision strike, and rapid maneuver on the battlefield.

It is precisely the success of the U.S. military in transforming its forces to execute rapid decisive operations that makes it imperative to transform how it prepares for and executes stabilization and reconstruction (S&R) operations. The very rapid defeat of the enemy military means the U.S. must be ready to field the resources needed to secure stability and begin the reconstruction process promptly-even concurrently-with the end of major combat. This can only be done if planning for the stabilization and reconstruction operations is integrated into planning for major combat operations from the beginning, moreover, need to be the right skills in the theater to begin their operations concurrently with the surrender or collapse of the enemy military.

This book examines the various elements of the stabilization and reconstruction capabilities needed by the U.S. military. It addresses systematically the range of issues that must be resolved to transform S&R operations, including military strategy, organization, technology, personnel, and education.

The Skeptical Environmentalist : Measuring the Real State of the World by Bjorn Lomborg

The Skeptical Environmentalist challenges widely held beliefs that the environmental situation is getting worse and worse. The author, himself a former member of Greenpeace, is critical of the way in which many environmental organisations make selective and misleading use of the scientific evidence. Using the best available statistical information from internationally recognised research institutes, Bjørn Lomborg systematically examines a range of major environmental problems that feature prominently in headline news across the world. His arguments are presented in non-technical, accessible language and are carefully backed up by over 2500 footnotes allowing readers to check sources for themselves. Concluding that there are more reasons for optimism than pessimism, Bjørn Lomborg stresses the need for clear-headed prioritisation of resources to tackle real, not imagined problems. The Skeptical Environmentalist offers readers a non-partisan stocktaking exercise that serves as a useful corrective to the more alarmist accounts favoured by campaign groups and the media.

George Soros: The Consequences of the War on Terrorism

Panel: Introduced by Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau

George Soros: Founder and Chairman of the Open Society Institute, Financier, Philanthropist, and author of The Age of Fallibility: The Consequences of the War on Terrorism

Lowell Bergman: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for Public Service, and the Reva and David Logan Distinguished Professor of Investigative Reporting at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism

Dana Priest: Author, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and National Security Correspondent for The Washington Post

Mark Danner: Author of "The Secret Way to War" and "Torture and Truth," MacArthur Fellow and Professor of Journalism, UC Berkeley

Christopher Edley, Jr.: Dean, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley


Moderated by Orville Schell, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley.

Sponsored by The Goldman Forum on the Press & Foreign Affairs, the Chancellor's Office, the World Affairs Council and the Graduate School of Journalism.

George Soros appears in conversation with Google CEO Eric Schmidt discussing his new book "The Age of Fallibility: Consequence of the War on Terror" as part of the Authors@Google series.

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner; and Francis Fukayama on Charlie Rose

Charlie Rose video: Steven Levitt, Co-Author, Stephen Dubner, Co-Author of 'Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Things'; Francis Fukayama, Historian / Author of 'The End of History and The Last Man'.


Dying to Win by Robert A. Pape

Robert A. Pape is associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he teaches international politics and is the director of the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism. A distinguished scholar of national security affairs, he writes widely on coercive airpower, economic sanctions, international moral action, and the politics of unipolarity and has taught international relations at Dartmouth College and air strategy for the U.S. Air Force’s School of Advanced Airpower Studies. He is a contributor to The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, and The Washington Post and has appeared on ABC’s Nightline and World News Tonight, National Public Radio, and other national television and radio programs.

Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project


Mapping the Global Future is the third unclassified report prepared by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in the past seven years that takes a long-term view of the future. The National Intelligence Council, as a center of strategic thinking and over-the-horizon analysis for the US Government, takes this as one of its key challenges.

The Changing Face of Warfare by Max Boot

Acclaimed author and security expert Max Boot explores how innovations in weaponry and tactics have not only transformed how wars are fought and won but also have guided the course of human events, from the formation of the first modern states 500 years ago, to the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the coming of al-Qaeda. His new book, War Made New, is a provocative new vision of the rise of the modern world through the lens of warfare. Boot argues that the past five centuries of history have been marked not by gradual change in how we fight but instead by four revolutions in military technology - and that the nations who have successfully mastered these revolutions have gained the power to redraw the map of the world. His book concludes with an examination of what America must do to survive and prevail in the Information Age.

Road to Innovation, Part Two: Eric Schmidt & Ivan Seidenberg on Charlie Rose

Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg are the featured guests on this second installment of the four-part series, "Road to Innovation". Part two features a lively discussion with Schmidt and Seidenberg about current innovations in technology and the impact they might have in the next few years

A conversation about pre-war intelligence on Charlie Rose

A conversation about pre-war intelligence and former CIA director George Tenet with the former chief of CIA clandestine operations in Europe, Tyler Drumheller, John O. Brennan, former chief of staff to George Tenet, and Scott Shane of the New York Times. He co-wrote the April 27th cover story on George Tenet's new book, "At The Center of the Storm".

Conversations with History: UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies

In these lively and unedited video interviews, distinguished men and women from all over the world talk about their lives and their work. Guests include diplomats, statesmen, and soldiers; economists and political analysts; scientists and historians; writers and foreign correspondents; activists and artists. The interviews span the globe and include discussion of political, economic, military, legal, cultural, and social issues shaping our world. At the heart of each interview is a focus on individuals and ideas that make a difference.

Conversations with History: National Security in an Age of Sacred Terror, with Daniel Benjamin

UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies video: Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Daniel Benjamin, a former counterterrorism official in the Clinton administration, for a discussion of the forces shaping terrorism in an era when the boundaries between religion and politics are blurred. He articulates a strategy for protecting the homeland while addressing the root causes of terrorism in today’s world

Conversations with History: The Pentagon's New Map, with Thomas P.M. Barnett


UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies video: Military Strategist Thomas P.M. Barnett joins Conversations host Harry Kreisler for a discussion of military strategy, the changing role of the U.S. military, and the implication of globalization for world order and military power.

National Defense University lecture

Rethinking the Future Nature of Competition & Conflict Seminar

Blueprint for Action

The Other Side of Outsourcing by Thomas L. Friedman

Discovery Channel Video

Dr. Edward Said: The Myth of 'The Clash of Civilzations' from Media Education Foundation

Media Education Foundation video

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations by David S. Landes

The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is David S. Landes's acclaimed, best-selling exploration of one of the most contentious and hotly debated questions of our time: Why do some nations achieve economic success while others remain mired in poverty? The answer, as Landes definitively illustrates, is a complex interplay of cultural mores and historical circumstance. Rich with anecdotal evidence, piercing analysis, and a truly astonishing range of erudition, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is a "picture of enormous sweep and brilliant insight" (Kenneth Arrow) as well as one of the most audaciously ambitious works of history in decades.

The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World by Peter Schwartz

You can tell you have good scenarios when they are both plausible and surprising; when they have the power to break old stereotypes; and when the makers assume ownership of them and put them to work. Scenario making is intensely participatory, or it fails.

Inevitable Suprises, Presentation at Rethinking the Future Nature of Competition & Conflict Seminar, March 8, 2006