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Strategy and Force Planning in a Time of Austerity
No full textOn February 13, 1989, General Colin Powell, who was in a transition between National Security Advisor and Commander of U.S. Army Forces Command, addressed the reality of strategy: “All of the sophisticated talk about grand strategy is helpful, but show me your budgets and I will tell you what your strategy is.”1 What General Powell meant is that the definition of the U.S. role in the world and its strategic goals flow from budgets, not the other way around. This paper fleshes out General Powell’s observation by focusing on the means part of the ends, ways, and means of strategy in order to explain how austerity affects force planning and strategy. By first examining budget reductions as a general matter, the paper describes today’s austere U.S. budgetary environment. It concludes with the current strategic options that will likely characterize the contemporary discussion of strategy and force planning.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/strategic-forums/1025/thumbnail.jp
The Grand Strategy of the United States
No full textFrom the earliest days of the Republic, the outlines of an evolving American grand strategy have been evident in our foreign and domestic policy. Much of that history continues to inform our strategic conduct, and therefore American grand strategy rests today on traditional foundations. Despite a welter of theory and debate, grand strategy as a practical matter is remarkably consistent from decade to decade, with its means altering as technology advances and institutions evolve but its ends and ways showing marked continuity.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/strategic-monographs/1008/thumbnail.jp
Joint Force Quarterly 75 (4th Quarter, October 2014)
No full texthttps://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/jfq-full-issue/1038/thumbnail.jp
PRISM Syria Supplemental
No full textThis issue provides an in-depth analysis of the ongoing Syrian conflict. Through a collection of expert essays, policy recommendations, and interviews, the issue explores the humanitarian crisis, the role of Salafi networks, and the socio-economic impact on Syria’s urban poor. Contributors offer insights on supporting the opposition, advancing transitional justice, and addressing the challenges of post-conflict reconciliation. Featuring perspectives from diplomats, scholars, and field practitioners, this volume serves as a guide for policymakers navigating the Syrian crisis.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/prism-full-issue/1016/thumbnail.jp
Joint Force Quarterly 74 (3rd Quarterly, July 2014)
No full texthttps://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/jfq-full-issue/1039/thumbnail.jp
The Rising Terrorist Threat in Tanzania: Domestic Islamist Militancy and Regional Threats
No full textDespite its reputation for peace and stability in a troubled region, the East African country of Tanzania is experiencing a rising number of militant Islamist attacks that have targeted local Christian leaders and foreign tourists, as well as popular bars and restaurants. These attacks, which began in 2012, rarely make the headlines of international media. However, they should serve as a wake-up call for U.S. policymakers to increase short-term engagement with Tanzanian officials and support for Tanzanian security agencies to preempt the emergence of a more significant threat to U.S. and international interests in East Africa.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/strategic-forums/1024/thumbnail.jp
The Noncommissioned Officer and Petty Officer: Backbone of the Armed Forces
No full textA first of its kind, this book—of, by, and for the noncommissioned officer and petty officer—is a comprehensive explanation of the enlisted leader across the U.S. Armed Services. It complements The Armed Forces Officer, the latest edition of which was published by NDU Press in 2007, as well as the Services’ NCO/PO manuals and handbooks. Written by a team of Active, Reserve, and retired senior enlisted leaders from all Service branches, this book defines and describes how NCOs/POs fit into an organization, centers them in the Profession of Arms, explains their dual roles of complementing the officer and enabling the force, and exposes their international engagement. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey writes in his foreword to the book, “We know noncommissioned officers and petty officers to have exceptional competence, professional character, and soldierly grit—they are exemplars of our Profession of Arms.”https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/books-and-book-chapters/1011/thumbnail.jp
PRISM Vol. 4, No. 4
No full textThis volume explores critical global security issues and evolving geopolitical dynamics. It opens with an analysis of Egypt’s political transformation and a reflection on U.S.-Taliban negotiations. Other features address the rising threat of strategic terrorism, the hybrid nature of modern conflicts, and the importance of state legitimacy in foreign operations. Discussions on rules of engagement, the meaning of victory, and the shifting roles of armed forces provide further insight into contemporary military challenges. The From the Field section examines corruption and organized crime in Afghanistan. The volume concludes with book reviews on global power shifts and gender in warfare, and an interview with Lieutenant General Mike Flynn.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/prism-full-issue/1015/thumbnail.jp
The Bosnian Train and Equip Program: A Lesson in Interagency Integration of Hard and Soft Power
No full textMilitary assistance to Bosnian forces was part of a complex plan to resolve what one former Secretary of State called “the problem from hell.” When Yugoslavia began to disintegrate in the early 1990s following the Soviet Union’s demise, it released a mix of nationalist and ethnic movements that led to civil war. Ill-disciplined combinations of regular and irregular forces struggled to control territory and protect civilians, sometimes herding them toward ethnically homogenous enclaves in a process widely referred to as “ethnic cleansing.” The intentional displacement of civilian populations, often encouraged by atrocities including mass murder and rape, was a tragic and complex foreign policy problem that defied simple and easy solutions.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/inss-strategic-perspectives/1027/thumbnail.jp
The Flawed Strategic Debate on Syria
No full textDating from Bashar al-Asad’s first suppression of mass demonstrations in April 2011, the war in Syria is now 3 years old, has killed more than 130,000 Syrians, and displaced nine million Syrians, two million as refugees into neighboring countries.1 Foreign intervention has increasingly shaped the course of the fighting and will continue to have substantial regional consequences. The complexity of this bitter, nominally internal struggle has dampened American enthusiasm for joining the fray or even paying much attention to Syria, notwithstanding the chemical weapon attacks on Gouta, east of Damascus, last August, which captured the attention of the American people, media, and policy community. With an international taboo broken and a Presidential redline crossed, public debate spiked in August–September 2013 over U.S. interests in Syria and the limits on what we will do to secure them. Debate did not result in a consensus for action.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/strategic-forums/1027/thumbnail.jp