Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Hard Look At Hard Power: Assessing The Defense Capabilities Of Key Us Allies And Security Partners—Second Edition, Gary J. Schmitt Mr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

With the United States facing two major revisionist powers, Russia and China, as well as additional security threats from North Korea, Iran, and jihadist terrorism, a critical advantage for the United States is its global network of alliances and strategic partners. As the 2018 National Defense Strategy states, “Alliances and partnerships are crucial to our strategy, providing a durable asymmetric strategic advantage that no competitor or rival can match.”

The advantage of having military allies and partners is enhanced by the core capacity of the American military having remained largely the same over the past decade, though the global security …

Security Threats, American Pressure, And The Role Of Key Personnel: How Nato’S Defence Planning Process Is Alleviating The Burden-Sharing Dilemma, John R. Deni

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

In 2017, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, none of the capability targets identified in NATO’s quadrennial NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) were left on the negotiating table. Previously, capability targets were identified by the alliance’s secretariat, but they remained unfilled as allies failed to assume responsibility for them.

This monograph examines the 2014–18 iteration of the NDPP, which represented a stunning turnaround in transatlantic burden sharing. The analysis reveals a combination of factors—the changed threat environment, political pressure from Washington, and the role of “policy entrepreneurs” working within NATO—best explain the alliance’s success in …

2019: A Changing International Order? Implications For The Security Environment, Christopher Ankersen, William G. Braun Iii, Ferry De Kerckhove, Carol V. Evans, Kathryn M. Fisher, Samit Ganguly, Anna Geis, Sara K. Mcguire, Kim Richard Nossal, Ben Rowswell, Stéfanie Von Hlatky

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

KCIS2019 examined the implications of the changing international order for international security. It studied the hypercompetitive, multipolar environment in which we find ourselves, marked by a persistent struggle for influence and position within a “grey zone” of competition. This edited collection features contributions from academic and military experts who have examined the future of the liberal international order and what is at stake. These evidence-based examinations discuss the challenges to the order, and why it has been so difficult to articulate a compelling narrative to support the continuation of American leadership.

Mission Command Of Multi-Domain Operations, Mark Balboni, John A. Bonin, Robert Mundell, Doug Orsi

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

This research monograph explores the Army’s emerging concept of multi-domain operations and its implications on the mission command approach. The transition to multi-domain operations changes the traditional view of how Army commanders and staffs conduct operations in the physical environment to include simultaneously operations in the information environment within the competition continuum.

This monograph will utilize the introduction of the aircraft during World War I as a historical case study for the integration of new domains. The Army has integrated new domains in the past and this example provides the historical context for the challenges involving integration of new domains. …

A Policy Response To Islamic State Extremist Fighter Battlefield Migration, Robert J. Bunker Dr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

June 2014 to December 2017 represented the high tide of radical Islamist (Salafi-jihadist) territorial control under the authority of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. This monograph analyzes and provides policy response options for US national security and Army planners concerning the potential for postterritorial caliphate battlefield migration by the sizable contingent of battle-hardened Islamic State foreign fighters situated within various enclaves in Syria and Iraq. The monograph achieves these ends by

• discussing Islamic State territorial eras and demographics;
• offering an overview of the initial inflows of these fighters into the territorial caliphate, outflows to the United States, and …

An Army Transformed: Usindopacom Hypercompetition And Us Army Theater Design, Nathan P. Freier Mr., John Schaus, William G. Braun Iii

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The United States faces a hypercompetitive geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific region, arguably the most consequential theater for US national interests over the coming decades. Although the United States has created exquisite military capabilities to counter insurgencies and fight terrorists, rivals like China have developed a whole-of-government toolkit focused on expanding their span of control and freedom of action, separating the United States from its allies, and deterring US leaders from greater engagement in East Asia.
China is actively transforming its military forces, with an eye toward defeating the United States in the event of armed hostilities. The People’s Republic …

Nonstate Actors And Anti-Access/Area Denial Strategies: The Coming Challenge, Jean-Loup Samaan Dr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

This monograph explores the emerging challenge of nonstate actors’ anti-access and area denial (A2/AD) strategies and their implications for the United States and its allies by looking at two regions, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, with case studies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen, and separatist groups in Ukraine. The historical monopoly of states over precision-guided munitions has eroded, and this evolution eventually challenges the ability of the most advanced militaries to operate in specific environments. As they gain greater access to advanced military technology, some nonstate actors increasingly lean toward …

Professionalizing The Iraqi Army: Us Engagement After The Islamic State, C. Anthony Pfaff Dr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The United States has spent—and continues to spend—billions of dollars building Iraq’s military capabilities. Despite that fact, Iraq’s military performance, even after wresting control of its territory from the Islamic State, remains inconsistent at best. A survey of Iraqi military history suggests a pattern of strengths, weaknesses, and performance that includes courageous soldiers, cohesive units, incompetent leaders, divided loyalties, poor combat support, and weak institutions that have, on occasion, risen to the defense challenge. If the United States is going to be more successful in developing Iraqi military capabilities, it will need to change its approach to better account for …

Turkey And The United States On The Brink: Implications For Nato And The Us-Turkish Strategic And Military Partnership, Kamal A. Beyoghlow

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

This monograph analyzes the current political tensions between the United States and Turkey and suggests ways to manage them. The two countries have been strategic allies since at least the end of World War II—Turkey became a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member and participated with its military forces in the Korea War, and during the Cold War protected NATO’s southern flank against Soviet communism, and Turkey’s military and intelligence services maintained close relationships with their Western and Israeli counterparts. These relationships were not without problems, due mostly to differences over minority and civil rights in Turkey and over Turkey’s invasion …