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Maximizing the Returns of Government Venture Capital Programs
No full textThe stories of Google and Segway certainly end differently. With a market capitalization of over $180 billion, Google is arguably the biggest success in the information technology (IT) industry in the last decade. The phrase google it has worked its way into everyday language and dictionaries. On the other hand, Segway remains a privately held company whose products are largely relegated to use by tourists in major cities and security personnel at airports. We certainly do not hear people say that they “segwayed” to work this morning.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/defense-horizons/1013/thumbnail.jp
Task Force Stryker Network-Centric Operations in Afghanistan
No full textThis case study examines the real-world application of the network-centric warfare concept during combat operations in Afghanistan.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/defense-tech-papers/1024/thumbnail.jp
Capability Development in Support of Comprehensive Approaches: Transforming International Civil-Military Interactions
No full textThis book is the product of the Second International Transformation (ITX2) Conference, held in Rome, Italy, at the NATO Defense College (NDC) in June 2011.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/books-and-book-chapters/1017/thumbnail.jp
Countering the Lord’s Resistance Army in Central Africa
No full textThe Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is one of Africa’s most brutal militia forces.1 It has plagued Central Africa, particularly northern Uganda, for over two decades. The group’s tactics provide textbook of war crimes and crimes against humanity. When attacking civil- LRA instills fear by selecting random individuals for brutal executions. Children are abducted to serve as porters, sex slaves, and new militia. In order to indoctrinate child soldiers, young abductees are routinely forced to kill their own family members and other children, or be murdered them- selves. Anyone caught trying to escape from the LRA is summarily executed. By contrast with other African rebel groups, which occasionally adopt such brutal tactics, the LRA has conducted such atrocities on a systematic and prolonged basis.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/strategic-forums/1042/thumbnail.jp
Toward a Theory of Spacepower: Selected Essays
No full textThis volume is a product of the efforts of the Institute for National Strategic Studies Spacepower Theory Project Team, which was tasked by the Department of Defense to create a theoretical framework for examining spacepower and its relationship to the achievement of national objectives. The team was charged with considering the space domain in a broad and holistic way, incorporating a wide range of perspectives from U.S. and international space actors engaged in scientific, commercial, intelligence, and military enterprises.
This collection of papers commissioned by the team serves as a starting point for continued discourse on ways to extend, modify, refine, and integrate a broad range of viewpoints about human-initiated space activity, its relationship to our globalized society, and its economic, political, and security interactions. It will equip practitioners, scholars, students, and citizens with the historical background and conceptual framework to navigate through and assess the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly complex space environment.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/books-and-book-chapters/1020/thumbnail.jp
U.S. Ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention
No full textOn October 1, 1990, two months after Iraq’s surprise invasion and annexation of Kuwait had put the United States and other members of the international community on a collision course with the Saddam Hussein regime, President George H.W. Bush spoke to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York. He described Iraq’s brutal aggression against its neighbor as “a throwback to another era, a dark relic from a dark time.” Noting that Saddam Hussein had waged a “genocidal poison gas war” against Iraq’s restive Kurdish minority during the 1980s, President Bush hinted that if it ultimately proved necessary to liberate Kuwait by force, the United States and its allies could face Iraqi attacks with chemical weapons—highly toxic chemicals designed to incapacitate or kill.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/wmd-case-studies/1003/thumbnail.jp
PRISM Vol. 2, No. 4
No full textThis issue of PRISM explores contemporary challenges in conflict transformation, state-building, governance, security, and strategic engagement across multiple global contexts. The Features section examines critical issues such as transforming the conflict in Afghanistan, the role of investment and job creation in state-building, and operationalizing anticipatory governance. The issue also addresses Africa’s regional engagement strategies and NATO’s response to hybrid threats.
In From the Field, a case study on the 2009 Malakand operation highlights counterinsurgency’s role in peace-building. The Lessons Learned section critiques the debate surrounding the effectiveness of the Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP). There is an interview with General Richard B. Myers, offering perspectives on leadership and military strategy. Lastly, a book review of The Future of Power provides analysis on shifting global influence dynamics.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/prism-full-issue/1007/thumbnail.jp
The Emergence of China in the Middle East
No full textDuring the 9th century, Arab traders regularly plied lucrative maritime routes that connected the Persian Gulf to southern China by way of the Indian Ocean. This commercial activity, which mostly involved jade, silk, and other luxury goods, went on for centuries and became part of what is now known as the Silk Road. In some ways, the world is now witnessing a restoration of that ancient trading relationship between two civilizations—except that oil and consumer goods have replaced jade and silk.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/strategic-forums/1041/thumbnail.jp
PRISM Vol. 3, No. 1
No full textThis issue of PRISM critically examines the evolving landscape of counterinsurgency, stabilization, and security cooperation in the wake of the Afghanistan conflict. The Features section explores the crisis facing counterinsurgency doctrine, the challenges of negotiating a settlement in Afghanistan, and the limitations of U.S. stabilization and reconstruction efforts. Articles on indirect military approaches, nation-building, and the absence of a Marshall Plan for the Middle East offer perspectives on state resilience and post-conflict recovery.
Further analysis delves into the role of military engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa and enduring military-to-military partnerships during the Arab Spring. From the Field provides a case study on the conflict in Bala Morghab, while Lessons Learned examines Iraq’s civil-military capacity-building efforts from 2007 to 2010. The issue concludes with a book review of Weak Links: Fragile States, Global Threats, and International Security.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/prism-full-issue/1008/thumbnail.jp
PRISM Vol. 2, No. 3
No full textPRISM is published by the National Defense University Press for the Center for Complex Operations. PRISM is a security studies journal chartered to inform members of U.S. Federal agencies, allies, and other partners on complex and integrated national security operations; reconstruction and nation-building; relevant policy and strategy; lessons learned; and developments in training and education to transform America’s security and development apparatus to meet tomorrow’s challenges better while promoting freedom today.https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/prism-full-issue/1006/thumbnail.jp