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.
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.
Oct. 22, 2024
The Joint Functions: Theory, Doctrine, and Practice
Conflict may be defined as “a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
Better in Pairs: Divide the Indo-Pacific Theater in Half
Every 2 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.
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.
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.