Strategic Studies Institute
United States Army War College
Dr. Don M. Snider
Visiting Research Professor
Email Dr. Don M. Snider
Dr. Don Snider is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at West Point, from which he retired in 2008. He serves now as Senior Fellow in the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic (CAPE) at West Point and as Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College. In his previous military career, Dr. Snider served three combat tours in Vietnam as an infantryman; after battalion command, Dr. Snider served as Chief of Plans for Theater Army in Europe, as Joint Planner for the Army Chief of Staff, as Executive Assistant in the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and on the staff of the National Security Council, the White House. He retired from the Army in 1990. Subsequently, and before joining the Academy’s civilian faculty in 1998, for 3 years he was the Olin Distinguished Professor of National Security Studies at West Point. Dr. Snider’s continuing research examines American civil-military relations, the identities and development of the American Army officer, military professions, and professional military ethics. He was research director and co-editor of The Future of the Army Profession, (2d Ed., McGraw-Hill, 2005), and Forging the Warrior’s Character (2d Ed., McGraw-Hill, 2008). More recent publications include, “Dissent and Strategic Leadership of Military Professions” (Orbis, 2008), The Army’s Professional Military Ethic in an Era of Persistent Conflict (co-author, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 2008) and, co-editor with Suzanne Nielsen, American Civil-Military Relations: The Soldier and the State in the New Era, (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009). Dr. Snider holds master’s degrees in economics and public policy from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Maryland.
SSI books and monographs by Dr. Don M. Snider
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Once Again, the Challenge to the U.S. Army During a Defense Reduction: To Remain a Military Profession
February 08, 2012
Authored by Dr. Don M. Snider.
The exact shape of the recently initiated Department of Defense reductions and the defense strategy that our down-sized land forces are to execute in the future are only now becoming clear. How can the U.S. Army best meet these challenges? -
The Army's Professional Military Ethic in an Era of Persistent Conflict
October 06, 2009
Authored by Dr. Don M. Snider, Major Paul Oh, Major Kevin Toner.
As the character of conflict in the 21st century evolves, the Army’s strength will continue to rest on our values, our ethos, and our people. Our Soldiers and leaders must remain true to these values as they operate in increasingly complex environments where moral-ethical failures can have strategic implications. -
Dissent and Strategic Leadership of the Military Professions
February 19, 2008
Authored by Dr. Don M. Snider.
Were the actions in 2006 by the senior military leaders who participated in the “Revolt of the Generals” justified? Or were there real costs incurred by the military professions they represented, costs that can only be seen when examined in terms of the critical trust relationship that empower such professions? -
Army Professionalism, the Military Ethic, and Officership in the 21st Century
December 01, 1999
Authored by Major John A. Nagl, Colonel Tony Pfaff, Dr. Don M. Snider.
The authors first describe the ethical, technical, and political components of military professionalism and then address the causes for the decline. They conclude by proposing a set of principles which, if adhered to, will reinvigorate the vision of the officer corps and motivate the corps to selfless service. -
The National Security Strategy: Documenting Strategic Vision Second Edition
March 01, 1995
Authored by Dr. Don M. Snider.
The Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act requires the President to submit an annual report on the National Security Strategy. In theory, a formal presentation of grand strategy was intended to lend coherence to the budgeting process; a clear statement of interests, objectives, and concepts for achieving them gave Congress a clear idea of the resources required to support the President's strategy. -
Strategy, Forces and Budgets: Dominant Influences in Executive Decision Making, Post-Cold War, 1989-91
February 01, 1993
Authored by Dr. Don M. Snider.
The monograph illuminates the critical series of events that resulted in the development of the National Military Strategy of the United States and the "base force."
SSI articles, editorial, and briefs by Dr. Don M. Snider
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The Moral Corrosion within Our Military Professions
November 27, 2012
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The Army's Ethic Suffers under its Retired Generals
January 13, 2009
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Intrepidity . . . And Character Development within the Army Profession
January 04, 2008