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Prism Vol. 7, No. 1, Center For Complex Operations

PRISM (Full PDF Issues)

No abstract provided.

A Short History Of Biological Warfare: From Pre-History To The 21st Century, W. Seth Carus

WMD Occasional Papers

This short monograph reviews the history of biological warfare (BW) from prehistory to the present. It covers what we know about the practice of BW and briefly describes the programs that developed BW weapons based on the best available research. To the extent possible, it primarily draws on the work of historians who used primary sources, relying where possible on studies specifically focused on BW. By broadening our knowledge of BW, such studies have enabled us to write about the topic with more accuracy and detail than could have been done even a few years ago.

Joint Force Quarterly 86 (3rd Quarter, July 2017), National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly ARCHIVES

No abstract provided.

Putin’S Syrian Gambit: Sharper Elbows, Bigger Footprint, Stickier Wicket, John W. Parker

INSS Strategic Perspectives

Thanks in large part to Russia’s military intervention, Syrian president Bashar al-Asad’s fortunes have made a remarkable recovery since May/June 2015. Russia, together with the Lebanese Hizballah, Iran, and Iranian-organized Shia militias from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere, has succeeded in averting Asad’s military defeat. What Russian president Vladimir Putin has accomplished in Syria is important for American national security interests and policy in the region because it frames some of the hard choices Washington must now make.

Shifting Human Environment: How Trends In Human Geography Will Shape Future Military Operations, Paul T. Bartone, Mitchell Armbruster

Defense and Technology Papers

In January 2014 the Center for Technology and National Security Policy was asked to examine some major trends within the domain of human geography, developments that will have important influence on the type of environments future military forces will be operating in. Experts were identified to address the following key topics:

• Population, migration and the development of megacities
• Technology change and education
• Ideological and cultural factors in conflict
• Irregular and hybrid threats
• Growth of transnational crime organizations and activities

One goal of this effort was to provide useful information to DoD policy makers engaged in future force planning and “futures …

Peril And Promise: Emerging Technologies And Wmd, Natasha E. Bajema, Diane Dieuliis

Research and Case Studies

Emerging technologies are transforming life, industry, and the global economy in positive ways, but they also have significant potential for subversion by states and nonstate actors. National security experts, lawmakers, and policymakers have become increasingly concerned about the interactions among a number of emerging technologies that could alter and increase the threats from weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Many emerging technologies have an indirect impact on the WMD space, but only a handful are likely to have direct enabling effects for state and nonstate actors seeking WMD. Such technologies are expected to have serious effects on both the nature of …

Prism Vol. 6, No. 4, Center For Complex Operations

PRISM (Full PDF Issues)

No abstract provided.

Joint Force Quarterly 85 (2nd Quarter, April 2017), National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly ARCHIVES

No abstract provided.

India-Japan Strategic Cooperation And Implications For U.S. Strategy In The Indo-Asia-Pacific Region, Thomas F. Lynch Iii, James J. Przystup

INSS Strategic Perspectives

The emerging strategic relationship between India and Japan is significant for the future security and stability of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. It is also a critical emergent relationship for U.S. security objectives across the Asia-Pacific. India possesses the most latent economic and military potential of any state in the wider Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, India is the state with the greatest potential outside of the United States itself to contribute to the objectives of the “Rebalance to the Pacific” announced by Washington in 2011. This “rebalance” was aimed at fostering a stable, prosperous, and rules-based region where peace, prosperity, and wide respect …

Chinese Military Reforms In The Age Of Xi Jinping: Drivers, Challenges, And Implications, Joel Wuthnow, Phillip C. Saunders

China Strategic Perspectives

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has embarked on its most wide-ranging and ambitious restructuring since 1949, including major changes to most of its key organizations.

• The general departments were disbanded, new Central Military Commission (CMC) departments created, and a new ground force headquarters established.
• Seven military regions were restructured into five theater commands aligned against regional threats. Commanders will be able to develop joint force packages from army, navy, air force, and conventional missile units within their theaters.
• PLA service headquarters are transitioning to an exclusive focus on “organize, train, and equip” missions and will no longer have a primary …

Joint Force Quarterly 84 (1st Quarter, January 2017), National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly ARCHIVES

No abstract provided.

The Armed Forces Officer, Richard M. Swain, Albert C. Pierce

Books and Book Chapters

In 1950 when he commissioned the first edition of The Armed Forces Officer, Secretary of Defense George C. Marshall told its author, S.L.A. Marshall, “that American military officers, of whatever service, should share common ground ethically and morally.”

Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Challenges For The New Administration, John P. Caves , Jr.

WMD Proceedings

The 2015 National Security Strategy identifies the proliferation and/or use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) among the top strategic risks to the Nation’s interests. This paper examines four pressing WMD challenges for the next U.S. administration. First, the prospects of a direct clash between the United States and a nuclear-armed adversary that could escalate to the nuclear level are likely to grow. Russia in particular has become more assertive in challenging U.S. interests and has developed concepts for the limited use of nuclear weapons in a conflict with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Second, the scope of North …

China’S Future Ssbn Command And Control Structure, David C. Logan

Strategic Forums

China’s ongoing modernization program is transforming the country’s nuclear arsenal from one consisting of a few liquid-fueled, silo-based missiles carrying single warheads to a larger force of more advanced mobile solid-fueled missiles, some of which are capable of carrying multiple warheads. Perhaps most significant for its nuclear policies, China is also on the verge of fielding its first credible sea-based nuclear deterrent, having already completed four nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and with a fifth vessel currently under construction.

Joint Force Quarterly 83 (4th Quarter, October 2016), National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly ARCHIVES

No abstract provided.

Fifty Shades Of Friction Combat Climate, B-52 Crews, And The Vietnam War, Mark Clodfelter

NDU Case Studies

“Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty, and chance,” wrote Prussian military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz in his seminal On War. He observed that collectively, those four elements comprised the notion of friction, which he defined as “the only concept that more or less corresponds to the factors that distinguish real war from war on paper.” Friction has disrupted the implementation of war plans since the dawn of civilization, and despite efforts to minimize its effects, it will continue to do so.

Fifty Shades Of Friction Combat Climate, B-52 Crews, And The Vietnam War, Mark Clodfelter

NWC Case Studies

“Four elements make up the climate of war: danger, exertion, uncertainty, and chance,” wrote Prussian military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz in his seminal On War. He observed that collectively, those four elements comprised the notion of friction, which he defined as “the only concept that more or less corresponds to the factors that distinguish real war from war on paper.” Friction has disrupted the implementation of war plans since the dawn of civilization, and despite efforts to minimize its effects, it will continue to do so.

Frontier Security: The Case Of Brazil, John A. Cope, Andrew Parks

INSS Strategic Perspectives

Over the past three decades Brazil has greatly improved its ability to monitor and control its long border. Achieving better management of the complex frontier security problem required a great deal of patience, trial and error, organizational adaptation, and good leadership. The Brazilian experience yields a number of important lessons for Brazil and for its neighbors in the Western Hemisphere. Improving performance required subordination of military priorities to civilian authorities; the repositioning of forces; better military-police cooperation; interagency and international cooperation; investment in technologies to give Brazil an advantage in the contest for best situational awareness; a long-term commitment; and …

Joint Force Quarterly 82 (3rd Quarter, July 2016), National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly ARCHIVES

No abstract provided.

The Soviet Biological Weapons Program And Its Legacy In Today’S Russia, Raymond A. Zilinskas

WMD Occasional Papers

In its first Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Case Study, the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD) at the National Defense University examined President Richard M. Nixon’s decision, on November 25, 1969, to terminate the U.S. offensive biological weapons program.1 This occasional paper seeks to explain why the Soviet government, at approximately the same time, decided to do essentially the opposite, namely, to establish a large biological warfare (BW) program that would be driven by newly discovered and powerful biotechnologies. By introducing the innovation of recombinant DNA technology—commonly referred to as genetic engineering—the Soviets were attempting …

Will Technological Convergence Reverse Globalization?, T.X. Hammes

Strategic Forums

The Economist defines globalization as the “global integration of the movement of goods, capital and jobs,” and for decades, the process has been advancing. The combination of labor cost advantages, increasingly efficient freight systems, and trade agreements fueled globalization by providing regional cost advantages for manufacturing. Over the last six decades, it transformed agricultural societies into industrial powerhouses.

The Nato Warsaw Summit: How To Strengthen Alliance Cohesion, Alexander Mattelaer

Strategic Forums

It is often stated that cohesion constitutes the center of gravity of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Yet divergent domestic pressures and external threat perceptions are threatening to pull Allies apart and leave the Euro-Atlantic security architecture in shatters. When NATO Heads of State and Government meet in Warsaw on July 8–9, 2016, the stakes will be high. Not since the end of the Cold War has the security outlook been as bleak or the collective resources for meeting multiple threats as meager.

Joint Force Quarterly 81 (2nd Quarter, April 2016), National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly ARCHIVES

No abstract provided.

China’S Goldwater-Nichols? Assessing Pla Organizational Reforms, Phillip C. Saunders, Joel Wuthnow

Strategic Forums

In the past few months, China has announced a series of major reforms to the organizational structure of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA): the Central Military Commission (CMC) has been revamped, the four general departments dissolved, new service headquarters created, and five new theater commands established in place of the seven military regions (MRs). These changes are part of a sweeping transformation of PLA institutions, force structure, and policy that will be ongoing through 2020. In pursuing these reforms, China’s leaders hope both to tighten central political control over a force that was seen as increasingly corrupt and to build …

National Security Reform And The 2016 Election, Christopher J. Lamb, Joseph Bond

Strategic Forums

This paper assesses the persistent challenges of national security reform in the United States and evaluates whether reform might emerge as a salient issue in the 2016 Presidential election. Although calls for restructuring the U.S. national security system have circulated for decades — driven by critiques from blue-ribbon commissions, policymakers, and scholars — meaningful reform has remained largely unrealized. The authors trace the evolution of reform efforts from the post-Cold War era through the Obama administration, examining why early momentum dissipated despite widespread concern among defense and intelligence communities. They explore structural, institutional, and political barriers that have hindered change, …

Posing Problems Without An Alliance: China-Iran Relations After The Nuclear Deal, Joel Wuthnow

Strategic Forums

The signing of a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in July 2015 to address international concerns about Iran’s nuclear program has led to bullish predictions about the future of Sino-Iranian relations. Under the deal, Iran is expected to limit its uranium enrichment and make other changes to its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of international sanctions. China is expected to be a prime beneficiary of the deal as Chinese firms take advantage of greater access to the Iranian market, especially in the energy sector. Some U.S. analysts also contend that the two countries could forge deeper strategic …

Korean Unification And The Future Of The U.S.-Rok Alliance, David F. Helvey

Strategic Forums

Security alliances can take many forms. They can be bilateral or multilateral, symmetric or asymmetric, highly institutionalized or largely unstructured. Regardless of form, security alliances as instruments of statecraft, at their most fundamental level, reflect a deliberate commitment among states to aggregate resources in the pursuit of common interests. For over 60 years, the U.S.–Republic of Korea (ROK) alliance has defended South Korea from external attack and, through the combined efforts of both countries, contributed to peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula, but also in Northeast Asia, across the Asia-Pacific, and beyond.

Joint Force Quarterly 80 (1st Quarter, January 2016), National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly ARCHIVES

No abstract provided.

Prism Vol. 6, No. 1, Center For Complex Operations

PRISM (Full PDF Issues)

No abstract provided.

Prism Vol. 5, No. 4, Center For Complex Operations

PRISM (Full PDF Issues)

No abstract provided.