Recent Publications

Russia and Ukraine
April 8, 2022 — This podcast is inspired by Dr. Bettina Renz’s 2016 Parameters article “Why Russia Is Reviving Its Conventional Military Power.” Dr. Renz revisits her original work and shares her insights on the current situation in Ukraine. ... MORE

Contested Deployment
April 7, 2022 — Bert B. Tussing, John Eric Powell, and Benjamin C. LeitzelAs indicated in the 2018 National Defense Strategy and evolving Multi-Domain Operations doctrine, the assumption the homeland will provide a secure space for mobilization and deployment is no longer valid. This integrated research project goes beyond affirming this assumption and contributes... MORE

Soldiers in Cities - Military Operations on Urban Terrain
April 6, 2022 — This podcast is based on a compendium that resulted from a conference on “Military Operations in an Urban Environment” cosponsored by the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce in conjunction with the Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs, the U.S. Army War College, and the Association of the United States Army. At the time of the conference, the concept of homeland defense was emerging as an increasingly important mission for the U.S. military. ... MORE

“China’s Global Monopoly on Rare-Earth Elements”
April 5, 2022 — This article delivers a novel economic analysis of US dependence on China for rare-earth elements and sheds light on how Western nations may exploit the limitations of limit pricing to break China’s global monopoly in rare-earth element production and refinement. This analytical framework, supported by a comprehensive literature review, the application of microeconomic and industrial organization concepts, and two case-study scenarios, provides several policy recommendations to address the most important foreign policy challenge the United States has faced since the end of the Cold War... MORE

“Interrupting Bias in Army Talent Management”
April 4, 2022 — This article addresses the impact of diversity, equity, and inclusion on talent management. It explains how systemic bias impairs the US Army’s ability to harness cognitive diversity. It stresses the value of cognitive diversity among teams and senior leadership and how cumulative bias impacts the entire career cycle of an individual. It concludes by offering practical suggestions to reduce bias in the assignment, promotion, and selection processes. ... MORE

On “The Alt-Right Movement and US National Security” Review and Reply
March 30, 2022 — This commentary responds to Matthew Valasik and Shannon E. Reid’s article “The Alt-Right Movement and US National Security” published in the Autumn 2021 issue of Parameters (vol. 51, no. 3). ... MORE

Broken Nest - China and Taiwan (Part 2)
March 8, 2022 — This podcast analyzes the cutting-edge understandings of deterrence with empirical evidence of Chinese strategic thinking and culture to build such a strategy and explores the counter-arguments from Part 1 of this series. ... MORE

Navigating New Threats: NATO’s Posture on Emerging Technologies
March 8, 2022 — Dr. Sarah Lohmann, Dr. Carol Evans, 2022The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) faces a volatile global security environment. Climate change will challenge international stability through natural disasters, migration crises, and land degradation. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended peace in Europe, and the COVID-19 pandemic reminded the... MORE

Header for Navigating New Threats: NATO’s Posture on Emerging Technologies

Broken Nest - China and Taiwan (Part 1)
March 7, 2022 — Deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan without recklessly threatening a great-power war is both possible and necessary through a tailored deterrence package that goes beyond either fighting over Taiwan or abandoning it. This podcast explores cutting-edge understandings of deterrence with empirical evidence of Chinese strategic thinking and culture to build such a strategy and offers counter-arguments as well... MORE

Parameters | Spring 2022
February 24, 2022 — Civil-Military Relations: Guidelines in Politically Charged Societies | Interrupting Bias in Army Talent Management | Rethinking Female Urinary Devices for the US Army | Understanding a Changing China | China’s Global Monopoly on Rare Earth Elements | Chinese and Western Ways of War and Their Ethics | Confronting Complex Security Dilemmas... MORE

“Air Littoral- Another Look”
February 8, 2022 — Assessing threats to the air littoral, the airspace between ground forces and high-end fighters and bombers, requires a paradigm change in American military thinking about verticality. This article explores the consequences of domain convergence, specifically for the Army and Air Force’s different concepts of control. It will assist US military and policy practitioners in conceptualizing the air littoral and in thinking more vertically about the air and land domains and the challenges of domain convergence. ... MORE

“What Went Wrong in Afghanistan”
January 24, 2022 — Critics of the Afghan war have claimed it was always unwinnable. This article argues the war was unwinnable the way it was fought and posits an alternative based on the Afghan way of war and the US approach to counterinsurgency in El Salvador during the final decade of the Cold War. Respecting the political and military dictates of strategy could have made America’s longest foreign war unnecessary and is a warning for the wars we will fight in the future... MORE