Public Policy Commons^™

America Needs Bold, Visionary, And Strategic Joint Force Leaders, James W. Browning

Joint Force Quarterly

Once selected for a Joint Force higher-level leadership position, it is imperative to have a clear action plan to ensure a smooth transition into the role. The significance of preparation cannot be overstated. The notion of a 90-day grace period for acclimatization is a myth of the past. Today’s Joint Force leaders must be prepared to hit the ground running.

Dr. Jim Browning summarizes tactical approaches, insights, and practical actions gathered from more than 100 government and military executives and senior leaders. This guidance aims to help newly selected senior leaders transition smoothly and effectively both before and during their …

Obstacles To Integrating Deterrence, Jeffrey A. Larsen, James J. Wirtz

Joint Force Quarterly

Integrated deterrence is a concept introduced by the Biden administration in 2022 that calls for a whole-of-government, whole-of-alliance approach to deterrence. It responds to an increasingly complex world with new warfare domains, new and emerging technologies, highly sophisticated weaponry, and multiple regional and global actors, including two peer nuclear competitors. Nevertheless, the concept remains vague, especially when it comes to who is responsible for its implementation. This article describes the conceptual, organizational, and operational obstacles and considerations likely to be encountered by the effort to integrate deterrence. It concludes with some recommendations for operationalizing the concept across the US government …

A New Step In China’S Military Reform, Joel Wuthnow

Joint Force Quarterly

In April 2024, Xi Jinping announced a new military restructuring focused on improving the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s ability to achieve information dominance and conduct integrated joint operations in wartime. Continuing a process of reform that Xi initiated nearly a decade ago, the latest reform included three parts: eliminating the Strategic Support Force (SSF), establishing a new Information Support Force (ISF) responsible for network defense and communications support, and placing the ISF and three other support forces under Xi’s direct control. This reform constituted the most significant structural overhaul of the PLA in the last five years, and the first …

Executive Summary, William T. Eliason

Joint Force Quarterly

Effective communication is essential to joint warfighting success, yet even basic tasks, like radio reprogramming, can fail without proper training and leadership. Editor in Chief William T. Eliason emphasizes the life-saving importance of communication and the need to instill such skills at every level of the force. He adds a tribute to Dr. John Church’s editorial and visual contributions to JFQ and gives an update on the temporary pause of the annual essay competitions due to logistical constraints. This issue of Joint Force Quarterly features timely analyses on China’s military reform, the challenges of integrated deterrence, visionary leadership development, and …

Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 117, 2nd Quarter 2025, National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly

Joint Force Quarterly 117 centers on the urgent call for bold, visionary leadership within the U.S. Joint Force. Highlighting challenges such as integrated deterrence, alternative manning strategies, and China’s military reforms, this issue provides strategic insights for future readiness. It features forward-leaning proposals on air defense, military housing, and medical innovation, alongside historical case studies from Okinawa and Leyte. Book reviews and expert commentary further enrich the discourse on contemporary military leadership and strategy.

The Future Of Stealth Military Doctrine, Theodoros G. Kostis

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explores the future of stealth military doctrine and argues that conventional stealth, centered on reducing radar cross-section and other detectable signatures, faces growing limitations against advanced integrated air defense systems. The author proposes shifting from a model based primarily on high speed and low observability toward one that emphasizes surprise through obfuscation. Central to this approach is the stand-in variable speed multiple-domain (SiVSMD) offensive concept, which combines artificial intelligence, autonomous unmanned systems, swarm tactics, miniaturization, electronic warfare, cyber capabilities, deception, and mosaic warfare. Small, distributed platforms would operate across land, sea, undersea, and air domains, varying their speed …

Weapons In Space: Technology, Politics, And The Rise And Fall Of The Strategic Defense Initiative, Todd W. Pennington

Joint Force Quarterly

This book review assesses Aaron Bateman’s Weapons in Space: Technology, Politics, and the Rise and Fall of the Strategic Defense Initiative, which uses recently declassified U.S., Soviet, and British records to reinterpret the origins, development, and legacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative. Bateman emphasizes the close relationship between political decisionmaking and space technology, particularly the technological overlap between ballistic missile defense and offensive antisatellite capabilities. The review highlights how this entanglement complicated arms control, Cold War diplomacy, U.S. relations with European allies, and efforts to build political support for SDI. It also examines the program’s dependence on costly and …

The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, And The 21st Century’S Greatest Dilemma, Peter Khooshabeh, Robert Underwood

Joint Force Quarterly

This book review assesses Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskar’s The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma, which surveys the rapid development of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and other general-purpose technologies and the challenge of containing their unintended consequences. Suleyman argues that falling costs, accelerating innovation, increasing autonomy, and broad applicability are expanding the power of individuals and groups while making emerging technologies difficult to control. The reviewers highlight the book’s treatment of artificial intelligence, generative AI, synthetic biology, advanced energy, and quantum technologies, as well as its proposed containment mechanisms, including regulation, technical safety, …

China’S Use Of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting, Ian Forsyth

Joint Force Quarterly

This book review assesses China’s Use of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting, edited by James A. Siebens, which analyzes how China employs military and paramilitary forces to signal, deter, and coerce while remaining below the threshold of armed conflict. Drawing particular attention to the book’s analysis of more than 200 Chinese coercive military operations conducted between 2000 and 2021, the reviewer highlights patterns in Beijing’s use of armed coercion, including its tendency to portray its actions as defensive, apply pressure in territorial disputes, and use military forces as instruments of political signaling. Case studies involving the East and …

Polybian Warfare: The First Punic War As A Case Study In Strategic Competition And Joint Warfighting, Casey B. Baker

Joint Force Quarterly

This article uses the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage as a case study in strategic competition and joint warfighting. The 23-year conflict demonstrates how enduring political, economic, and geographic interests can produce prolonged competition marked by shifting fortunes, costly stalemates, and repeated reversals. The author highlights the importance of alliances, partnerships, and mercenary forces, showing how changes in military strength, domestic politics, and economic pressures can reshape relationships over time. Rome’s effort to challenge Carthaginian maritime dominance also illustrates the difficulty of building advantage in a new warfighting domain, requiring rapid acquisition, technological innovation, sustained investment, and operational …

It’S The Chain That Broke It: The Strategic Supply Chains Underpinning National Security, Gregory M. Tomlin

Joint Force Quarterly

Strategic supply chain vulnerabilities threaten the Department of Defense’s (DOD) ability to maintain readiness and protect national security. Global supply chains, often dependent on multiple subcontractor tiers, are highly prone to disruptions from geopolitical events, foreign interference, cybersecurity risks, and shortages of critical materials, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and in delays like those affecting F-35 production. To address these challenges, the DOD must adopt "strategic supply chains" as a core concept in its doctrine, emphasizing continuous risk assessment and safeguards like multisourcing, supply chain nerve centers, and contingency planning. Updating key policies and doctrines, such as Joint Publications …

Bullets, Bandages, And Fairy Dust: Improving Dmo Health Services Support With Wargaming, Debra D. Buckland-Coffey, Robert P. Gerbracht, Kengo Nishida, William R. Gureck

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that health services support remains insufficiently integrated into planning, wargaming, and exercises for distributed maritime operations and expeditionary advanced base operations. The authors describe the common practice of “fairy dusting,” in which planners accept unvalidated assumptions about medical support, casualty movement, logistics, and sustainment in order to keep exercises moving. In a contested Indo-Pacific environment, however, high casualty rates, extended evacuation timelines, dispersed forces, vulnerable supply chains, and limited medical capacity could place severe strain on existing health services systems. Drawing on doctrine, after-action reports, and interviews with Navy, Marine Corps, medical, and logistics leaders, the article …

Updating The Tacs/Aags For Large-Scale Combat Operations, Matthew Neuenswander

Joint Force Quarterly

This article reviews the evolution of the Theater Air Control System/Army Air-Ground System (TACS/AAGS) and assesses whether its current structure is adequate for large-scale combat operations. Since the Vietnam War, TACS/AAGS has provided the command-and-control framework for integrating Army and Air Force operations involving joint fires, close air support, air interdiction, airspace control, intelligence, and other air-ground missions. The author argues that decades of counterinsurgency operations, changing Army force structures, emerging long-range fires organizations, dispersed command posts, and Air Force reductions in Tactical Air Control Party personnel have created new challenges for joint air-ground integration. Additional complications include unresolved questions …

Determining Political Objectives, Milan Vego

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explains how political objectives shape grand strategy and national or coalition security strategy and argues that they must be realistic, achievable, and clearly articulated before military options are developed. Political leaders bear primary responsibility for determining these objectives but should incorporate the professional advice of senior military leaders. The author outlines a process that begins with a strategic estimate, identification and prioritization of national interests, and assessment of the enemy, available resources, and political assumptions. Political objectives may be offensive or defensive and limited or unlimited in scope, with their value and ambition affecting the level of effort, …

Is The Pla Overestimating The Potential Of Artificial Intelligence?, Koichiro Takagi

Joint Force Quarterly

This article analyzes how the People’s Liberation Army views the military potential and limitations of artificial intelligence as part of China’s broader drive toward “intelligentization.” Drawing on approximately 370 military theory articles published in PLA Daily in 2023, the author identifies four principal areas in which the PLA expects AI to transform warfare: situational awareness, military decisionmaking, unmanned weapons, and cognitive domain operations. PLA writings also discuss applications in training, logistics, and weapons development. At the same time, the PLA acknowledges significant risks, including unreliable or biased data, system malfunction, loss of human control, unintended escalation, legal and ethical concerns, …

Celtic Security In The Atlantic: How Does Ireland Secure Europe’S Western Flank?, Patrick J. Smith

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that Ireland has become a critical vulnerability on Europe’s western flank as Russian military activity exposes gaps in Irish air, maritime, and undersea infrastructure security. Ireland’s limited naval and air capabilities, lack of military radar, and geographic position near major transatlantic sea lanes and undersea cables create risks not only for Ireland but also for NATO and the broader transatlantic security architecture. The author considers two options for strengthening Irish defense: NATO membership or Major Non-NATO Ally status with the United States. Major Non-NATO Ally status could improve Ireland’s access to U.S. equipment, technology, training, and bilateral …

The Urgency Of Warfighting Renewal: Five Principles For Today’S Professional Military Education, Christopher M. Marcell, Gaylon L. Mcalpine, Reagan E. Schaupp, Joseph L. Varuolo

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that Professional Military Education must renew its focus on the art and science of warfighting in response to senior Department of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff guidance. Although PME programs have added content on China, Russia, and other contemporary challenges, the authors contend that topical updates alone do not address deeper concerns about whether military education is adequately preparing leaders for future conflict. They present five principles for reform: make warfighting the central purpose of PME; define and prioritize warfighting-related study more clearly; recognize PME degrees as professional degrees; treat joint and Service leadership as PME’s …

Being Believed: Persuasion And The Narrative In Military Operations, Brent A. Lawniczak

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explores the role of persuasive narratives in military operations and argues that being truthful is not enough; joint force narratives must also be believable and persuasive to intended audiences. Narratives provide context, coherence, and meaning to military actions and can shape perceptions, influence behavior, and support objectives across the competition continuum. The article identifies the core elements of a narrative, including setting, characters, plot, and moral, and explains key factors that contribute to persuasiveness, such as emotional appeal, simplicity, consistency, identification, trust, resonance, coherence, and alignment between words and actions. It also emphasizes the importance of understanding audience …

The Art Of Campaigning: Joint Planners Working At The Intersections Of Everything, Mary Bell, Edgar M. Hollandsworth, Thomas J. Snukis, Jeffrey Turner, Luke P. Bellocchi, Nicholas Anthony, Steve Tribble, Chris Botterbusch, Justin D. Harper

Joint Force Quarterly

This article explains the evolving concept of military campaigning and the complex role of joint planners in developing and executing Combatant Command Campaign Plans. Modern campaigning encompasses not only combat operations but also persistent activities intended to shape the strategic environment, create favorable conditions, and advance U.S. national objectives. The authors describe how joint planners translate strategic guidance and a combatant commander’s vision into operational approaches by integrating doctrine, operational design, intelligence, assessment, and activities across the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. The article also highlights the importance of strategic wargaming, collaboration across combatant commands and external partners, …

Adopting A Data-Centric Mindset For Operational Planning, Jeremiah Hurley, Morgan Greene

Joint Force Quarterly

The Department of Defense is investing in advanced technologies to maintain a competitive military advantage, but realizing their full value requires a data-first approach to operational planning. Jeremiah Hurley and Morgan Greene argue that DOD must improve how it collects, organizes, integrates, and uses data so commanders and staffs can understand the operational environment and develop and execute courses of action faster than adversaries. The article critiques current planning processes that rely on static products such as PowerPoint slides, spreadsheets, and email, and recommends incorporating standardized data collection templates, plans, matrices, automated data pipelines, and dynamic visualizations into joint and …

Preparing For Adversary Employment Of Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons: Tactical Effects, Operational Impacts, Strategic Implications, James H. Gifford

Joint Force Quarterly

For more than 30 years after the Cold War, the United States largely operated without facing the threat of nuclear weapons on the battlefield. Recent nuclear threats from adversaries such as Russia, however, have renewed the need to prepare for the possible use of nonstrategic nuclear weapons. This article explains the distinction between strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons and assesses the consequences of limited nuclear use at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war. A nuclear strike could produce severe casualties and equipment losses at the tactical level, create medical, logistical, and civilian challenges at the operational level, and …

Risk: A Weak Element In U.S. Strategy Formulation, Frank Hoffman

Joint Force Quarterly

Strategic risk is an inherent element of national security decisionmaking, yet it is often insufficiently incorporated into U.S. strategy formulation. Frank Hoffman argues that risk analysis should be a routine and continuous component of strategic planning rather than an exercise conducted primarily during implementation. Drawing on joint doctrine and case studies involving the Iraq War, Operation Neptune Spear, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the article illustrates how assumptions, institutional biases, and inconsistent approaches to risk can shape strategic outcomes. Hoffman calls for a broader, shared understanding of strategic risk across the national security community and recommends developing an interagency …

Executive Summary, William T. Eliason

Joint Force Quarterly

This executive summary introduces Joint Force Quarterly 116 against the backdrop of the fall of Bashar al-Asad’s regime in Syria and considers the implications for U.S. strategy, regional security, and future military posture in the Middle East. The issue addresses strategic risk in U.S. national security decisionmaking, adversary use of nonstrategic nuclear weapons, and the adoption of a data-oriented approach to operational planning. Additional articles consider joint campaign planning, military influence operations, professional military education, the potential for Ireland to join NATO, and the implications of artificial intelligence for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Feature articles address political objectives in …

Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 116, 1st Quarter 2025, National Defense University Press

Joint Force Quarterly

Joint Force Quarterly 116 explores key challenges and innovations in military strategy, operations, and global security. The Forum section examines how the U.S. approaches risk in its strategy, the impact of nonstrategic nuclear weapons, and the importance of using data-driven methods in planning military operations.

In JPME Today, articles focus on how joint military campaigns succeed, the role of storytelling and persuasion in operations, and the urgent need to modernize professional military education.

The Commentary section highlights Ireland's strategic role in securing Europe’s western flank and evaluates whether China’s military overestimates the potential of artificial intelligence.

The Features section dives …

Giving Our “Paper Tiger” Real Teeth: Fixing The U.S. Military’S Plans For Contested Logistics Against China, Zachary S. Hughes

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that the U.S. military’s emerging concepts for dispersed operations in the Western Pacific risk becoming unsustainable because logistics has not been fully integrated into force design and campaign planning. Focusing on a potential conflict with China, the author contends that logistics would likely be a decisive factor, particularly in scenarios involving a blockade or invasion of Taiwan and operations inside China’s antiaccess/area-denial network. The article reviews the logistical demands of Marine Corps Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, Army multidomain task forces, and Air Force Agile Combat Employment, finding that each concept creates significant sustainment challenges and often shifts …

The Joint Functions: Theory, Doctrine, And Practice, Matthew J. Tackett

Joint Force Quarterly

This article analyzes the joint functions as a framework for organizing, planning, and conducting joint operations and argues that commanders should understand them through the combined lenses of military theory, doctrine, and practice. The author traces the development of the joint functions from earlier concepts of command, maneuver, fires, protection, intelligence, sustainment, and staff organization, emphasizing their role in providing a common language across the joint force. Drawing particularly on Milan Vego’s theory of operational functions, the article questions whether current doctrine adequately addresses the distinct requirements of operational-level warfare. It highlights command and control, information, movement and maneuver, and …

The Fragile Balance Of Terror: Deterrence In The New Nuclear Age, John William Sutcliffe Iv

Joint Force Quarterly

This book review assesses The Fragile Balance of Terror: Deterrence in the New Nuclear Age, edited by Vipin Narang and Scott D. Sagan, which reconsiders nuclear deterrence in a strategic environment that differs substantially from the Cold War. The volume addresses both new and enduring challenges, including multipolar nuclear competition, personalist regimes, social media, open-source intelligence, evolving definitions of nuclear sufficiency, advances in counterforce capabilities, regional command-and-control practices, and assumptions about nuclear learning. The reviewer highlights the book’s use of diverse historical and contemporary case studies to show how deterrence can be undermined by miscalculation, political context, information dynamics, and …

The Military Legacy Of Alexander The Great: Lessons For The Information Age, Robert D. Spessert

Joint Force Quarterly

This book review assesses Michael P. Ferguson and Ian Worthington’s The Military Legacy of Alexander the Great: Lessons for the Information Age, which connects Alexander’s campaigns and leadership to contemporary military and national security challenges. The authors organize the book around themes including the operational environment, military organization, campaign design, strategic overreach, and the human dimension of war. The review highlights how Alexander’s decisions offer lessons on mission command, logistics, political objectives, leadership, and the limits of military success. Particular attention is given to the joint function of information, including Alexander’s use of deception, narrative, symbolism, and audience-specific messaging …

Don’T Let’S Be Beastly To The Germans: The British Occupation Of Germany, 1945–49, Michael C. Davies

Joint Force Quarterly

This book review assesses Daniel Cowling’s Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans: The British Occupation of Germany, 1945–49, a study of British efforts to govern and reconstruct Germany after World War II. Drawing on archival research and personal accounts, the book traces the British occupation from early planning and ideological debates through implementation, near collapse, recovery, and the eventual restoration of German sovereignty. The reviewer highlights Cowling’s attention to the tension between punishment and reconciliation, the difficulties of working with former Nazis, and the ways personal relationships and individual judgment influenced policy. Particular emphasis is placed on the …

From Sparta To Hostomel: The Enduring Role Of Joint Forcible Entry Operations, Jonathan Maxwell Cohen

Joint Force Quarterly

This article argues that joint forcible entry operations remain relevant despite the growing threat posed by antiaccess/area-denial networks. Using the Russian assault on Hostomel Airport during the opening phase of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine as a case study, the author contends that the operation failed not because forcible entry had become obsolete, but because Russian forces were unable to isolate and expand the lodgment, protect access for follow-on forces, and integrate maneuver and supporting fires effectively. The article traces the historical development of forcible entry from ancient amphibious operations through airborne and air assault doctrine, then applies lessons from …