Naval War College Reading Room: Current List

Lecture Recommendation: June 24, 2025

The Center for Irregular Warfare and Armed Group's (CIWAG) held a Symposium "Shadows & Sabotage" that took place, 23-25 June 2025. This article was mentioned during a lecture.

Diluting federal support for critical minerals across arbitrary commodities like coal weakens the U.S.’s ability to stabilize critical mineral supply chains.

Lecture Recommendation: June 24, 2025

The Center for Irregular Warfare and Armed Group's (CIWAG) held a Symposium "Shadows & Sabotage" that took place, 23-25 June 2025. This book was recommended for further reading and knowledge on the topics being discussed.

In Sentinels of the Sea, intelligence veteran George Guy Thomas, author of A Silent Warrior Steps Out of the Shadows, presents the inside story of his struggles in his post-9/11 crusade for security on the seas, which led him to conceive and implement Satellite Automatic Identification System ship tracking and a concept he calls C-SIGMA (Collaboration in Space for International Global Maritime Awareness). But Thomas, a quadruple qualified (surface, air, submarine, space) retired Navy commander, warns that American ports remain vulnerable as he presses for global cooperation in patrolling the seas from space for safety and security.Thomas is nominated for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation's highest honor for technological achievement, "for overcoming severe obstacles and dramatically changing the maritime world by lifting the veil of opaqueness enshrouding the seas."

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

You can follow the link and use your USNWC Blackboard credentials to request a copy of this book via Interlibrary Loan.

In this book, a leading authority on India's nuclear program offers an informed and thoughtful assessment of India's nuclear strategy. He shows that the country's nuclear-strategic culture is generally in accord with the principle of minimum deterrence, but is sometimes inconsistent and has a tendency to drift into a more open-ended process. He addresses areas of concern, notably the relationship between minimum deterrence and subnuclear conflict, the threat from nuclear terrorism, and the special challenges nuclear weapons pose for a democratic society.

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

Using the link provided, you can access the book using your USNWC CAC or Blackboard credentials.

 A groundbreaking account of Pakistan's rise as a nuclear power draws on elite interviews and primary sources to challenge long-held misconceptions Pakistan's pathway to developing nuclear weapons remains shrouded in mystery and surrounded by misconceptions. While it is no secret why Pakistan became a nuclear power, how Pakistan became a nuclear state has been obscured by mythmaking. In Pakistan's Pathway to the Bomb, Mansoor Ahmed offers a revisionist history of Pakistan's nuclear program and the bureaucratic politics that shaped its development from its inception in 1956 until the 1998 nuclear tests. Drawing on elite interviews and previously untapped primary sources, Ahmed offers a fresh assessment of the actual and perceived roles and contributions of the scientists and engineers who led the nuclear program. He shows how personal ambitions and politics within Pakistan's strategic enclave generated inter-laboratory competition in the nuclear establishment, which determined nuclear choices for the country for more than two decades. It also produced unexpected consequences such as illicit proliferation to other countries largely outside of the Pakistani state's control. As Pakistan's nuclear deterrent program continues to grow, Pakistan's Pathway to the Bomb provides fresh insights into how this nuclear power has evolved in the past and where it stands today. Scholars and students of security studies, Pakistani history, and nuclear proliferation will find this book to be invaluable to their understanding of the country's nuclear program, policies, and posture.

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

Using the link provided you can request a copy of this book via Interlibrary Loan using your USNWC CAC or Blackboard credentials.

This book is a history of the evolution of Pakistan's nuclear weapons management system, including its nuclear doctrine and the measures in place to secure and safeguard them. This work highlights the elements that went into the formulation of Pakistan's nuclear policy. The book's great significance lies in the fact that it tackles the little known subject of nuclear learning most comprehensively in all its dimensions. With great clarity and balance, the author clearly highlights the discernible aspects of Pakistan's learning experience and establishes beyond doubt that Pakistan has learnt from crises events and has evolved into a responsible nuclear weapons state with effective command, control, and custodial arrangements in place.

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

Using the link provided you can request a copy of this book via Interlibrary Loan using your USNWC CAC or Blackboard credentials.

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

Using the link provided you can request a copy of this book via Interlibrary Loan using your USNWC CAC or Blackboard credentials.


The significance of this study is that it establishes the fallacy of conventional perspectives on Indian nuclear deterrence-that the Indian nuclear programme entailed 'exclusively peaceful uses' during the Nehru era and the development of weapons capability was initiated by the government of Lal Bahadur Shastri after the first Chinese nuclear explosion in 1964. On the contrary, it provides incontrovertible documentary evidence that Dr Homi J. Bhabha formulated with Nehru's approval a nuclear weapons development strategy within the structural framework of the Indian civilian nuclear programme. Nehru was interested in a nuclear weapons capability for a 'deterrent in extremis'. The central premise of the study is that BJP government's decision to carry out the May 1998 nuclear tests was not an original one, but a step prefigured in a strategic continuum whose genesis dates back to the late 1950s. It suggests that the declaration of Indian nuclear deterrence after the May 1998 nuclear tests, the weaponization of Indian nuclear capability and the pronouncement of the Draft Nuclear Doctrine (DND) were not separate from earlier policies, but instead were part of that strategic continuum. The study analyses the dynamics of Indian nuclear deterrence, Indian nuclear doctrine and their implications for South Asian security. It is the first time that mostly primary archival, and documentary research material from diverse sources has been explored to write a book on this topic. It is more comprehensive than any other book on this subject in terms both of its timeframe (1947 until now) and of the issues covered-the evolution, development, dynamics and implications of Indian nuclear deterrence for South Asian Security. It is also the first book on the topic written from a Pakistani perspective.

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

Using the link provided you can access an electronic copy using your USNWC CAC or Blackboard credentials. Only three users allowed concurrently.

India's nuclear profile, doctrine, and practices have evolved rapidly since the country's nuclear breakout in 1998. However, the outside world's understanding of India's doctrinal debates, forward-looking strategy, and technical developments are still two decades behind the present. India and Nuclear Asia will fill that gap in our knowledge by focusing on the post-1998 evolution of Indian nuclear thought, its arsenal, the triangular rivalry with Pakistan and China, and New Delhi's nonproliferation policy approaches. Yogesh Joshi and Frank O'Donnell show how India's nuclear trajectory has evolved in response to domestic, regional, and global drivers.

The authors argue that emerging trends in all three states are elevating risks of regional inadvertent and accidental escalation. These include the forthcoming launch of naval nuclear forces within an environment of contested maritime boundaries; the growing employment of dual-use delivery vehicles; and the emerging preferences of all three states to employ missiles early in a conflict. These dangers are amplified by the near-absence of substantive nuclear dialogue between these states, and the growing ambiguity of regional strategic intentions.

Based on primary-source research and interviews, this book will be important reading for scholars and students of nuclear deterrence and India's international relations, as well as for military, defense contractor, and policy audiences both within and outside South Asia.

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

Using the link provided you can access an electronic copy or request a physical copy of this book via Interlibrary Loan using your USNWC CAC or Blackboard credentials.

In May 1998, India shocked the world--and many of its own citizens--by detonating five nuclear weapons in the Rajasthan desert. Why did India bid for nuclear weapon status at a time when 149 nations had signed a ban on nuclear testing? What drove India's new Hindu nationalist government to depart from decades of nuclear restraint, a control that no other nation with similar capacities had displayed? How has U.S. nonproliferation policy affected India's decision making? India's Nuclear Bomb is the definitive, comprehensive history of how the world's largest democracy, has grappled with the twin desires to have and to renounce the bomb. Each chapter contains significant historical revelations drawn from scores of interviews with India's key scientists, military leaders, diplomats and politicians, and from declassified U.S. government documents and interviews with U.S. officials. Perkovich teases out the cultural and ethical concerns and vestiges of colonialism that underlie India's seemingly paradoxical stance. India's nuclear history challenges leading theories of why nations pursue and hang onto nuclear weapons, raising important questions for international relations theory and security studies. So, too, the blasts in Rajasthan have shaken the foundations of the international nonproliferation system. With the end of the Cold War and an even more chaotic international scene, Perkovich's analysis of an alternative model is timely, sobering, and vital.

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

Using the link provided you can request a copy of this book via Interlibrary Loan using your USNWC CAC or Blackboard credentials.

The Security Imperative: Pakistan's Nuclear Deterrence and Diplomacy by Zamir Akram Explore the intricate world of nuclear strategy, deterrence, and diplomacy in Pakistan's security paradigm with this authoritative analysis by Zamir Akram, a seasoned diplomat and expert on international relations. This book delves into Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine, its regional security challenges, and the evolving geopolitical landscape. It offers first-hand insights into Pakistan’s nuclear policy, strategic stability in South Asia, and diplomatic efforts to balance deterrence with global non-proliferation norms.

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

Using the link provided you can access an e-book, or request a physical copy via Interlibrary Loan using your USNWC CAC or Blackboard credentials.

After a hiatus of almost 24 years, India startled the international community by resuming nuclear testing in May 1998. Pakistan responded later the same month with five nuclear tests of its own. The belief that the nuclear tests in South Asia have not only altered the strategic environment in the region but also transformed New Delhi into a nuclear weapons power recurs constantly in Indian strategic and political analyses. This book will address these issues in the context of a broader understanding of India's strategic interests, its institutional structures, and its security goals. The author argues that the truth of the matter is much more complex than most Indian analysts believe and that despite demonstrating and ability to successfully undertake nuclear explosions, India still has some way to go before it can acquire the capabilties that would make it a consequential nuclear power. Copyright © Libri GmbH

Lecture Recommendation: June 16, 2025

The history of Pakistan's nuclear program is the history of Pakistan. Fascinated with the new nuclear science, the young nation's leaders launched a nuclear energy program in 1956 and consciously interwove nuclear developments into the broader narrative of Pakistani nationalism. Then, impelled first by the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan Wars, and more urgently by India's first nuclear weapon test in 1974, Pakistani senior officials tapped into the country's pool of young nuclear scientists and engineers and molded them into a motivated cadre committed to building the 'ultimate weapon.' The tenacity of this group and the central place of its mission in Pakistan's national identity allowed the program to outlast the perennial political crises of the next 20 years, culminating in the test of a nuclear device in 1998. Written by a 30-year professional in the Pakistani Army who played a senior role formulating and advocating Pakistan's security policy on nuclear and conventional arms control, this book tells the compelling story of how and why Pakistan's government, scientists, and military, persevered in the face of a wide array of obstacles to acquire nuclear weapons. It lays out the conditions that sparked the shift from a peaceful quest to acquire nuclear energy into a full-fledged weapons program, details how the nuclear program was organized, reveals the role played by outside powers in nuclear decisions, and explains how Pakistani scientists overcome the many technical hurdles they encountered. Thanks to General Khan's unique insider perspective, it unveils and unravels the fascinating and turbulent interplay of personalities and organizations that took place and reveals how international opposition to the program only made it an even more significant issue of national resolve. Listen to a podcast of a related presentation by Feroz Khan at the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation at cisac.stanford.edu/events/recording/7458/2/765.

This book introduces a much-needed theory of tactical air power to explain air power effectiveness in modern warfare with a particular focus on the Vietnam War as the first and largest modern air war. Phil Haun shows how in the Rolling Thunder, Commando Hunt, and Linebacker air campaigns, independently air power repeatedly failed to achieve US military and political objectives. In contrast, air forces in combined arms operations succeeded more often than not. In addition to predicting how armies will react to a lethal air threat, he identifies operational factors of air superiority, air-to-ground capabilities, and friendly ground force capabilities, along with environmental factors of weather, lighting, geography and terrain, and cover and concealment in order to explain air power effectiveness. The book concludes with analysis of modern air warfare since Vietnam along with an assessment of tactical air power relevance now and for the future.

In this book, Michael Glynn explores a journey through the history of more than one hundred years of aerial sub hunting. From the Great War, through the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II and on to the secret confrontations of the Cold War, the reader will witness the parallel evolution of both aircraft and submarine as each side tries to gain supremacy over the other. In so doing, Glynn distills complicated oceanography, operations analysis, and technical theory into easily digested concepts, helping the reader understand how complex weapons and sensors function. By reviewing the steps of a submarine hunting flight, the reader can quickly understand how theory and practice fit together and how aviators set to achieve their goal of detecting their submarine targets. Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare is a thrilling read for those seeking a glimpse into an arcane and high-stakes world.

U.S. flag officers are intended to be exemplary defenders of duty, honor, and country--but what can we learn by exposing the bad leaders lurking within these venerable ranks? There is an ugly strain of criminal and unethical leadership in the upper ranks of the American military. Despite the exemplary service of most American military members, a persistent minority of U.S. flag officers (Navy admirals and Army, Air Force, and Marine generals) have embroiled the profession in scandal since the Revolutionary War. In Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks, award-winning author Jeffrey J. Matthews examines bad leadership in American military history over the past one hundred years, beginning with war crimes in the Philippine-American War and ending with the recent Fat Leonard corruption scandal. Scrutinizing a range of leadership failures, including moral cowardice, sex crimes, insubordination, toxic leadership, and obstruction of justice, Matthews offers a fascinating analysis of the bases and motives leading to these missteps and explores what could be done to curtail future misconduct of generals and admirals. The book also includes an up-to-date examination of President Trump's term in office that highlights the vital role honorable military leadership plays in our democracy. Confronting the dark side of criminal and unethical conduct among U.S. flag officers, this frank and historically grounded book offers valuable lessons in leadership that will stimulate further debate and critical self-assessment within the U.S. military..

"Letters of marque" might suggest privateers of the Elizabethan era or the American Revolution. But such conventions are duly covered in the US Constitution, and the private military instruments they sanction are very much at work today in the form of mercenaries and military contractors. A history of such practices up to the present day, Marque and Reprisal by Kenneth B. Moss offers unique insight into the role of private actors in military conflicts and the reason they are increasingly deployed in our day. Along with an overview of mercenaries and privateers, Marque and Reprisal provides a comprehensive history of the "marque and reprisal" clause in the US Constitution, reminding us that it is not as arcane as it seems and arguing that it is not a license for all forms of undeclared war. Within this historical context Moss explains why governments and states have sought control over warfare and actors--and why private actors have reappeared in force in recent conflicts. He also looks ahead to the likelihood that cyberwar will become an important venue for "private warfare." Moss wonders if international law will be up to the challenges of private military actors in the digital realm. Is international law, in fact, equipped to meet the challenges increasingly presented in our day by such extramilitary activity? A government makes no more serious decision than whether to resort to military force and war; and when doing so, Moss suggests, it should ensure that such actions are accountable, not on the sly, and not decided in the marketplace. Marque and Reprisal should inform future deliberations and decisions on that count.

A New Force at Sea tells the story of one of the most important officers in the U.S. Navy between the Civil War and World War II. Born in Montpelier, Vermont, George Dewey attended the still relatively new U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1858. He served with distinction in the Civil War in the Union Navy, saw a significant amount of action in the Mississippi River and along the Atlantic coast, and was singled out for his leadership and bravery by his superior officers. In the wake of the war, Dewey remained in the Navy as an officer, but the American people were generally uninterested in any role their nation could play in the broader world and the Navy languished. Dewey however, refined his perception of what American global naval strategy could be.    By the time the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Dewey commanded a squadron of ships on the far side of the Pacific. His victory in the Battle of Manila Bay instantly made him the most famous American military figure after Ulysses S. Grant.   The degree to which Dewey bore responsibility for embroiling the United States in what came to be known as the Philippine Insurrection was overlooked by an American public that eagerly named children for him, composed songs in his honor, and competed to stage the most extravagant civic celebrations of the quiet naval officer from Vermont. It was a public role for which he was ill-suited.  Such was Dewey's celebrity that he when he returned to the United States he was instantly spoken of as a serious candidate for the Presidency in 1900. After an abortive and half-hearted candidacy that damaged his public reputation, Congress raised his rank to the newly created "Admiral of the Navy," the rank he would hold for the rest of his life. He became the embodiment of Theodore Roosevelt's "big stick" attitude and the national symbol for American naval power. He served as the chairman of the new General Board of the United States Navy, created in 1900 as the first body to address questions of strategy and operational readiness.    Dewey had a profound understanding that his career bridged two seminal periods in American naval history, and clearly understood the repercussions of his victory at Manila. He died in Washington in January 1917, shortly before the United States entered World War I fighting against Germany as he had foretold years earlier. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery but shortly after reinterred at the Washington National Cathedral, the only U.S. military officer to have such an honor.

This book is the latest contribution to a unique series in a common format documenting in great detail the warships of the major naval powers during the age of sail. To date, four volumes have covered the British Navy, two have been devoted to the French Navy and one each to the Dutch and Russian Navies. This volume on the Spanish Navy, for much of its history the third largest in the world, fills the final gap in the ranks of the major maritime powers. This book is the first comprehensive listing of these ships in English and covers the development of all the naval vessels owned or deployed by Spain during the period of the Bourbon monarchy from 1700 to 1860 (including the period of French control during the Napoleonic Wars), but it also sets the scene for that period by summarizing the origins of Spanish naval development under the preceding Habsburg regime. As with previous volumes in the series, the main chapters list all the naval vessels from 1700 onwards (including those 16th century ships which survived into the new regime in 1700) by type, with the first chapters listing the ships of the line (navíos in Spanish terminology) and frigates in descending order of firepower, and subsequent chapters covering minor and ancillary vessels. Where available, a brief service history of each individual ship is given. A comprehensive introductory section includes a group of background essays designed to provide the reader with a deep understanding of how Spanish naval forces operated, and the context within which they were organized. Certain to become the standard English-language reference work, its publication is of the utmost importance to every naval historian and general reader interested in the navies of the sailing era.