Blog Posts - CounterStrikeMedia

TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME, NATIONAL SECURITY, remembering suez & influence operations, why small airlift matters

5/1/2019

Beyond Chinook: Army Secretary Challenges Industry To Revolutionize Heavy Lift
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr., on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 2:41 PM
A light scout and a mid-size transport remain Army aviation’s top two priorities, Secretary Mark Esper said, but industry needs to start thinking about the next heavy-lift aircraft and stop fighting against cuts to the venerable CH-47.

Transnational Organized Crime and National Security
By Eric Halliday, Lawfare: "Unlike purely domestic organized crime, transnational organized crime, defined by the Justice Department as groups that pursue criminal activities across geographic boundaries, has profound national security implications. The FBI warns that transnational organized crime poses a diverse array of national security threats related to border security, government corruption both in the United States and abroad, energy and “strategic material” markets around the world, and “logistical and other support to terrorists and foreign intelligence services.”"

What insurgency will look like in 2030
(Defense One) Robots, artificial intelligence, cyberwar, 3D printing, bio-enhancements, and a new geopolitical competition; the 21st century is being shaped by a range of momentous, and scary, new trends and technologies. We should also expect them to shape the worlds of insurgency and terrorism.

The New Age of Propaganda: Understanding Influence Operations in the Digital Age by Zac Rogers, Emily Bienvenue, and Maryanne Kelton

Uplifted: The Case for Small Tactical Airlift by Mike Pietrucha and Jeremy Renken

The Suez Crisis and the Fog of Diplomacy by Jordan Chandler Hirsch

The Problems of a Militarized Foreign Policy for America’s Premier Intelligence Agency by David Oakley

GEOGRAPHY TERMINATES THE "END OF HISTORY"

4/26/2019

The End of the End of History: Reimagining U.S. Foreign Policy for the 21st Century by Ben Sasse

THE GEOPOLITICS OF THE RED SEA

4/25/2019

Red Sea rivalries: The Gulf, the Horn, and the new geopolitics of the Red Sea
Karen E. Young | Brookings Institution

Strongmen are on the rise. Here’s how to defeat them.
Clay R. Fuller | AEIdeas

'Armies of Sand'
Danielle Pletka and Kenneth Pollack | "AEI Events Podcast"

US, INDIA WORK TOGETHER TO HUNT CHINESE SUBS & GUADALCANAL (SMALL WARS JOURNAL) FOR COIN

4/23/2019

U.S., INDIA:
U.S. Naval Chief in India for High-Level Defense Talks
By Ankit Panda, The Diplomat: "“Major issues discussed during the visit included operations and exercises, training interactions, information exchange, capacity building and capability enhancement,” a statement from the Indian Navy describing Richardson’s visit said."

The US and India practiced hunting subs for the first time since signing a deal making it easier to keep track of China
(Business Insider) The exercises, which took place near Diego Garcia, were the first ASW drills since India and the US signed the Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement in September.

A Historical Analysis of the Guadalcanal Campaign 1942-1943
By Ronald W. Sprang, Small Wars Journal: “Guadalcanal marked a more than ten-month campaign by U.S. combined, joint forces to transition from the strategic and operational defense to the strategic and operational offense in the Pacific during World War II. In order to fully understand the case study, an understanding of the strategic context is necessary."

THE STRUCTURE OF A DIPLOMATIC REVOLUTION, DIFFERENCES B/T CONFLICT AND STABILITY & WHY MILITARY LEADERS NEEDS TO STUDY HUMAN NATURE

4/23/2019

The Line Between Conflict and Stability in Great Power Competition
By Jeff Goodson, Stratfor Worldview: “Confrontation between the United States, China and Russia will deepen in many countries, with the great powers relying on proxies to wage conflict short of war."

The Structure of a Diplomatic Revolution
By Richard Haass, The Strategist (ASPI): “It has been nearly 60 years since the philosopher and historian Thomas Kuhn wrote his influential book The structure of scientific revolutions. Kuhn’s thesis was simple but heretical: breakthroughs in science occur not through the gradual accumulation of small changes to existing thinking, but rather from the sudden emergence of radical ideas that cause existing models to be replaced with something fundamentally different."

Why Military Leaders Should Study Human Nature
By Joe Byerly, From the Green Notebook: “It seems obvious, but today we live in a time of numbers and algorithms where, at least in business, leaders spend more much more time concerned with data. The element of human nature, the psychology of the people you are leading into battle, is absolutely the most critical factor. Knowledge of human nature is essential to do this well."

All About the Bomb? Cold War Influences on ‘Modern Deterrence’
By Gareth W, Wavell Room: "Every generation sees themselves living through the most complex of times. Such perceptions can lead to an oversimplification of the past and the influence it has on our future. This is the position today regarding the Cold War experience of deterrence in some quarters. Yet those who found themselves planning for and executing deterrence activities during the Cold War certainly found them complex and challenging problems."

THE REALITY OF RUSSIAN IRREGULARS IN CONFLICTS & ADDRESSING THE FOG OF PEACE OF MILITARY IMBALANCES DURING GREAT POWER COMPETITION

4/16/2019

Counterterrorism in the era of great-power competition
(Defense One) Debate is bubbling about whether the United States remains too focused on counterterrorism when the Trump administration has set priority on “global power competition” with China and Russia, not to mention other threats we expect to face.

The Russian State’s Use of Irregular Forces and Private Military Groups
By Sergey Sukhankin, Eurasia Daily Monitor: “Russia’s growing employment of non-linear forms of warfare (including private military contractors) has long historical traditions."

CSBA: ADDRESSING THE FOG OF PEACE, MILITARY IMBALANCES IN GREAT POWER COMPETITION

Reassuring Allies and Strengthening Strategic Stability: An Approach to Nuclear Modernization for Democrats by Frank A. Rose and Benjamin Bahney

Why the the days of ‘fighter jock culture’ may be numbered
(Air Force Times) For the past half century, fighter pilots have dominated high-level leadership roles in the Air Force, much as bomber pilots did during World War II and the Cold War.

How Does the Next Great Power Conflict Play Out? Lessons from a Wargame by James Lacey

Bringing the Air Division Back to the Future by Mike Pietrucha and Jeremy Renken

PREPARING FOR THE RISE OF CHINA, REVIEWING THE SUCCESS OF COUNTERINSURGENCY POLICY IN VIETNAM & WHY POLAND MATTERS

4/16/2019

Insurgency in 2030
By Peter W. Singer, New America Foundation: "Exciting, and scary, new technologies are shaping the 21st century. They will also shape the worlds of insurgency and terrorism.

Nation-Building in a Time of War: Revisiting Vietnam by Martin Clemis

Preparing for China’s Rapid Rise and Decline by Collin Meisel and Jonathan D. Moyer

To Deter Russia, the U.S. Army Must Be Permanently Based in Poland
By Dan Gouré, RealClearDefense: “The RAND Corporation has intensively analyzed the military balance in the Baltic region. The conclusions of this effort are, to say the least, sobering."

‘A War to the Death’: The Ugly Underside of an Iconic Insurgency by Lincoln Krause

An Assessment of the Small Wars Manual as an Implementation Model for Strategic Influence in Contemporary and Future Warfare
By Bradley L. Rees, Divergent Options: "A disparity between how most within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) understand 20th-century information operations and 21st-century information warfare and strategic influence has produced a cognitive dissonance."

An Assessment of Population Relocation in 21st Century Counterinsurgencies
By Sam Canter, Divergent Options: "As other methods of counterinsurgency fail, population relocation will continue to hold the fascination of military planners, even as it grows increasingly controversial."

DEFENDING AGAINST HYPER-SONICS, RUSSIAN IDEAS ABOUT MISSILE DEFENSE & SPECIAL OPERATORS FOR GREAT POWER COMPETITION (IN RE: IRAQ WAR)

4/10/2019

gliding_missiles_that_fly_faster_than_mach_5_are_coming_-_hypersonic_missiles.pdf
File Size:	449 kb
File Type:	pdf

Future of Hypersonic Weapons: Defending Against Super-Fast Missiles
By Talal Husseini, Airforce-Technology: “Hypersonic weapons are missiles that can travel at speeds of Mach 5 or higher, which makes them particularly difficult to defend against. What are the most advanced hypersonic weapons and how can we stop them?"

Air Force to Test Fire Fighter Jet-Configured Laser Weapons Pod From the Ground
By Kris Osborn, Warrior Maven: “As a part of its preparation, the service is refining its combat strategy, tactics and concepts of operation to accommodate the rapid emergence of laser weapons, technologies which promise to alter the landscape of modern warfare and substantially expand the envelope of attack possibilities for fighter jets.”

How SOF Will Operate in ‘Great Power Competition’
By Todd South, Military Times: “As the services shift to “great power competition,” some on Capitol Hill are asking what that might mean for special operations forces."

Keep those Iraq War notes handy: Small wars, not great power battles, still the most likely future fight
(Military Times) The findings in the long-awaited Iraq War Study at first glance appear to not be in lockstep with the Pentagon’s new focus on China and Russia, but are perhaps more important than ever.

Less door kicking, more partner building for special operations in ‘great power competition’
(Military Times) As the services shift to “great power competition,” some on Capitol Hill are asking what that might mean for special operations forces.

America, You're Not Listening to Us
// Anatoly Antonov You can’t have a conversation if one party won’t listen to the other.
Read full article »

The Navy’s Newest Nemesis: Hypersonic Weapons
By John Isaac, CIMSEC: "In January 2019, Chinese Communist Party leaders announced that the newest iteration of their DF-17 missile system was being designed to overwhelm and sink U.S. aircraft carriers and surface combatants stationed in the West Pacific."

Hypersonic Weapons – A Threat to National Security
By John L. Dolan, Richard K. Gallagher & David L. Mann, RealClearDefense: “As evidenced by numerous media accounts and Department of Defense (DoD) senior leaders’ comments, the impact and challenges posed by hypersonic missile systems are a growing and extremely complex threat to our national interests."

WHAT LINCOLN TEACHES ABOUT AFGHANISTAN & THE FUTURE OF WAR

4/8/2019

Dumping Abraham Lincoln:
Tactical Digital Intelligence Strategy Insights in Afghanistan
By Nick Rife & Josh Brown, Small Wars Journal: “In the age of Tesla and Twitter however, the well of results seems to be running dryer than a Sonoran lake bed under summer’s heat. The underlying Army intelligence establishment, whose proponent coincidentally calls the Sonoran Desert home, is challenged in pacing with an evolving contemporary threat environment."

Future War
By Walker D. Mills, Strategy Bridge: "Future War is the whole-of-society sibling to Scales on War’s hard-nosed call to action with the cynicism of James Fallows’ “The Tragedy of the American Military.”"

THE WAR THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING: US ENTRY INTO WWI

4/5/2019

In Remembrance Of US Entry Into World War I
via The Hoover Centennial Remembering the war that changed everything.

ROME & PERSIA FOR TODAY'S STRATEGISTS

4/5/2019

WHERE THE US REMAINS IN RETREAT & HOW TO UNDERSTAND RUSSIAN INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX FOR WAR

4/3/2019

The Inner Workings of Russia's Military Industrial Behemoth
By Pavel Luzin, Riddle: "Russia’s arms industry comprises over 1,300 companies, employing around two million people. A key player in this field is Rostec, Russia’s military industrial behemoth, which incorporates over 700 companies and employs over half a million people."

NEW CONCEPTS FOR WAR & SYRIA REMAINS DANGEROUSLY ADRIFT

4/3/2019

U.S. Strategy in Syria Is Dangerously Adrift
By Christopher J. Bolan, FPRI: “The absence of a feasible American strategy that looks beyond the narrow issue of ISIS undermines U.S. regional leadership, places remaining U.S. troops in Syria at unnecessary risk for undefined goals, and will likely only prolong the suffering of the Syrian people."

A New Conception of War
By Dan Grazier, Strategy Bridge: “On the otherwise quiet Monday morning of March 6, 1989, a revolution occurred in the private office at the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ home when General Al Gray affixed his signature to a document. Until that moment, the Marine Corps thought about warfare in terms of the firepower and attrition doctrine that had characterized its operations in World War II, Korea, and the worst parts of Vietnam."

Prototype Warfare in the Fourth Industrial Age
By Peter Layton, Small Wars Journal: "A new industrial process is rapidly emerging. This fourth industrial revolution (4IR) based on hyper-connectivity brings with it both continual – indeed relentless – innovation and the possibility of practical large-scale prototype warfare."

US ROLE IN MIDDLE EAST DURING GREAT POWER COMPETITION & EXAMINING RIGHT WING TERRORISM IN AGE OF LONE WOLVES

4/3/2019

Getting Back to Basics Tony Badran | Research Fellow

The US Role In The Middle East In An Era Of Renewed Great Power Competition
by Eric Edelman via The CaravanWhat role should the United States play in the Middle East as its attention shifts to the objectives outlined in the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy of competing with near peers like Russia and China? Today pundits and observers are posing this question against a backdrop of more than a decade and a half of costly, inconclusive and seemingly “endless” wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the more recent deployment of roughly two thousand Special Forces troops to Syria as part of the counter ISIS campaign. To President Trump the answer seems clear. He noted in April 2018 at an Ohio rally “we’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon.

Back to the Future: The Return of Violent Far-Right Terrorism in the Age of Lone Wolves
by Bruce Hoffman

THE CASE AGAINST MANEUVER WARFARE & THE MAN WHO TAUGHT CLAUSEWITZ

4/1/2019

The Case Against Maneuver Warfare
By Michael Gladius, Small Wars Journal: “Ever since the 1970s/1980s, maneuver warfare has been regarded as the ideal form of warfare. It’s associated primarily with the German Army of WWII and the Mongol Empire, and everybody wants to emulate their successes. However, Maneuver Warfare has several real weaknesses that do not translate well into the American way of war."

Scharnhorst: The Vision of an Enlightened Soldier “On Experience and Theory”
By Vanya Eftimova Bellinger, Strategy Bridge: “Without Gerhard von Scharnhorst, it is unlikely there would be a Carl von Clausewitz."

WHEN LEADERS CHANGE COURSE: US EXIT FROM BERUIT, LIBYA'S CENTRAL BANK ON THE RUN AND MORE. .

3/30/2019

When Do Leaders Change Course? Theories of Success and the American Withdrawal from Beirut, 1983-1984 by Alexandra T. Evans and A. Bradley Potter

The Great Game Moves to Sea: Tripolar Competition in the Indian Ocean Region by Harry I. Hannah

Libya’s Looming Contest for the Central Bank by Jalel Harchaoui

From Athens to AI: The Return of History, the Revenge of Rivalry, and the Resurgence of Great Power Competition by C. Lee Shea

THE ANCIENT GREEKS & GRAND STRATEGY

3/30/2019

Polybius, Applied History, and Grand Strategy in an Interstitial Age by Iskander Rehman

THE FALL OF THE OTTOMANS

3/18/2019

AMAZON

HOW TO ACHIEVE LEADERSHIP, WAR ON THE ROCKS EXAMINES YEAR ONE AFTER NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY & HOOVER EXAMINES HISTORY OF NUCLEAR WAR

3/15/2019

Achieving Effective Leadership
By Donald C. Bolduc, Small Wars Journal: "Difference-Makers possess a high emotional quotient and adaptability quotient and are good at reading people. There is a point in a leader’s career that a high emotional quotient and adaptability quotient becomes more important than your intelligence quotient. This is important because it requires a leader not to be the smartest person in room, but rather the most intuitive, understanding, and supportive person in the room."

The National Defense Strategy is no strategy
(Defense One) It’s closer to a call for a new Cold War.

WAR ON THE ROCKS: ONE YEAR AFTER THE NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY RELEASED

MATTIS OMISSIONS ON THE NDS DOCUMENT

WAR ON THE ROCKS: HOW TO READ THE NDS DOCUMENT

The Battle to Resource the U.S. National Defense Strategy
By Erin Hurley, the interpreter: “While the need for a strategic rebalancing has been under discussion for many years, the NDS still provides the clearest articulation of U.S. objectives to date. However, the effort required to adequately resource the strategy cannot be underestimated."

The History Of Nuclear Warfare And The Future Of Nuclear Energy
via The Hoover CentennialThe first atomic strike in 1945 changed the world forever.

Thomas Karako and Wes Rumbaugh write: The Missile Defense Review nominally widens the scope of missile defense policy from a focus on ballistic missiles to countering the full spectrum of missile threats. Yet these new policy and budget proposals remain remarkably consistent with the program of record that preexisted the National Defense Strategy. Apart from steps within the services for incremental improvements to air defenses and some studies on countering hypersonic glide vehicles, the focus remains on the limited ballistic missile threats posed by otherwise weak rogue regimes. – Center for Strategic and International Studies

Chris Dougherty writes: The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) shifted the Department of Defense (DoD) away from a strategy focused on counterterrorism and deterring regional threats like Iran toward competing with, deterring, and, if necessary, defeating Chinese and Russian aggression. DoD is portraying the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2020, which is the first such request submitted since the release of the NDS, as a down payment on the long-term investments required to develop a future force that can execute this strategy. Given the price tag of $750 billion, Congress and the American people should, in the words of Ronald Reagan, trust DoD, but verify that this is money well spent on advancing the priorities of the NDS. – Center for a New American Security

THAT '70'S SHOW: HOW THE ARMY WANTS TO FORGET IRAQ WAR, THE RETURN TO 1973 POST VIETNAM & STEVEN KOTKIN ON WORLD ORDER TODAY

3/11/2019

The US Army Is Trying to Bury the Lessons of the Iraq War
// Frank Sobchak By scuttling plans to help its leaders understand what went wrong, the service is turning a blind eye to insights of enduring relevance.

Searching For World Order: America, China, Russia, Iran
with Stephen Kotkin via Foreign Policy Research InstituteThe Cold War of the 20th century seems clear cut, in retrospect: a galvanizing competition to rally free and market-oriented societies against a godless communist empire. But the 21st century has brought about new, more complicated conflicts. Historian Stephen Kotkin examines U.S. relations with China, Russia, and Iran from the 1970s to the present. Professor Kotkin won the seventeenth annual Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award for Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929–1941 (Random House), the second volume of a definitive biography of Joseph Stalin. The first volume, Paradoxes of Power, was nominated for a Pulitzer.

Conserving International Order
by Peter Berkowitz via Real Clear PoliticsIn the United States, conservatism and liberalism — often to the consternation of conservatives and liberals — are ineluctably intertwined. This turns out to be true of foreign affairs as well as of domestic affairs. Attention to this entwinement helps bring into focus the key question concerning the contemporary dispute about the post-World War II international order and the United States’ role in maintaining it: What policies best advance America’s interest in conserving freedom?

AGENTS UNKNOWN: VIETNAM MILITARY INTELLIGENCE; THE ARMY, CIA & SOUTH VIETNAM

3/9/2019

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5817976/

THE MARINES FINEST HOUR: LAST STAND AT KHE SANH

3/9/2019

ttps://www.amazon.com/Last-Stand-Khe-Sanh-Marines/dp/0306823721/ref=sr11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507771343&sr=1-1&keywords=gregg+jones

HOW TRUMP SEES US 'HYPERSONIC' IMPERATIVES FOR THE LONG WAR, GREAT POWER COMPETITION & WHEN YOUR "CHANGE" NEEDS A NEW STRATEGY

3/7/2019

##SHOOTING DOWN HYPERSONICS

Hypersonic Weapons Are Coming–Pentagon Needs Defenses
By Loren Thompson, Forbes: “Hypersonic weapons typically move at over five times the speed of sound, meaning faster than a mile per second. But it isn't just sheer speed that makes them different from existing weapons. Unlike long-range ballistic missile warheads that can approach 25 times the speed of sound as they reenter the atmosphere, emerging hypersonic weapons can glide and maneuver."

Hypersonics Won’t Repeat Mistakes Of F-35
Pentagon’s New Ballistic Missile Interceptor Doesn’t Work, Suffers Years-Long Delay

Tackling hypersonic threats: Offense or missile defense?
(Breaking Defense) China. Hypersonic weapons. Say those three words, add a little artificial intelligence, and you can almost sum up why the Pentagon sees the Peoples Republic of China as a rising military threat.

Army reboots cruise missile defense: IFPC & Iron Dome
(Breaking Defense) The Army is effectively rebooting a key air and missile defense program, IFPC, to refocus it on higher-end threats like cruise missiles.

US to start fabricating parts for ground-launched cruise missile systems
(Reuters) The United States will begin “fabrication activities” on parts for ground-launched cruise missile systems, the Pentagon said on Monday, after Washington announced it plans to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

WHAT AMERICA FIRST MEANS FOR OUR ALLIANCES

US ‘gets its ass handed to it’ in wargames: Here’s a $24 billion fix
(Breaking Defense) The US keeps losing, hard, in simulated wars with Russia and China. Bases burn. Warships sink. But we could fix the problem for about $24 billion a year, one well-connected expert said, less than four percent of the Pentagon budget.

WHY THE F35, F22, AND B2 MATTER FOR THE NUCLEAR TRIAD

The End of Great Power Peace
By Hal Brands & Charles Edel, The National Interest: “As recently as 2010, Barack Obama could observe a strategic landscape where the “major powers are at peace.” Yet if great-power war has not returned, the era of deep great-power peace is over."

American National Security and the Imperative Primacy of "Mind"
By Prof. Louis René Beres, March 7, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: While President Trump intends to bolster US power through enhanced weapons systems and a rededication to belligerent nationalist foreign policies, authentic national security will require new emphases on intellect, or “mind.” This means focusing on new ways of thinking about world politics, especially much-needed escape plans from lethal cycles of competitive geopolitics. Washington must slow its still-growing inclination toward renewed arms racing and to other kinds of military escalation and shift its policy emphases to the greater utilities of intellect.
Continue to full article ->

Horns of a Dilemma: Why Ike Matters – America and the World in the 1950s by William Hitchcock

WHEN YOUR CHANGE NEEDS A NEW STRATEGY

Among the knowns:

The defense budget is expected to total about $750 billion.
Almost one-quarter of that — about $174 billion — is expected to be in the Overseas Contingency Operations (née the "emergency supplemental"), a Trump administration effort to circumvent the $576 billion spending cap.

Here's the program-specific stuff that's leaked out:

The Pentagon will request 78 F-35s, six fewer than planned (Bloomberg).
The U.S. Air Force will request eight new F-15X fighters (Bloomberg).
The Air Force light attack plane project is now on hold (Defense News).
The Navy wants to delay buying two LPDs and cancel the midlife refueling of the USS Harry Truman, basically retiring the aircraft carrier two-decades early (Breaking Defense).
There is a policy proposal to create the U.S. Space Force (within the Air Force), as a sixth branch of the military (Defense One).
The Pentagon is expected to request $104 billion for research-and-development, $9 billion more than appropriated in fiscal 2019 (Bloomberg).

What else is expected? Last year, Pentagon officials touted how their fiscal 2019 budget would better prepare for the great-power competition with Russia and China described in the National Defense Strategy. Expect to see more fine-tuning this year, especially in research and development spending for projects like hypersonic missiles.
Navy and Air Force force structure: The chief of naval operations created waves when he said last month that its 355-ship goal would be reevaluated (how many manned ships? How many unmanned?). The reshaping of that goal will change how the Navy spends vast amounts of its money. Also, we might finally get more details about the Air Force's goal to create 386 operational squadrons.

Tackling Hypersonic Threats: Offense Or Missile Defense?
Offensive missiles are much cheaper than missile defenses. So is the best defense a good offense?

H.R. McMASTER ON FUTURE WARS, WHAT A PACIFIC CENTURY MEANS, THE FUTURE OF US - CHINA RELATIONS & WHY CLAUSEWITZ STILL MATTERS

3/5/2019

Tactical Art in Future Wars by Robert H. Scales

Technology, Uncertainty, and Future War
By Chris Tuck, Defence-In-Depth: “It would seem reasonable to assert that the role played by technology on future battlefields will depend to an important extent on the sorts of wars in which that technology will be used."

MCMASTER

Introducing 'The Pacific Century': China, North Korea, and the US
John Yoo and Michael R. Auslin | "The Pacific Century"

The future of China-US military relations
Oriana Skylar Mastro | ChinaFile

The Pacific Century: Niall Ferguson On The Coming Cold War With China
with Michael R. Auslin, Niall Ferguson, John Yoo via The Pacific CenturyHoover fellow and historian Niall Ferguson on China, Trump, and Trade.

INDOPACOM: The ‘Quad’ might be shelved
(The Associated Press) A U.S. military commander suggested Thursday that a loose security grouping of his country, Japan, Australia and India, also known as the quad, may be shelved for now.

Introducing The Pacific Century: China, North Korea, And The US
with Michael R. Auslin, John Yoo via The Pacific CenturyThe voyage begins when you push away from the shore.

Future War: Not Back to the Future by Mike Dana

Red Flag 2019: First Great Power Air War Test In Years

That Clausewitz-Is-Irrelevant 'Hot Take' Is Just Wrong
By Steve Leonard, Modern War Institute: “Every time I read another armchair strategist comment on the contemporary irrelevance of Clausewitz, I'm left shaking my head. In many ways, reading On War is like reading the Bible: literal interpretations of the text often lead readers to misinterpretations of the deeper, often more thought-provoking ideas underpinning the writing."

Scrutinize Strategic Assumptions on China
By Kevin Eyer, Proceedings: "History is replete with examples of nations suffering catastrophic military defeat to adversaries who were able to achieve surprise at the strategic level. In retrospect, it seems clear that all the critical warning signs were available in advance. In considering these events, the worthwhile question ultimately becomes this: Why was the essential, known information either ignored or discredited?"

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE IDEA OF 'FUSION'; US MUST FIELD INTERMEDIATE NUCLEAR MISSILES NOW & HOW TO AVOID POLITICIZING INTELLIGENCE WHILE AIR FORCE ADDRESS MODERNIZATION

3/1/2019

Fusion Doctrine: One Year On
By William McKeran, RUSI Journal: “The end of this month marks the first anniversary of the UK’s Fusion Doctrine. Launched as a central component of last year’s National Security and Capability Review (NSCR), Fusion Doctrine is Mark Sedwill’s National Security Council (NSC) initiative to fuse capabilities, across ‘economic, security, social and the rest’, to deliver strategy-led design of policy and planning."

The U.S. Should Immediately Develop Intermediate-Range Missiles
Bradley Bowman | CMPP Senior DirectorAndrew Gabel | Research Analyst

Russian Statements on New Cruise Missile Indicate First Strike Intentions
By Reuben F. Johnson, The Washington Free Beacon: "Putin highlighted the NPO Mashinostroyeniya 3M22 Tsirkon missile. It has a range of about 620 miles, which means it would have to be launched from a ship or submarine very close to the U.S. east or west coast if it were to be fired at targets in the continental United States, according to Russian weapons design specialists who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon."

Avoiding the Politicization of Intelligence and Policy-Making
By Col (Res.) Dr. Raphael G. Bouchnik-Chen, March 4, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: If policy-making is to be honest and clean, intelligence must not be misused for political purposes. Intelligence input should be professional, independent, and courageous. Several cases in the US illustrate the complex interaction between leadership and the intelligence community and the temptation to manipulate intelligence to gain leverage in internal political disputes.
Continue to full article ->

The Surface Fleet, ASW and Defeating Hyper-Sonic Cruise Missiles:
The Case of the Zumwalt Class
By Ed Timperlake, SLDinfo: "A new player which could play a key role in a kill web approach could be the new Zumwalt class destroyer. There are three ships in this class, but rethinking the key role it could play in a kill web approach to the HSCM and other threats might lead to a rethink."

Growing Missile Threats Demand Increased Investments in U.S. Missile Defense
By Bradley Bowman & Andrew Gabel, FDD: "According to a press report last week, the Pentagon may request $500 million less than it did last year for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA)."

U.S. Air Power: The Imperative For Modernization (Buy The F-35)
By Lani Kass, Breaking Defense: "In 2006, a relatively obscure book caused a major stir among the U.S. Air Force leadership. Why Air Forces Fail, edited by Robin Higham and Stephen J. Harris, lays out the determinants of failure: deficiencies in the industrial base, misguided technology and tactical picks, inattention to logistics and neglect of training."

Let’s Get Some Things Straight About Nuclear Weapons
By Luke O'Brien, Modern War Instiute: “With the second U.S.-North Korea summit having come and gone with no discernible sign of Pyongyang’s willingness to denuclearize, the topic of nuclear weapons remains at the forefront of discussions in national security and defense policy circles. And yet these discussions routinely treat nuclear weapons as a monolithic category of unthinkably destructive power, rather than acknowledging the graduated scale that extends all the way down to the tactical level."

DOUGLAS BARRIE: SPACE DEFENSE

THOMAS BUSSING: RAYTHEON MISSILE DEFENSE, STRATEGIEST

JAMES ACTON: NUCLEAR MISSILE DEFENSE

DR. MICHAEL PILLSBURY

HENRY ROWEN
File Size:	78 kb
File Type:	pdf

CHARLES WOLF JR.
File Size:	665 kb
File Type:	pdf

ANDREW MASHALL 'YODA'
File Size:	1471 kb
File Type:	pdf

AMERICA NEEDS NEW ALLIANCES

why_america_needs_new_alliances_-_wsj.pdf
File Size:	158 kb
File Type:	pdf

POLYBIUS & ANCIENT GRAND STRATEGY
File Size:	2040 kb
File Type:	pdf

CENTER FOR POLITICAL & MILITARY POWER

SUN TZU ISN'T WORKING FOR CHINA ANYMORE

SUN TZU ISN'T WORKING FOR CHINA
File Size:	285 kb
File Type:	pdf

THE QURAN & MORAL STRATEGY FOR THE LONG WAR

WHEN WAR WITHOUT END, FINALLY ENDS

WHEN WAR WITHOUT END, FINALLY ENDS
File Size:	4995 kb
File Type:	pdf

THUCYDIDES & THE LONG WAR PROBLEM

HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR

WHAT HAPPENED DURING PELOPONNESIAN WAR
File Size:	547 kb
File Type:	pdf

THUCYDIDES TRAP IS GREAT POWER COMPETITION

THUCYDIDES TRAP = GREAT POWER COMPETITION
File Size:	2228 kb
File Type:	pdf

CENTER STRATEGIC, BUDGETARY ASSESSMENTS: U.S. GRAND STRATEGY

DAVID P. GOLDMAN COLUMN ASIA TIMES

HOW BEST TO UNDERSTAND U.S. - CHINA RELATIONS

STRATEGY BRIDGE

Winning World War IV David P. Goldman.pdf
File Size:	4315 kb
File Type:	pdf

THE NEW ASIAN OBSERVER

Tweets by WilliamHolland

Archives

July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
September 2016
February 2016
June 2015

Categories