A Conditions-Based Look At A Cyber Force,
2025
National Defense University
A Conditions-Based Look At A Cyber Force, Shiraz Khan
Joint Force Quarterly
As threats in cyberspace continue to grow, U.S. policymakers are debating whether it's time to create a dedicated Cyber Force. In this Joint Force Quarterly article, Shiraz Khan uses a conditions-based framework, drawing from historical precedents like the formation of the Air Force and Space Force to assess whether the time is right for an independent military cyber service. Applying Dyck and Starke’s model for organizational breakaways, Khan explores the political, operational, and strategic conditions that led past capabilities to evolve into standalone services. Today, cyberspace shows similar signals: rising strategic importance, competing visions across Services, high-profile advocates, and institutional …
Revive: Getting Medical Supplies And Expertise Right In Distributed Maritime Operations,
2025
Naval Medical Research Unit Indo Pacific
Revive: Getting Medical Supplies And Expertise Right In Distributed Maritime Operations, Seth Reini, Jonathan J. Haase
Joint Force Quarterly
As the U.S. Navy prepares for possible large-scale conflict in the Indo-Pacific, ensuring wounded warfighters get the care they need and fast, has become more urgent than ever. In this Joint Force Quarterly article, “Revive” is introduced as a vital addition to the Navy’s contested logistics model. Beyond resupply, rearm, refuel, and repair, “revive” focuses on getting medical supplies to ships and moving injured personnel safely out of harm’s way, even across vast, dangerous seas. The article draws powerful lessons from both recent and historic conflicts, showing that survival and morale depend on agile, ready-to-move medical systems. It makes the …
Increasing Operational Access: A Strategy For The Western Pacific,
2025
7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
Increasing Operational Access: A Strategy For The Western Pacific, Shaun F. Callahan
Joint Force Quarterly
This article presents a comprehensive argument for why the United States must enhance its military and strategic mobility in the Western Pacific to counter the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) growing regional assertiveness. The article contends that maintaining a Free and Open Indo-Pacific requires a whole-of-government approach to operational access, blending diplomatic outreach, economic engagement, strategic communication, and military posture. Current U.S. basing and access agreements, rooted in Cold War dynamics, no longer suffice for effective power projection in today’s contested environment. To enable integrated deterrence and flexible crisis response, the United States must expand distributed access points, deepen partnerships, …
T-Birrd: Transforming The Future Of Military And Humanitarian Logistics,
2025
Headquarters Air Force A5/7 (Air Force Futures)
T-Birrd: Transforming The Future Of Military And Humanitarian Logistics, Jacob R. Bright
Joint Force Quarterly
This article explores the transformative potential of Terrestrial-Based Inserted Rocket Resource Delivery (T-BIRRD) as a cutting-edge logistics solution for both U.S. military operations and humanitarian aid efforts. Leveraging commercial space launch capabilities, T-BIRRD offers unprecedented speed and reach for resource delivery in contested or remote environments. The discussion addresses key legal and policy considerations, including compliance with the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC), the Law of War (LoW), and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). It also examines the strategic risks of launch misinterpretation, cyber vulnerabilities, and integration challenges within global airspace governance frameworks. The article calls for a comprehensive …
Finding Deepfakes: A Tabletop Exercise About Ai, Decisionmaking, And Algorithmic Performance,
2025
In-Q-Tel Laboratories
Finding Deepfakes: A Tabletop Exercise About Ai, Decisionmaking, And Algorithmic Performance, Andrea Brennan, Gwyneth Sutherlin, Lisa Pagano-Wallace, Hermie Mendoza
Joint Force Quarterly
This article explores a first-of-its-kind tabletop exercise designed to expose U.S. military and national security professionals to the real-world challenges of using AI tools like deepfake detectors in high-stakes decisionmaking. Set in a fictional scenario involving a flawed AI system, participants confronted algorithmic bias, technical uncertainty, and ethical dilemmas, revealing how AI limitations can erode trust in intelligence products. Drawing from student and faculty reflections, the article highlights the importance of preparing future leaders to scrutinize and manage AI performance failures not only as technical bugs but as complex, systemic issues with social and operational consequences. The exercise underscored the …
The Philosophical Foundations Of The Civil-Military Relationship,
2025
National War College, National Defense University
The Philosophical Foundations Of The Civil-Military Relationship, John Mark Mattox
Joint Force Quarterly
This article reexamines civil-military relations through a philosophical lens, arguing that they are far more complex than simple military subordination to civilian authority. Drawing on foundational models from Hobbes, Plato, medieval Christendom, and Clausewitz, it reveals a recurring tripartite structure of society: rulers, warriors, and citizens bound together by mutual responsibility and moral obligation. From Plato’s emphasis on virtue and justice to Clausewitz’s "paradoxical trinity" of people, military, and government, the article shows that the strength of any state depends on trust and collaboration among all three. True civil-military relations, it concludes, must be understood as a dynamic moral partnership …
Building Strategic Lethality: Special Operations Models For Joint Force Learning And Leader Development,
2025
College of International Security Affairs (Joint Special Operations Master of Arts, Fort Bragg), National Defense University
Building Strategic Lethality: Special Operations Models For Joint Force Learning And Leader Development, Spencer B. Meredith Iii
Joint Force Quarterly
This article examines how U.S. Joint Special Operations Forces (SOF), particularly through SAG-U and CJSOTF-10, have rapidly adapted to support Ukraine amid Russia’s full-scale invasion, offering a model for future joint force innovation. SAG-U emerged as a key logistics and coordination hub, integrating NATO and interagency partners to manage complex, high-stakes supply chains. Meanwhile, CJSOTF-10 and its subordinate SOTF-10.1 shifted from traditional training and advising roles to rapid tactical adaptation, virtual assistance, and technological integration to meet evolving battlefield demands. The creation of the Remote Advise and Assist Cell (RAAC) illustrates how remote support and real-time data can bridge operational …
From High Seas To Highlands: Framing U.S. Defense Strategy With Southeast Asia’S Geography,
2025
Joint Special Operations Command
From High Seas To Highlands: Framing U.S. Defense Strategy With Southeast Asia’S Geography, Caitlin P. Irby
Joint Force Quarterly
This article analyzes the strategic importance of Southeast Asia to U.S. foreign policy amid rising competition with China, emphasizing the region's complex geography, diverse political systems, and centrality to global economic growth. It identifies the South China Sea and Strait of Malacca as key flash points where conflict with China could arise and outlines the U.S. military’s need to deter conflict while preparing to win one if necessary. To do so, the United States must build resilient, dispersed basing networks; enhance its ability to maneuver across challenging terrain and maritime environments; and develop robust situational awareness through improved sensors and …
Rightsizing The Pla Air Force: Revisiting An Analytic Framework,
2025
Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University
Rightsizing The Pla Air Force: Revisiting An Analytic Framework, Lauren Edson, Phillip C. Saunders
Joint Force Quarterly
This article evaluates the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) from 2007 to 2025 using the Saunders-Quam framework, which identifies four core trade-offs: changes in roles and missions, domestic versus foreign procurement, high-tech versus low-tech systems, and combat versus support aircraft. While the framework remains a useful analytical tool, it underestimated the Chinese Communist Party’s willingness to fund expensive modernization efforts and the rapid advancements in China’s defense industrial base. The article identifies key factors missing from the original framework such as doctrinal shifts, increased emphasis on counterintervention, maritime expansion, and the rise of unmanned systems. It …
Is Mobilization A Major Question?,
2025
Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Acquisition Integration and Interoperability, Pentagon
Is Mobilization A Major Question?, Evan J. Ward
Joint Force Quarterly
As tensions with China escalate in 2027, the U.S. President invokes the Defense Production Act (DPA) to accelerate weapons production. But major defense contractors push back, citing profit risks and legal uncertainty and take the matter to court. Their challenge is strengthened by two recent Supreme Court decisions: the rise of the Major Questions Doctrine, which limits executive authority without clear congressional backing, and the end of Chevron deference, which had long allowed agencies flexibility in interpreting statutes. These legal shifts make mobilizing U.S. industry for national defense slower and riskier, as corporations prioritize shareholder interests and litigation becomes more …
Executive Summary,
2025
National Defense University Press
Executive Summary, William T. Eliason
Joint Force Quarterly
In this issue, JFQ Editor in Chief William T. Eliason reflects on the enduring value of joint professional military education (JPME) and the journal’s role in shaping informed national security leaders. He emphasizes the importance of history, critical thinking, and learning from past conflicts, principles rooted in Clausewitzian theory, as essential to preparing for future challenges. The issue’s Forum section tackles readiness for great power competition, especially with China, examining mobilization, PLA airpower, and Southeast Asia’s strategic geography. Additional features explore leadership development in special operations, civil-military relations, AI and deepfake threats, space-based logistics, Western Pacific access strategies, distributed medical …
Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 118, 3rd Quarter 2025,
2025
National Defense University Press
Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 118, 3rd Quarter 2025, National Defense University Press
Joint Force Quarterly
This issue of Joint Force Quarterly addresses key strategic, operational, and doctrinal questions shaping the future of the joint force. Articles examine mobilization as a strategic imperative, PLA Air Force modernization, Southeast Asia’s geographic role in U.S. defense strategy, and leader development for strategic lethality. Contributions also explore AI’s role in detecting deepfakes, the civil-military relationship, and innovations in military logistics and cyber force design. A retrospective on the Joint Warfighting Concept and critical reviews of recent defense literature provide context and continuity. Collectively, these pieces offer insight into how the joint force must evolve to meet emerging challenges.
An Alternative To The Liberal World Order: China, Brics, And Middle East Diplomacy,
2025
Fudan University
An Alternative To The Liberal World Order: China, Brics, And Middle East Diplomacy, Brice Tseen Fu Lee, Kotchaphop Kornphetcharat, Juan Pablo Sims
Journal Of Middle East and Islamic Studies
This paper explores how China and BRICS are emerging as strategic alternatives to the liberal international order, particularly in the realm of diplomacy and mediation for periphery states in the Middle East. Drawing on a realist theoretical framework, the study argues that these platforms offer pragmatic, interest-based avenues for engagement that contrast sharply with the conditionalities and normative expectations of Western-led institutions. Through case studies such as China’s mediation in the Iran–Saudi Arabia normalization and the expansion of BRICS+ to include Middle Eastern actors, the paper demonstrates how sovereignty, non-interference, and multipolarity have become central organizing principles for a new …
Occupation, Displacement, And Violence In The West Bank: A Retrospective Analysis Of Data From 2014-2024,
2025
Yale University
Occupation, Displacement, And Violence In The West Bank: A Retrospective Analysis Of Data From 2014-2024, Sarah Aly, Fatima Mossolem, Ayeh Khalil, Tushara Surapaneni, Abd Al-Rahman Traboulsi, Waleed Aldadah, Eleanor Reid, Shakoor Hajat
Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research
Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank has intensified violence in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). This violence escalated after attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent military campaign in Gaza. This study examines the possible impacts of military and land occupation on displacement, injuries, and deaths in the West Bank. This cross-sectional observational study analyses casualties and displacement data in the West Bank and Israel from May 1, 2014, to June 30, 2024. Sources include the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Statista, and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Death and …
Parameters Summer 2025,
2025
US Army War College
Parameters Summer 2025, Usawc Press
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
Welcome to the Summer 2025 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific Challenges, Russia-Ukraine Issues, and Historical Studies).
A More Perfect Peace: Can The Russia-Ukraine War End Justly?,
2025
US Army War College
A More Perfect Peace: Can The Russia-Ukraine War End Justly?, Nathaniel B. Davis, Marlon A. Thomas
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
This article argues that thinking creatively about war termination, both philosophically and politically, utilizing jus post bellum principles and counterintuitive political trade-offs, reveals an opportunity to achieve a sustainable peace that approximates justice. The article surveys how war aims among belligerents have changed, indicating that further change is possible, particularly at the point of war termination. Next, the article examines jus post bellum principles and their application to the Russia-Ukraine War. Finally, the article contends that Ukraine relinquishing Crimea and the Donbas in exchange for NATO membership might be the key to achieving a durable peace that addresses long-term security.
Book Reviews,
2025
US Army War College
Book Reviews, Usawc Press
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
No abstract provided.
From The Editor In Chief,
2025
US Army War College
From The Editor In Chief, Antulio J. Echevarria Ii
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
Welcome to the Summer 2025 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific Challenges, Russia-Ukraine Issues, and Historical Studies).
China’S Role In A Future Korean War,
2025
US Army War College
China’S Role In A Future Korean War, Jake Rinaldi
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
This article argues that China’s intervention in a Korean conflict will hinge more on North Korea’s ability to hold territory than on bilateral ties. Rather than treat Chinese intervention as a yes-or-no proposition, this study models three scenarios—full intervention, sustained support, and limited support—based on North Korean resilience. Using Chinese-language sources and scenario-based analysis, it assesses how each model would shape key functional areas such as ISR, cyber, materiel, and force posture. The findings offer US defense planners a framework for anticipating variable People’s Liberation Army involvement in a future Korea contingency.
The Next National Defense Strategy: Mission-Based Force Planning,
2025
US Army War College
The Next National Defense Strategy: Mission-Based Force Planning, Frank G. Hoffman
The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
The Pentagon needs to embrace a new methodology called mission-based planning to size and shape the defense enterprise properly. This article critiques several proposals for reestablishing the long-standing two major theater war construct in the face of ongoing shifts in the strategic environment, including the nation’s $36 trillion debt and prospects of annual interest payments beyond $1 trillion. It presents a mission priority alternative focused on strategic prioritization based on the authors’ four decades of experience in strategy/force planning at the service, the department, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense levels. Strategic-level service planners and students of Joint …
