Strategic Surprise

The Class of 2006 War Studies Conference is the culminating event of a yearlong MWI Fellowship bringing together both MWI Fellows and subject matter experts to share their findings in a working group format of their scholarship. This year’s War Studies Conference will focus explicitly and exclusively on the theme of “strategic surprise.”

To mitigate the problem of strategic surprise, policymakers must be willing to think creatively and question assumptions. It is important to tackle these problems within the context of today’s political realities, including American security commitments, and strategic foresight of challenges looming over the horizon.

In this conference MWI Fellows and leading experts in from both the scholarly and practitioner communities come together to foster a broad, research and practice informed production of a monograph. The conference will operate as an intimate workshop setting for scholars and practitioners to discuss the research their panel has conducted over the last year. It will be a closed group, with limited invitations, to ensure the conversation remains on topic and focused within the appropriate parameters. At the conclusion of the panel presentations the conference will work the compilation of their panel findings into the monograph.

The Modern War Institute is grateful for the support of West Point’s Class of 2006, whose generous financial contribution makes the War Studies Conference possible.