Recent Publications

Mission Command of Multi-Domain Operations
September 2, 2020 — Mark Balboni, John A. Bonin, Robert Mundell, Doug Orsi, 2020This 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... MORE

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Strategic Landscape, 2050: Preparing the U.S. Military for New Era Dynamics
September 14, 2017 — Author: Mr Roman MuzalevskyView the Executive Summary A series of megatrends will present a major challenge to the United States in the coming decades, exposing it to crises and opportunities on the battlefield and in the market. The U.S. military should stand ready to harness these dynamics to retain its edge in an operational environment marked... MORE

Strategic Insights: Lost in Translation
August 17, 2017 — Author: Dr M Chris Mason In a change from the Vietnam War—where the U.S. military trained at least 45,000 deploying service members to speak Vietnamese and probably twice that number—for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, apart from some remotely-based intelligence specialists doing classified work, the U.S. military trained almost no deploying... MORE

At Our Own Peril: DoD Risk Assessment in a Post-Primacy World
June 29, 2017 — Author: Mr Nathan P FreierView the Executive Summary The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) faces persistent fundamental change in its strategic and operating environments. This report suggests this reality is the product of the United States entering or being in the midst of a new, more competitive, post-U.S. primacy environment. Post-primacy... MORE

Between Business and War: A Vital Choice for the United States and China
March 29, 2017 — Dr. David Lai, Mr. Frederick J. GellertIn January, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Determined to fix America’s festering domestic and international troubles, the new President put forward his manifesto:For many decades, we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; subsidized the... MORE

Strategic Insights: Reimagining U.S. Foreign Assistance in the Middle East
February 7, 2017 — Author: Dr Christopher J BolanView the Executive Summary U.S. President Donald Trump has proved himself willing to question and challenge many of the conventional wisdoms embedded in contemporary American foreign policies. During his presidential campaign, he questioned the utility of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that has formed... MORE

2016-17 Key Strategic Issues List
July 1, 2016 — Editor: Prof John F TroxellThe United States faces security challenges within a global context of rapid technological change, significant demographic shifts, an uncertain economy, and geostrategic power dynamics of historic proportions. These conditions intensify the level of uncertainty and the pace of change, and raise the potential for... MORE

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Mastering the Gray Zone: Understanding a Changing Era of Conflict
December 2, 2015 — Author: Dr Michael J MazarrView the Executive Summary Discussions of an emerging practice of “gray zone” conflict have become increasingly common throughout the U.S. Army and the wider national security community, but the concept remains ill-defined and poorly understood. This monograph aims to contribute to the emerging dialogue about competition... MORE

Strategic Insights: A New Era in Civ-Mil Relations: Rendering Advice to Those Who Do Not Want It
November 2, 2015 — Dr. Don M. SniderRecently, one of the most respected voices of those who work and teach in the field of American civil-military (civ-mil) relations, Professor Peter Feaver, provocatively offered the following question:When it comes to national security, should one advise President Barack Obama on the best course of action or just the best course of... MORE

Strategic Insights: The Will To Fight
September 11, 2015 — Dr. M. Chris MasonEvents on world battlefields over the past two years should give the U.S. Army pause to reconsider the entire Foreign Internal Defense (FID) mission. The seemingly unarguable axiom that "good training makes good soldiers" has been proven to be not always true. Good training does not always make good soldiers. If the definition of... MORE

Colloquium Brief: Robotics and Military Operations - Kingston Conference on International Security
August 14, 2015 — Dr. Robert J. Bunker Key Insights: A number of definitions for autonomous systems exist. One of the working definitions used at the colloquium was that in which their key feature is viewed as the ability of a given system to perform certain functions independently. Autonomous systems can support military operations by contributing to force... MORE

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army in 2025
July 28, 2015 — Editors: Mr Roy Kamphausen, Dr David LaiView the Executive SummaryThis volume is of special relevance in light of the profound changes occurring within the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). China’s desire to develop a military commensurate with its diverse interests is both legitimate and understandable. The challenge for U.S. Pacific Command... MORE