Research - Benconnable Com

Selected Research Reports

These are formal research reports I have either co-written with colleagues or sole authored. Reports are arranged by general topic. Clicking on "read more" will link you to a PDF of the report.

Middle East

Reports on regional conflict, refugees, sectarianism, and strategy

Yemen Steering Initiative (as of 2024)

Comprehensive long-term plan to help Yemen transition from violence and instability to enduring development

Iraq Track II Report (2022)

Atlantic Council recommendations for the Government of Iraq

American Commitment in Iraq (2020)

An enduring, small-footprint approach focused on developing the Iraqi Army

Weighing Withdrawal from Iraq (2020)

Analyzing the strategic risks and options for withdrawal from Iraq after the 2020 Iran crisis

Sectarianism in the Middle East (2018)

Chapter 3 on sectarianism in Iraq: historical perspective and analysis of current conflict

Beating the Islamic State (2017)

Strategic options for beating the Islamic state, focusing on root cause issues in Iraq & Syria

Task Force on the Future of Iraq (2017)

Report of the Atlantic Council Task Force on the Future of Iraq, member and contributing author

Impact of Syrian Refugees in Jordan (2015)

Syrian refugees can help improve Jordan's economy if donor obligations are met

Ending the U.S. War in Iraq (2013)

How the United States drew down its military forces in Iraq from 2010 through 2012

Human Behavior in Conflict

Reports on the various influences on human behavior in conflict

How to Assess the Will to Fight (2023)

This is an institutional roadmap for organizations seeking to build a will-to-fight assessment program

Digital Twin for Military Simulation (2022)

Improve military simulation through the use of biopsychosocial modeling and the use of digital twins

Iraqi Army Will to Fight (2022)

Analysis of the Iraqi Army's historical struggle with the will to fight, with recommendations for security force assistance

Structuring Cultural Analysis (2022)

Applying the will-to-fight model to help understand and explain military and national culture

Failure of Afghan Will to Fight (2021)

Assessment of the failure of Afghan security force will to fight and of Taliban will to fight

Human Behavior Representation in Sim I/ITSEC (2019)

Using the RAND will-to-fight model to create a human behavioral module in simulation

Will to Fight Summary (2019)

This is a short graphics-heavy summary of our two main will-to-fight reports

Will to Fight (2018)

Defining, describing, modeling, gaming, and simulating will to fight for advisors & analysts

National Will to Fight (2018)

Defining and providing case analyses of national-level will to fight: 20th &21st Centuries

Marine Corps Adaptability (2016)

My doctoral thesis on the culture of adaptability in the U.S. Marine Corps

Russia

Reports on Russian strategy, military capabilities, and competition

The Battle of Irpin River (2024)

Battle study of the Ukrainian defense of northwest Kyiv along the Irpin River in February-March 2022

Russia's Hostile Measures (2020)

Analysis of Russia's approach to competition with five modern, process mapped cases

Russia's Limit of Advance (2020)

Analysis of the limits of Russian ground combat power and deployment capabilities

Exploiting War Thresholds
(2016)

Russia, China, and Iran stretching and exploiting thresholds for war

Conflict Aid and Development

Reports on the intersection between aid and civil-military campaigns

Assessing Relative Influence (2022)

A new method for assessing relative influence in conflict areas

Cabo Delgado Mozambique Meta-Analysis (2021)

Summary of the situation and annotated citation for policymakers and analysts

Afghanistan CERP Aid Program (2016)

Assessing the Commanders Emergency Response Program (CERP) in Afghanistan

Leveraging Aid in Irregular Warfare (2013)

Examining five theories of aid use in irregular warfare campaigns

Irregular Warfare, Intel, & Assessment

Reports on irregular warfare, operations assessment, and intelligence methodology

Assessment in Complex Ops: Lit Review (2019)

Literature review and annotated bibliography chapter on NATO assessment methods for SAS 110

Redesigning Irregular War Strategy (2016)

Approach to improve strategic design for irregular civil-military campaigns

Modeling and Sim Iraq and Afghanistan (2014)

Assessment of M&S in two irregular warfare campaigns: successes and failures

Learning from Vietnam War Assessment (2013)

A report for NATO based on my work for the alliance's operations assessment community

Embracing the Fog of War (2012)

Examination of assessment concepts and methods in counterinsurgency

Assessing Freedom of Movement (2012)

Understanding and assessing freedom of movement in Afghanistan and in COIN

Irregular Warfare Intel Fusion (2012)

Argument to improve holistic intelligence analysis to fix our post-9/11 killing-focused process

How Insurgencies End (2010)

Analysis of 89 insurgency cases explaining how and why insurgencies tend to end