Cover of Weapons in Space

Jan. 27, 2025

Weapons in Space: Technology, Politics, and the Rise and Fall of the Strategic Defense Initiative

In Weapons in Space: Technology, Politics, and the Rise and Fall of the Strategic Defense Initiative, Aaron Bateman, assistant professor of history and international affairs at The George Washington University and a member of the university’s Space Policy Institute, distills recently declassified U.S., Soviet, and United Kingdom records to provide new insights into the origins, history, and legacy of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).

Cover of The Coming Wave

Jan. 27, 2025

The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma

The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the 21 st Century’s Greatest Dilemma is an intriguing history of artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic biology (SynBio) that also affords a lay reader a sense of the state of the art in both fields.

Statues of Greek historian Polybius and Goddess Athena in front of Parliament building in Austria, Vienna

Jan. 27, 2025

Polybian Warfare: The First Punic War as a Case Study in Strategic Competition and Joint Warfighting

The spring winds around Sicily had shifted during the day, but not before Praetor Quintus Valerius Falto had engaged the heavily laden Carthaginian fleet.

Cover of China's Use of Armed Coercion

Jan. 27, 2025

China’s Use of Armed Coercion: To Win Without Fighting

One of the most vexing foreign policy challenges for U.S. analysts, warfighters, and policymakers is how to deal with China’s gray zone activities.

Air Force Senior Airman Uchenna Ekwueme, 635th Materiel Maintenance Support Squadron cargo movement technician, processes inbound shipment at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, September 18, 2024

Jan. 27, 2025

It’s the Chain That Broke It: The Strategic Supply Chains Underpinning National Security

In her address to the Eisenhower School student body at National Defense University in February 2024, Jennifer Santos, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, stated that acquisition leaders can no longer afford to ignore the supply chain vulnerabilities of the industries contracted to provide materiel to the Department of Defense (DOD).

U.S. Army Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment arrive at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Oct. 7, 2024, during the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 25-1.

Jan. 27, 2025

The Urgency of Warfighting Renewal: Five Principles for Today’s Professional Military Education

When Secretary of Defense General James Mattis published the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS), one statement in the summary companion document garnered great attention—and reaction—among the professional military education (PME) community: “PME has stagnated, focused more on the accomplishment of mandatory credit at the expense of lethality and ingenuity.”

Sailors carry Intelligence Specialist 2nd Class Isaac Eaker, from La Jolla, California, assigned to intelligence department’s satellite imagery analyzation division, to an elevator on the flight deck during a medical drill aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) while underway in the Pacific Ocean.

Jan. 27, 2025

Bullets, Bandages, and Fairy Dust: Improving DMO Health Services Support With Wargaming

Significant gaps in understanding persist across the joint and combined maritime enterprise when it comes to wargaming distributed maritime operations (DMO) and expeditionary advanced base operations (EABO) despite continued campaigns of learning.

Two B-1B Lancers assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, fly in formation above Gulf of Mexico.

Jan. 27, 2025

Updating the TACS/AAGS for Large-Scale Combat Operations

The Theater Air Control System (TACS)/Army Air-Ground System (AAGS) has been a staple of joint air-ground doctrine since May 1966, when General William Westmoreland, commander, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, integrated the air and ground systems into the first joint air-ground operations system.

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Jameson Dudley, left, crew master with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252 (VMGR-252), and U.S. Army Sgt. Nijoku Odom, right, intelligence analyst with 303rd psychological operations company (303rd POCO), throw leaflets from a KC-130 Super Hercules over southern Afghanistan.

Jan. 27, 2025

Being Believed: Persuasion and the Narrative in Military Operations

To the renowned scholar Thomas Schelling, the central aspect of nuclear deterrence is being believed.

Japanese soldiers in Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905

Jan. 27, 2025

Determining Political Objectives

Political objectives are the key element of a grand or national/coalition security strategy.

Chinese soldiers browse news on desktop computers at People’s Liberation Army garrison in Chongqing, China.

Jan. 27, 2025

Is the PLA Overestimating the Potential of Artificial Intelligence?

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is using artificial intelligence (AI) to build a world-class military.

General CQ Brown, Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hosts Service Chiefs and Combatant Commanders for Strategic Seminar Series held at Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters.

Jan. 27, 2025

The Art of Campaigning: Joint Planners Working at the Intersections of Everything

Understandably, there is quite a bit of confusion about the correct use of the military term campaigning.

Live fire exercise conducted by Irish Defence Forces Artillery School at Glen of Imaal range in County Wicklow, Irelan

Jan. 27, 2025

Celtic Security in the Atlantic: How Does Ireland Secure Europe’s Western Flank?

In a moving speech to the Finnish parliament last summer, Speaker Matti Vanhanen warned that Russia will continue using “brutal military power on a large scale to pursue its own illusory goals.”

Sgt. Maj. Gregory Byrd, the operations sergeant major for the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, conducts mission analysis with a group of staff officers during annual training at Camp Ripley.

Jan. 27, 2025

Adopting a Data-Centric Mindset for Operational Planning

The Department of Defense (DOD) and its Service components are investing in advanced technologies to gain and maintain a competitive advantage over adversaries and pacing threats such as China and Russia.

Grable event, part of Operation Upshot-Knothole, involved 15-kiloton nuclear weapons test using M9 280-millimeter Artillery Fired Atomic Projectile fired from M65 Atomic Cannon, May 25, 1953, in Area 5 of Nevada Test Site

Jan. 27, 2025

Preparing for Adversary Employment of Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons: Tactical Effects, Operational Impacts, Strategic Implications

For the past 30-plus years since the end of the Cold War, the Department of Defense has been able to operate with no real threat of nuclear weapons on the battlefield.

U.S. Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Crisis Response - Central Command, provide assistance during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 20. U.S. service members are assisting the Department of State with an orderly drawdown of designated personnel in Afghanistan.

Jan. 27, 2025

Risk: A Weak Element in U.S. Strategy Formulation

Risk is an enduring reality in strategic decisionmaking. The rigorous assessment of risk is—or should be—a critical step in strategy development.

A person draped in the Syrian opposition flag looks out over a large protest in a city square, where a massive crowd gathers, many carrying similar flags. The scene is framed by tall buildings and city streets filled with people.

Jan. 27, 2025

Executive Summary

As we go to press with this issue, Bashar al-Asad, one of the long-time dictators in the Middle East, has fled to Russia, and the Syrian people have risen to make that happen.

MH-60S Seahawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5 picks up nets from flight deck during vertical replenishment aboard aircraft carrier USS George Washington.

Jan. 27, 2025

Joint Force Quarterly 116 (1st Quarter 2025)

As we go to press with this issue, Bashar al-Asad, one of the longtime dictators in the Middle East, has fled to Russia, and the Syrian people have risen to make that happen.

The words, "The Fragile Balance of Terror," in all caps and white text over an image of a cloudy blue sky.

Oct. 22, 2024

The Fragile Balance of Terror: Deterrence in the New Nuclear Age

In his seminal 1958 paper The Delicate Balance of Terror, political scientist Albert Wohlstetter famously argued that nuclear deterrence was far less intrinsically stable than was commonly supposed.

Book cover for "The Military Legacy of Alexander the Great: Lessons for the Information Age" by Michael P. Ferguson and Ian Worthington. The top half features an ancient mosaic depicting Alexander the Great in battle. The bottom half shows a modern military drone flying over a desert landscape. The subtitle emphasizes contemporary military insights, and the cover notes a conclusion by Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, U.S. Army (retired). The publisher, Routledge, is listed at the bottom right.

Oct. 22, 2024

The Military Legacy of Alexander the Great: Lessons for the Information Age

The Military Legacy of Alexander the Great: Lessons for the Information Age offers readers a unique perspective on the relevance of Alexander’s aspirations, battles, campaigns, and leadership for the 21st century.

Book cover of "Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans: The British Occupation of Germany, 1945–49" by Daniel Cowling. The cover features a monochrome image of a British soldier in uniform standing over a large, toppled Nazi eagle emblem with a swastika, symbolizing the fall of Nazi Germany. The title is in bold yellow and white type, and a quote at the top describes the book as "A ground-breaking account of a little-known period" by Giles Milton.

Oct. 22, 2024

Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans: The British Occupation of Germany, 1945–49

As an idea that is teeming with clichés, recent examples of catastrophic failure, and an apparent lack of any institutionalization of lessons, “winning the peace” is an element that must be grappled with in modern strategy.

Remains of Antonov An-225 Mriya, world’s largest cargo plane, destroyed during Russian attack on Antonov Airport, Hostomel, Ukraine, in February 2022

Oct. 22, 2024

From Sparta to Hostomel: The Enduring Role of Joint Forcible Entry Operations

With few exceptions since World War II, the U.S. military possessed global access to intermediate staging bases that enabled it to mass combat power in an uncontested manner prior to war.

Guided-missile destroyer USS Carney launches land attack missiles while operating in U.S. Naval Central Command area of operations, February 3, 2024

Oct. 22, 2024

The Joint Functions: Theory, Doctrine, and Practice

Conflict may be defined as “a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one.”

Lieutenant Tushar Madan, left, U.S. Navy exchange officer to Australia’s Headquarters Joint Operations Command J2 branch; U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Brian Vile, center, intelligence specialist; and Corporal Salmon Shaedon, assistant forecaster, both with Marine Rotational Force– Darwin 24.3, operate Skydio drone as part of counter–unmanned aircraft systems field test at Mount Bundey Training Area, Northern Territory, Australia.

Oct. 22, 2024

Better in Pairs: Divide the Indo-Pacific Theater in Half

Every two years the Department of Defense (DOD) reviews the Unified Command Plan (UCP) by assessing the geographic boundaries, missions, and force structure of the unified combatant commands against the operational environment.

Bulgarian military police train by detaining and searching U.S. military police forces from 508th Military Police Company during Saber Guardian

Oct. 22, 2024

The Need for U.S. Stability Policing

Military commanders must plan for, train, and resource an adequate number of military personnel to implement order, protect property, and maintain security to prevent lawlessness.

Sailors man rails on flight deck of USS George Washington

Oct. 22, 2024

The Profession of Arms: What Scholars, Practitioners, and Others of Note Have Had to Say

The so-called profession of arms is both a descriptive label and a normative imperative that has been with us throughout the modern and postmodern eras.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing front.

Oct. 22, 2024

One Hundredth Anniversary of the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy: A Tribute in Three Verses

The year 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy. E

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CQ Brown, Jr., lay wreath honoring 184 lives lost at Pentagon

Oct. 22, 2024

Ethical Leadership Development: Highlights from the Past and a Glimpse of the Future

An enduring advantage of the U.S. military over decades has been its professional development of both officers and enlisted Servicemembers.

Recruits call home during scheduled divisional phone calls at Navy’s Recruit Training Command

Oct. 22, 2024

Stop Talking to Yourself: Military Recruiting in the Modern Age

The decision to join the military is profoundly influenced by how individuals perceive military service. Recent evidence indicates that young people tend to have a negative view of the military, and the Department of Defense (DOD) has struggled to effectively communicate with the youth market.

Cartoon map of Union General Winfield Scott’s proposed Anaconda Plan to cut off Confederacy from external markets and sources of materiel and blockade Southern coasts and secure control of Mississippi River

Oct. 22, 2024

Considering the Utility of Modern Blockade in a Protracted Conflict With China

The January 2023 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) publication The First Battle of the Next War: Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan is a thorough and sobering report detailing 24 hypothetical scenarios in which China takes military action to unify Taiwan with its mainland.

Oct. 22, 2024

Winners of the 2024 Essay Competitions

NDU Press hosted the final round of judging on May 16–17, 2024, during which 28 faculty judges from 17 participating professional military education (PME) institutions selected the best entries in each category.

A U.S. service member in camo and a tactical vest participates in an exercise to prepare and train for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear warfare,

Oct. 22, 2024

CBRN Defense Readiness Reporting

In this era of Great Power competition, the joint force faces strategic rivals that challenge its ability to perform operations across the range of military operations, including countering weapons of mass destruction and defending against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats.

U.S. Marines with 2nd Distribution Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, conduct tactical vehicle onload after exercise Native Fury 24 at a port in the United Arab Emirates.

Oct. 22, 2024

Giving Our “Paper Tiger” Real Teeth: Fixing the U.S. Military’s Plans for Contested Logistics Against China

There is growing concern that the U.S. military is unable to deter or win a conflict with China in the Western Pacific.

Marine Corps Private First Class Arnoldo RomeroVelazco, rifleman with 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, posts security to secure Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy in Los Angeles, California, March 27, 2020, deployed in support of Nation’s COVID-19 response efforts.

Oct. 22, 2024

The Implications of the New Security Environment on the National Health Systems Enterprise

The last decade has seen a progressive breakdown in global acceptance of a rules-based international system.

Air Force C-130 Hercules flies over group of Navy SEALS during exercise Arctic Edge.

Oct. 22, 2024

The Key to Arctic Dominance: Establishing an Arctic-Focused Subordinate Unified Command

As Arctic and non-Arctic nations begin to increase their activities in the region, security concerns will only increase, justifying the need for a dedicated joint command that can operate in the harsh conditions of the region.

An "I Voted" button that is red, white and blue, is shown being dropped into a white ballot box.

Oct. 22, 2024

Executive Summary

We are looking for great things from her moving forward. We are also looking for your views on the joint force about the world you face, because I am still a believer that the pen is mightier than the sword.

Air Force Academy cadets graduate during ceremony at Falcon Stadium, Air Force Academy, Colorado, May 26, 2021.

Oct. 21, 2024

Joint Force Quarterly 115 (4th Quarter 2024)

By the time you read this, our national elections will be imminent. Our next President, regardless of whom that will be, must confront the world as it is, not as it could be. No one solution will fit all foreign conflicts, and none of these will necessarily fit our domestic needs.

Cover of Strategic Forum 312: China's Forever War: What If a Taiwan Invasion Fails?

Oct. 16, 2024

China’s Forever War: What If a Taiwan Invasion Fails?

As the prospects of a war across the Taiwan Strait increase, more attention is being paid to the ramifications of conflict for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the region. Analysts have pondered what a PRC victory over Taiwan could imply for the regional military balance and the broader security architecture. Others have calculated the economic disruptions that a war would cause for China as well as for the global economy. Such assessments underscore the costs of conflict and thus the need to find ways to prevent war by deterring aggression.

Cover page of CSWMD 30 Years Anniversary PDF. "The World's Most Destructive Weapons" is overlayed on the cover with an image of Earth in the background.

Oct. 7, 2024

Thirty Years of the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction

NDU’s Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD), part of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, has been a trusted resource on WMD challenges to senior Defense and other interagency policy leaders for 30 years.

Book cover of The New Fire: War, Peace, and Democracy in the Age of AI by Ben Buchanan and Andrew Imbrie. The background features a geometric, flame-like pattern in shades of red, orange, and purple on a dark blue background. The title is prominently displayed in large, stylized font, with the authors' names at the top in yellow text.

July 30, 2024

The New Fire: War, Peace, and Democracy in the Age of AI

In November 2023, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Officer of the Department of Defense (DOD), Craig Martell, stated, “Technologies evolve.

Book cover of The Political Thought of Xi Jinping by Steve Tsang and Olivia Cheung. The background is gold with the title text in large white and red letters. At the bottom right, a black-and-white image of Xi Jinping is shown walking on a bright red carpet.

July 30, 2024

The Political Thought of Xi Jinping

Not long after Xi Jinping assumed the post of General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in November 2012, a debate among China-watchers emerged over the nature of Xi’s leadership.

Book cover of From Peril to Partnership by Paul J. Angelo. The subtitle reads: US Security Assistance and the Bid to Stabilize Colombia and Mexico. The design shows two fortress-like buildings with staircases and multiple levels. On the left side, small figures appear to represent soldiers, riot police, and surveillance operations with sandbags and cameras. On the right side, figures represent armed groups, peace negotiators, and civilians, with rifles stacked against a wall. A dove of peace flies in the middle above the gap between the two buildings. The title is displayed in bold red and white across the top.

July 30, 2024

From Peril to Partnership: U.S. Security Assistance and the Bid to Stabilize Colombia and Mexico

Recent scrutiny from Congress on U.S. military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan has stimulated among both scholars and practitioners an increased interest in the topic of security assistance.

Maj. Karen Deloria, a Japanese-language trained foreign area officer assigned to U.S. Forces Korea, talks live on air on the American Forces Network Jan. 25 at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, about the U.S. Army’s opportunities to serve as a FAO.

July 30, 2024

Five Truths for Foreign Area Officers

Colonel John Collins served in the U.S. Army through three wars and went on to be a revered military strategist and scholar.

Marines assigned to Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, exit CH-53E Super Stallion attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 165 (Reinforced), 15th MEU, for amphibious landing during exercise Tiger Triumph at Kakinada Beach, India.

July 30, 2024

The Marine Corps the United States Needs

The U.S. Marine Corps is in the process of a bold modernization initiative known as Force Design, and Congress has called for an independent review, assessment, and analysis of this initiative.

College of International Security Affairs Class of 2023 students walk into Abraham Lincoln Hall, National Defense University.

July 30, 2024

Balancing Nonresident Joint Professional Military Education With Military Life

Education has been a top focus in the United States since its earliest days.

An F/A-18C Hornet from the Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 34 "Blue Blasters" flies over the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)

July 30, 2024

In Memoriam: Douglas Michael “Dorothy” Morea Commander, U.S. Navy August 8, 1982–January 2, 2024

Commander Doug “Dorothy” Morea hailed from Port Washington, New York, and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. Doug earned his Wings of Gold in July 2006 and began training in the F/A-18 Hornet shortly thereafter.

Newly commissioned Navy ensigns take oath of office during Naval Academy’s Class of 2023 graduation ceremony at Navy–Marine Corps Stadium, Annapolis, Maryland.

July 30, 2024

Was 50 Years Long Enough? The All-Volunteer Force in an Era of Large-Scale Combat Operations

In an era of geopolitical competition among major powers, a large-scale war could last longer and result in more casualties than anything the United States has experienced since World War II.

United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali peacekeepers conduct operation dubbed “Frelana” to protect civilians and their property southwest of Gao, Mali

July 30, 2024

Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response The Imperative of an All-Domain Approach

The Department of Defense (DOD) seeks to reduce civilian harm caused by military operations and to improve its ability to respond when civilian harm occurs.

U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Joshua Henneberg, rifleman assigned to Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepares to launch Skydio X2D small unmanned aerial system during integrated training alongside Philippine marines during exercise Balikatan 24 on Balabac Island

July 30, 2024

Deviance and Innovation: Change in a “Society of Saints”

Military innovation and adaptation studies are a growth industry.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is escorted by Chinese President Xi Jinping during honor guard review at formal arrival ceremony outside Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.

July 30, 2024

The Future of Great Power Competition: Trajectories, Transitions, and Prospects for Catastrophic War

The dominant geostrategic framework of international relations today is that of a Great Power competition (GPC) among three rivalrous, globally dominant states: the United States, Russia, and China.