Open research questions in Military History and Strategy
181 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,840 Military History and Strategy papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.
What the literature leaves open
The challenge of preparing the Dutch army for modern war. The difficulty of analyzing the implications of modern war for a small power like the Netherlands. The need to balance the role of technology and human factors in modern warfare.
Further analysis of the role of tanks and aircraft in modern warfare. Investigation of the effectiveness of different military strategies in contemporary conflicts.
The study aims to fill a gap in the understanding of the CT-43A airplane crash, by providing a comprehensive analysis of the diplomatic purpose of the mission, the circumstances of the accident, and the Croatian institutional response.
Three decades after the CT-43 airplane crash near Dubrovnik in 1996: forensic reconstruction, diplomatic memory, and Croatian–American collaboration · 2026 · DOIFuture research should investigate the impact of transformational leadership on personnel policy in the defence sector. Future research should explore the role of leadership in shaping high-performance personnel policy in the defence sector.
Public management of the defence sector: The role of the leader in the formation of personnel policy · 2026 · DOIThe study identifies a gap in the current understanding of the role of leaders in defining human resources policy within the defence sector. The study highlights the need for more research on the importance of leadership competencies in the defence sector.
Public management of the defence sector: The role of the leader in the formation of personnel policy · 2026 · DOIThe study identifies a gap in the understanding of socio-structural disparities between the military and society. The research aims to address this gap by exploring potential misalignments between the military and the broader populace.
Future research should focus on developing and testing the concept for using preparatory activities associated with branch plans to induce the adversary to make unfavorable decisions. The study suggests that the concept of agonistics, as described by Tadeusza Kotarbińskiego, could be used to inform the development of a concept for using preparatory activities associated with branch plans.
The study identifies a gap in the existing literature on the use of deception in military operations, highlighting the need for a concept that can be used to induce the adversary to make unfavorable decisions. The research problem was formulated as the question: How can an opponent be induced to adopt an incorrect force disposition that will hinder further tactical operations?
The literature reveals a gap in understanding how military leadership experience relates to successful administration in higher education. The study addresses the lack of research on the value of military leadership experience in higher education.
The complex and dynamic nature of leadership in the armed forces. The need to identify effective leaders and develop their skills. The challenge of selecting and developing commanders who can adapt to different contexts.
Leadership and personality characteristics in the armed forces: a comparison of three levels of managerial experience · 2026 · DOIFuture research should investigate the longitudinal development of personality characteristics across career stages. The study suggests exploring the relationships between personality characteristics and leadership outcomes in different contexts.
Leadership and personality characteristics in the armed forces: a comparison of three levels of managerial experience · 2026 · DOIThe paper identifies a gap in understanding how to turn adversity into opportunity in a military context. The paper highlights the importance of leadership in the military.
The study of military history in East and South-East Asia is complicated by the lack of written evidence in some societies. The field of military history in South-East Asia is thinly populated and features an eclectic mix of scholars.
The understanding of the harquebus' impact on non-European warfare is limited. There is a lack of research on the early use of gunpowder weapons by Korean armies.
This article advances the understudied thread of military effectiveness in American civil–military relations by testing the acumen of each side's judgment in 44 use of force decisions since the Second World War.
This article thus fills a gap in the literature on resistance to militarism by investigating a series of anti‐ JROTC campaigns in the city of Baltimore, beginning in 1979.
“The New Beachhead Is in Secondary Education”: Campaigns Against Junior ROTC in Baltimore · 2017 · DOIThe article concludes that the revisionists are correct in their belief that Asian societies were undergoing rapid changes in military technology and practices along the lines of those taking place in western Europe and that the standard model Bryant defends is incorrect because it presumes that Asian societies are more stagnant than is warranted by the evidence.
An Accelerating Divergence? The Revisionist Model of World History and the Question of Eurasian Military Parity: Data from East Asia · 2010 · DOIThe limited literature on this topic has fuelled a popular orthodoxy which holds that the UK intelligence effort and policies to recruit German defence scientists were classic examples of the ‘British disease’, or a more general inability to exploit a technological opportunity that was harnessed so effectively by the other victorious Allies.
Further analysis of the concept of an aerial Todesstoss (death blow). Examination of the impact of the U.S. strategic bombing policy on future conflicts.
The gap between the claimed ethical superiority of AAF strategic bombing and the actual policies and practices. The lack of analysis of the concept of an aerial Todesstoss (death blow).
The industrial relations literature has paid little attention to military employment. There is a need to examine the development of military industrial relations in Australia.
The proliferation of fraternal organizations and other informal groups within the AFP. The rivalry between officers of the line and officers of the school. The lack of adequate supplies and equipment for troops in the field.
The lack of understanding of the causes of factionalism within the AFP. The need to address the serious discipline and morale problem among troops in the field.
The paper identifies a gap in understanding Haig's command style and its influence on the British Expeditionary Force. The study highlights the need to evaluate the operational efficiency of Haig and GHQ.
Further research could explore the implications of Moltke's ideas on modern strategic thinking. The development of military policy in response to the transition to people's war could be analyzed.
Most-cited papers in Military History and Strategy
- Cohesion and Disintegration in the Wehrmacht in World War II · Public Opinion Quarterly · 1948 · 437 citations
- `Being Regimented': Aspiration, Discipline and Identity Work in the British Parachute Regiment · Organization Studies · 2009 · 306 citations
- War and Peace: The Evolution of Modern Personnel Administration in U.S. Industry · American Journal of Sociology · 1986 · 291 citations
- Military times and turning points in men's lives. · Developmental Psychology · 1986 · 273 citations
- The Garrison State · American Journal of Sociology · 1941 · 261 citations
- The Essence of Military Group Cohesion · Armed Forces & Society · 2006 · 205 citations
- The Civil-Military Problematique: Huntington, Janowitz, and the Question of Civilian Control · Armed Forces & Society · 1996 · 197 citations
- The Military in the Political Development of New Nations · Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists · 1964 · 161 citations
- Transition From the Military Into Civilian Life · Armed Forces & Society · 2016 · 142 citations
- Military Culture: Change and Continuity · Armed Forces & Society · 1994 · 136 citations
Most recent work
- Strategic saints and sinners: the moral economy of war and the power of narrative · International Affairs · 2026
- On Rebooting An Army: Part II/II · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026
- The Distributed Mind: Why the U.S. Military Must Empower the Enlisted Strategist · Figshare · 2026
- Michael Calmeyer: A Dutch Infantry Officer Contemplates Modern War, 1935–1940 · Eesti Sõjaajaloo Aastaraamat / Estonian Yearbook of Military History · 2026
- The leadership role and collective action of Malayan Chinese in the Nanyang Volunteer Mechanics Organization (1937–1945) · Asian and Pacific migration journal · 2026
- Three decades after the CT-43 airplane crash near Dubrovnik in 1996: forensic reconstruction, diplomatic memory, and Croatian–American collaboration · ST-OPEN · 2026
- South African military strategy at the turn of the millennium · Defense and Security Analysis · 2026
- Comparative Analysis of the Decision-Making Process in the Bulgarian People’s Army and Yugoslav People’s Army During the Second Half of the Twentieth Century · Bulgarian Historical Review · 2026
- Public management of the defence sector: The role of the leader in the formation of personnel policy · Democratic governance · 2026
- Societal-Military (Mis)Alignments in Slovenia: A Socio-Structural Inquiry · CONTEMPORARY MILITARY CHALLENGES · 2026
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