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The Next \u3ci\u3eNational Defense Strategy\u3c/i\u3e: Mission-Based Force Planning
Full text linkThe 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 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 professional military education / top-level schools will better understand the strategic context and key parameters of the internal debate at the Pentagon about the upcoming National Defense Strategy
Strategic Narratives to Counter Global Threats
Full text linkThis article argues that the current National Security Strategy lacks the necessary coherence and fidelity to mobilize collective action against the emerging Russia-China axis. It merges multiple theoretical concepts to assert that the “rules-based order” theme is insufficient for mobilizing public support. Using textual analysis of the strategy compared with publicly available polling to determine levels of popular resonance, the authors find that the “rules-based order emphasis” does not resonate. This study’s conclusions will assist practitioners as they develop an updated National Security Strategy in the new presidential administration
Book Review: Men of God, Men of War: Military Chaplains as Ministers, Warriors, and Prisoners
No full textAuthor: Robert C. Doyle
Reviewed by: Chaplain (Colonel) Geoff Bailey, PhD, US Army War College chaplain and director of ethical development, Department of Command, Leadership, and Management, US Army War College
Robert C. Doyle offers a sweeping historical study of chaplains in American wars, revealing how faith and duty intersected on battlefields and in prison camps.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1104/thumbnail.jp
Civil-Military Relations and Democratic Backsliding
Full text linkThis article identifies a gap in the field of civil-military relations: the relationship between the military and the quality of a democracy
Book Review: Next War: Reimagining How We Fight
Full text linkAuthor: John Antal
Reviewed by Colonel Jeffrey Caton (US Air Force, retired), president, Kepler Strategies LLC
In Next War: Reimagining How We Fight, by John Antal, the author’s goal is to “draw lessons and conclusions from the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, the Israeli-Hamas War, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War.” He highlights nine disrupters that he claims are changing modern warfare. Reviewer Jeffery Caton sees room for improvement.
©2025 Jeffrey Catonhttps://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1077/thumbnail.jp
Book Review: Origins of the Just War: Military Ethics and Culture in the Ancient Near East
Full text linkAuthor: Rory Cox
Reviewed by Dr. Pauline Shanks Kaurin, Stockdale Chair in Professional Military Ethics and professor, College of Leadership and Ethics, US Naval War College
Origins of the Just War: Military Ethics and Culture in the Ancient Near East, by Rory Cox, explores three ancient cultures —Egyptian, Hittite and Israeli—and how they navigated their relationships between ethics and war. Factors central to these civilizations include political authority, divine leadership, justice, and putting down rebellion. The book offers various disciplinary perspectives including philosophy, religion, art, history, sociology, and international relations. The reviewer notes, “This book will be of interest and accessible to academics, practitioners, and general interest readers alike; it reminds us about the value of broadening our philosophical arguments with the influence of history, religion, law, and culture.”
©2025 Pauline Shanks Kaurinhttps://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1085/thumbnail.jp
Drones and the Changing Character of War
No full textCheap drones have transformed the character of war by creating a “mass effect” that challenges traditional principles of force concentration. Unlike commentary focused on offense-defense debates or ethics, this article explains how Jevons’s Paradox, the Red Queen Effect, and models like Lanchester’s Laws and Hughes’s Salvo Equations underpin this shift. Drawing on lessons from Ukraine, historical theory, and production trends, it explains why the production of cheap “precision mass” is expected to accelerate. For military and policy practitioners, the analysis offers urgent guidance for adapting tactics, procurement, and doctrine to a battlefield dominated by ubiquitous, low-cost drones—before adversaries exploit this advantage
Book Review: Disputed Decisions of World War II: Decision Science and Game Theory Perspectives
No full textAuthor: Mark Thompson
Reviewed by: James Allen Knechtmann, supervisory archivist, chief, Ridgway Library Branch, Army Heritage and Education Center, US Army War College
In this innovative analysis of World War II, Thompson applies decision science and game theory to reexamine some of the conflict’s most controversial strategic choices. By modeling the logic behind pivotal decisions, he challenges conventional narratives and reveals the complexity of wartime leadership. This book offers a fresh lens for historians, strategists, and analysts seeking deeper insight into the calculus of war.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1105/thumbnail.jp
Book Review: Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present
Full text linkAuthor: Fareed Zakaria
Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Martin, director, Defense Strategy Course, US Army War College, and John Erickson, senior engineer, Axiom Technologies
Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present explores revolutions from the seventeenth century to today. Part I offers historical case studies of revolutions, including socioeconomic, political, and technological examples. Part II discusses current economic, technological, identity, and geopolitical revolutions and their implications—like the ways technology improves life but at the price of depersonalization and digital addiction for some. The reviewer recommends this book for lovers of international relations, history, philosophy, and strategic studies and notes, “Military and intelligence officials and policymakers will benefit from reading the book as they place nation-impacting decisions into context.”https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1099/thumbnail.jp