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The World\u27s Most Destructive Weapons: Thirty Years of the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction
No full textNDU’s Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD), part of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), has been a trusted resource on WMD challenges to senior Defense and other interagency policy leaders for 30 years. Combining deep expertise, extensive policy experience, and a wide-ranging professional network, the Center helps stakeholders across the WMD community unpack hard problems and frame solutions. Just as important is the Center’s work in preparing the next generation of military and civilian leaders and contributing to original research and the creation of new knowledge in the WMD field.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/ndupress-books/1007/thumbnail.jp
The PPWT and Ongoing Challenges to Arms Control in Space
No full textOn January 11, 2007, China tested an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile, destroying a weather satellite and creating about 35,000 pieces of orbital debris, the largest debris event in history. This highlighted the vulnerability of space assets and the need for effective space arms control. Despite proposals like the 2008 PPWT by China and Russia, effective agreements are hindered by verification challenges and diverse ASAT technologies. The 2014 EU Code of Conduct failed to gain consensus. The 2022 U.S. ban on direct-ascent ASAT tests is a positive step but doesn’t address all threats. The UN’s guidelines for the Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities provide a framework, but the PPWT could harm international interests. Focus should be on enforceable agreements that lay the groundwork for comprehensive arms control, shaping a safer space domain
Taking Cues From Complexity: How Complex Adaptive Systems Prepare for All-Domain Operations
No full textHow can a complex adaptive systems (CAS) model guide a Service when facing future challenges at the individual and Service/institutional levels? This article provides recommendations on how to address these challenges taken from the study of CAS. These studies can inform efforts to develop doctrine, education, training, planning, and eventual implementation of joint all-domain operations (JADO) doctrine
Airpower in the War Against ISIS
No full textIn Airpower in the War Against ISIS, Benjamin Lambeth not only weaves an account that celebrates the decisive role he insists airpower played in the defeat of the so-called Islamic State (IS) but also depicts tragically missed opportunities and almost incomprehensibly poor judgment on the part of U.S. civilian and military leaders that unnecessarily delayed that defeat
The Need for U.S. Stability Policing
No full textThe article advocates for the creation of a U.S. Military Police Stability Battalion to enhance the country\u27s ability to maintain peace in conflict zones. By integrating interagency law enforcement assets, such as the Department of Justice and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, this battalion would rapidly deploy and tailor operations to regional needs, such as countering trafficking. While not involved in military or counterinsurgency training, the battalion would require military protection. Establishing this capability would reduce reliance on allies, provide greater flexibility for commanders, and help prevent fragile states from collapsing, ultimately saving costs by investing in stability during peacetime
Stop Talking to Yourself: Military Recruiting in the Modern Age
No full textThis article explores strategies to enhance military recruitment, particularly targeting Generation Z, by focusing on reconnecting veterans with society, implementing internships and mentorships, and engaging key influencers such as parents and educators. Key initiatives include partnering with veteran organizations to highlight military benefits, offering military internships to introduce youth to nontraditional military career paths, and strengthening outreach to influencers, especially parents, who significantly impact enlistment decisions. By improving media use and public engagement, the military can reshape its image for the next generation, aligning recruitment efforts with youth values and concerns
Supporting People With Policy and Platforms: The Key to Acquisition Reform
No full textIn the evolving landscape of AI and dual-use technologies, the DoD faces challenges in managing intellectual property (IP) and adapting acquisition strategies. Ellen Lord’s Software Acquisition Pathway highlights how commercial practices can advance DoD strategies through iterative development and collaboration. Flexible funding supports dynamic software projects. Training improvements aim to enhance skills with a focus on hands-on learning. The Senior Service College Fellowship (SSCF) and Acquisition Instructor Course offer immersive training for leaders at different career stages. Internationally, the UK’S 2009 Gray Report emphasizes significant investments in acquisition training. To respond effectively to evolving threats, the DoD must reform acquisition processes swiftly. Adopting models like the Acquisition Instructor Course can enhance responsiveness and integrate technological expertise
An Interview with Anthony J. Cotton
No full textOur threats are not isolated to one command or nation. These global challenges require a concerted effort to strengthen not only deterrence but also partnerships with our allies and partners. For the first time, the United States faces two major nuclear powers that could operate at any level or domain of conflict to meet their national objectives. We are now in a multipolar world with potential adversaries that could threaten the United States, our allies, and our partners with nuclear weapons and nonnuclear capabilities that could have devastating impacts
Responsive Space and Strategic Information
No full textAmerican strategists face a daunting challenge; they must assure and defend American and allied interests, induce and encourage international security cooperation, and deter, dissuade, and defeat a diverse range of potential adversaries. This challenge has been addressed by senior political leadership in recent policy statements, such as the Nuclear Posture Review of 2002, and in the formation of an expanded U.S. Strategic Command, but this vision has not yet taken root in the Department of Defense components responsible for providing operational capability.
We propose a new strategic posture based upon a war-prevention focus. The central element of our proposal is a transformational space and information sortie capability. American space capabilities now depend on a fixed infrastructure of large, expensive satellites. We argue for a complementary capability to launch small, inexpensive payloads in time of crisis to augment and reconstitute existing capabilities and perform entirely new special operation missions and global conventional strikes through space. These assets also would expand information operations beyond network defense and network attack to create effects in the minds of our adversaries and those who would support them.
An enabler for these new capabilities will be the technology to deliver effects in and through space rapidly and affordably. A similar capability will be needed to deliver effects through cyber space. Space-based nodes would be critical components of an integrated physical, cyber, and psychological application of military force and strategic influence. These technologies exist today both in the United States and elsewhere. But a focused and funded program to develop them for military purposes is not yet in place.
This new strategic posture will arguably require the formation of a new space and information military service to organize, train, and equip the space and information force structure of the future. The nucleus of such a new service exists today in the U.S. Strategic Command and its components.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/defense-horizons/1044/thumbnail.jp
Executive Summary
No full textΑs I have written before in this space, change is a constant. NDU Press and Joint Force Quarterly are not immune to this fact. Recently, we moved to a more modern Web-based platform that will be less expensive to maintain and operate. The work became more complicated than anticipated, causing JFQ 113 to be a bit tardy online and in the mailbox, but our team worked out a way to daylight. Leading the charge was our “unicorn” Internet Publications Editor, Ms. Joanna “Joey” Seich. She took a suggested path from my director here at NDU’s Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), Dr. Denise Natali, and did the hard work of asking all the right questions and developing a workable plan. Despite challenges both virtual and physical, we are now able to bring you JFQ—and later, the entire INSS catalog—on the Digital Commons platform (https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu). We join more than 650 other universities on this global research and information collaboration system that also serves the public with access to our collection of cutting-edge and historical work on the joint force and more. Let us know what you think of this new experience