Summer Workshop on Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy
(SWAMOS)

Click here to download 2008 SWAMOS brochure

Email: swamos-info@columbia.edu

Summer Workshop on Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy (SWAMOS)
The Purpose of SWAMOS

SWAMOS familiarizes the next generation of scholars with military policy issues by providing a grasp of terms of reference, techniques of analysis, and illustrative cases. The workshop also aims to foster a network of academics with competence to evaluate military policy choices, support policy-relevant academic research and teaching on strategy, and maintain expertise and resources for informed judgment on military issues within the civilian community.

Topics considered in both historical and contemporary perspective are:

Utility and limitations of force as an instrument for achieving political objectives
Conventional land and air warfare
Approaches to evaluating tactics, operational plans, and strategies
Unconventional warfare
Defense budgeting
Methodological issues and debates about assessment of military effectiveness

Twenty competitively selected participants meet in morning plenary sessions for lectures and discussions. Later, they separate into smaller seminar groups.

Click here for SWAMOS 2007 syllabus

SWAMOS Instructors

The instructors combine experience in academic analysis, the Washington D.C. policy milieu, and the military profession. Directing faculty are Professors Richard Betts (Columbia), Barry Posen ( M.I.T.), and Stephen Biddle (Council on Foreign Relations).

In addition to the directing faculty, visiting lecturers who have come to previous workshops for several days at a time have included: Stephen Rosen (Harvard), Eliot Cohen (SAIS), Colonels Van Belanger, Stephen Kidder, John Nagl, and Kevin Weddle (U.S. Army), Tami Davis Biddle (Army War College), Martha Crenshaw (Wesleyan), Peter Feaver (Duke), Michael Handel (Naval War College), Wade Hinkle (IDA), Jane Holl (Carnegie Commission), Capt. Wayne Hughes (Naval Postgraduate School), Andrew Krepinevich (CSBA), Richard Kugler (RAND), Ben Lambeth (RAND), Susan Marquis (Department of the Navy), Karl Mueller (RAND), Gen. William Nash (Kennedy School of Government), Robert Pape (Chicago), Audrey Kurth Cronin (CRS), Mark Cancian (Department of Defense),Mary Habeck, (SAIS), Daniel Byman (Georgetown), Michael O’Hanlon (Brookings), Kenneth Pollack (CFR), Alex Roland (Duke), Capt. Peter Swartz (CNAC), Barry Watts (Northrop Grumman Analysis Center), and Cindy Williams (MITRE Corporation).



Quotes from Past SWAMOS Participants

“Best academic environment I’ve been in…”

“SWAMOS was simply the best academic experience I have had as a graduate student.”

“This seminar taught me in three weeks what a semester worth of courses has in the past.”

“The program was amazing… [it] opened new horizons for me in terms of research topics and career opportunities.”

“The workshop was in general a smashing success. The opportunity to be exposed to issues of military analysis is truly unique in the scholarly world. The informal discussions in between classes and at night were some of the most useful and intellectually challenging times of the conference.”

“I would have paid money to attend the workshop.”

“… a once in a lifetime experience.”

“The speakers were all good; the dinners with them were an excellent opportunity to discuss professional development with people in a variety of situations.”

“… high learning curve, excellent instruction.”

“The size of the groups was ideal. There were enough people for discussions and there were also plenty of opportunities to talk in class, but also out of class, with the faculty and visitors.”

“I’ve read things I would not otherwise… and I’m glad I did.”

“Scheduling and pace: perfect. By the end of the afternoon sessions, my brain generally hit overload, so it was nice to have afternoon time to ourselves… and to get to know each other well.”

“… an extremely valuable experience (both socially and intellectually) not just in terms of nuts and bolts, but in thinking more broadly about why [to] study this subject.”

“SWAMOS… provides comprehensive learning in theory, analysis, and practice for a highly talented group of participants."

“I cannot imagine learning more about this subject in such a relatively short time.”

“SWAMOS far exceeded my expectations.”

“Anyone who thinks this field is no longer important should come for just one day to SWAMOS.”

For a list of SWAMOS alumni 1997-2007 click here

Eligibility to Participate in SWAMOS

Applicants should be junior faculty or advanced graduate students with some general background in security studies (such as international relations courses) but who have not developed special expertise in military matters. Intent to make a career in strategic studies is NOT a requirement, but willingness to offer courses that include the subject is desired.

Participants will not receive a stipend but will receive all travel and living expenses, and are housed and fed on the Cornell campus. Successful applicants must prepare with advance reading and devote their full time to the workshop during its three-week term.

Past participants have been junior faculty and graduate students from Brandeis, Cambridge (UK), CIDE (Mexico), Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Fletcher, George Washington, Harvard, IUPERJ (Brazil), Johns Hopkins, McGill, Moscow State (Russia), Notre Dame, U.S. Air Force Academy, NYU, Ohio State, Oxford (UK), Penn State, Princeton, Quaid-I-Azam (Pakistan), Stanford, Sciences Po (France), Technion (Israel), Texas A&M, Yale, Wilfrid Laurier (Canada), and UCLA, Calgary (Canada), Chicago, Hull (UK), Illinois, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Southern California, Pennsylvania, Humboldt (Germany), Haifa (Israel) Pretoria (South Africa), London (UK), Texas, Florida, Tours (France), Virginia, Washington, and other institutions.

The Workshop is funded by a private foundation and is a program of Columbia University’s Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, not Cornell University. The Workshop assumes exclusive responsibility for all aspects of program content, scheduling, and procedures.



SWAMOS 2008

The Twelfth SWAMOS will be held July 6 – 25, 2008 at Cornell University, ?Ithaca, New York. If you would like to apply, please reproduce the application form below on your computer and send it (hard copy by regular mail) to:

Professor Richard K. Betts
Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies
Mail Code 3347
Columbia University
420 West 118 St.
New York, NY 10027-7213

Send electronic submissions only in case of absolute emergency. Applicants must also arrange to have a letter of recommendation sent to Professor Betts, to arrive by the same date by:

March 1, 2008

Application Form

1. Name
2. Mailing Address
3. Phone Number
4. E-mail Address
5. Education (schools, degrees, dates)
6. Field of Specialization
7. Current Position
8. Previous Employment
9. Publications
10. Research in Progress
11. Awards or Honors
12. Have you applied to SWAMOS before (what year?)

Answer questions 13-14 in no more than 250 words each.

13. How much do you know about military policy, strategy, operations and history? What literature on the subject (if any) have you explored? Do you have any relevant experience?
14. What are your future plans for research, teaching, or public service? What use might you make of what you would learn in the workshop?

References: (1) Who will send your letter of recommendation? (2) List one other person who can comment on your qualifications and potential if the selection committee wishes to inquire. (Include phone numbers or e-mail for both.)

Committee on Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy

CAMOS is an American Political Science Association (ASPA)-affiliated group. The idea for such a group arose at the SWAMOS reunion in the 2002 APSA meeting. For the last two years, SWAMOS alumni have gathered informally in convention hotel lobbies to renew acquaintances and meet attendees from other year groups. In 2002, however, there was interest in meeting more formally and broadening the network to include other scholars (e.g., alumni of SAIS's Basin Harbor workshop on teaching strategic studies). To this end, a group of 60 SWAMOS and Basin Harbor alums and other scholars submitted a proposal to establish an APSA-affiliated group. In October of 2002, our proposal was accepted. Thus we now hold panels and receptions that are listed on the APSA program. We have been allocated panels for APSA 2003 and 2004 and will host receptions there as well.