Military Review

Military Review
Title	Military Review
Discipline	Military studies
Language	English
Publisher	United States Army Combat Studies Institute
Country	United States
Frequency	Bimonthly
History	1920–present

Military Review

Military Review is a professional journal associated with the United States Army that publishes scholarship on strategy, operations, doctrine, and leadership. It serves as a forum for analysis by active-duty officers, civilian scholars, and international practitioners on campaigns, campaigns' lessons, organizational reform, and policy implications. The journal engages debates involving doctrine, doctrine change, civil-military relations, and coalition operations.

History

Founded in the early 20th century, the journal traces antecedents to professional publications circulating among officers during the World War I era and the interwar period, reflecting debates sparked by the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Gallipoli Campaign, and lessons of Pershing's American Expeditionary Forces. During World War II, contributors examined campaigns such as the North African Campaign, Battle of Midway, and the Normandy landings, while Cold War editions discussed tensions involving the Truman Doctrine, Korean War, and nuclear deterrence debates centered on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Post-Cold War issues incorporated analysis of the Gulf War, peacekeeping in the Bosnia and Herzegovina conflict, and counterinsurgency operations in Iraq War and War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). The journal’s institutional lineage intersects with reforms prompted by the Goldwater-Nichols Act and Army doctrinal revisions such as the adoption of unified concepts after the Vietnam War.

Mission and Scope

The publication’s mission emphasizes professional development, doctrinal critique, and dissemination of operational lessons relevant to the Army and partner services such as the United States Navy, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps. Scope areas include grand strategy discussions linked to the National Security Strategy, campaign design analyses referencing the Gulf War (1991), and studies of command and control in contexts like the Operation Desert Storm coalition. Topics routinely cover force modernization tied to programs like the Future Combat Systems initiative, logistics concerns visible in Operation Enduring Freedom, and civil-military interaction in stabilization efforts exemplified by Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Editorial Structure and Contributors

An editorial board comprising uniformed officers, civilian academics, and think-tank analysts oversees peer review and selection; contributors have included scholars affiliated with institutions such as United States Military Academy, United States Army War College, Georgetown University, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University. Guest authors have included officers who served in theaters including Operation Just Cause, planners from Operation Allied Force, and analysts from RAND Corporation and Center for Strategic and International Studies. The editorial process balances practitioner essays, historical case studies on engagements like the Tet Offensive and Battle of Fallujah, and research articles employing archives from repositories such as the National Archives and Records Administration.

Notable Articles and Impact

Seminal articles have debated counterinsurgency tenets, influenced doctrinal revision during the Iraq War counterinsurgency campaigns, and shaped instruction at professional military education institutions such as Command and General Staff College and National Defense University. Published pieces have critiqued operational art in the context of the First Battle of Fallujah, reassessed maneuver concepts relating to the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, and examined coalition interoperability issues highlighted during Operation Enduring Freedom. Impact includes citations in doctrine manuals, references in congressional testimony before committees such as the House Armed Services Committee, and incorporation into curricula at war colleges associated with the NATO Defence College.

Distribution and Access

The journal is distributed to subscribers within the Army, partner services, academic libraries, and defense research centers; print circulation coexists with digital dissemination via institutional servers and repositories tied to the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and the Combat Studies Institute. Libraries at institutions such as the Library of Congress and university systems maintain archival runs, and select back issues are available to researchers through interlibrary loan networks and professional education syllabi at establishments like Air University.

Reception and Criticism

Scholars and practitioners have praised the journal for fostering debate among officers, historians, and policy analysts from organizations including Brookings Institution and Heritage Foundation, while critics have pointed to perceived constraints related to institutional affiliation and freedom of expression in analyses of operations such as Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Debates over editorial independence have paralleled discussions about civil-military relations after events like the Abu Ghraib scandal and inquiries into lessons from the Vietnam War, prompting calls for broader cross-service and multinational perspectives by commentators from Foreign Policy and The Economist.

Category:Military journals