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Military Doctrine

Military Strategy
commentary
The Will to Fight in the Age of Social Media
William Marcellino, Michael J. McNerney
Mar 22, 2022
Stars and Stripes
Social media messaging has played a decisive role in strengthening Ukraine's will to fight—arguably the single most important factor in war—against Russia.
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Teachers and Teaching
blog
Problems in U.S. Schools, Conflict with Russia, Opioid Trafficking: RAND Weekly Recap
Feb 11, 2022
This weekly recap focuses on what America's school district leaders are worried about, how to break the cycle of conflict with Russia, a new report on synthetic opioid trafficking, and more.
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United States Department of Defense
commentary
Trying to Forestall the Next Civilian Casualty Horror
Michael J. McNerney, Gabrielle Tarini @gabbytarini
Feb 3, 2022
Foreign Policy
After civilians are injured or killed, the U.S. Defense Department isn't doing enough to learn from its own failures. The Pentagon needs to devote resources and senior leader attention to an issue that has historically lacked both. Civilian protection should become the singular priority for a critical mass of people across the organization.
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United States Department of Defense
blog
Preventing Civilian Casualties, Drinking During the Pandemic, Vaccination Equity: RAND Weekly Recap
Jan 28, 2022
This weekly recap focuses on how to reform the Pentagon’s policies on civilian casualties, secondary school principals’ well-being, alcohol use in the COVID-19 era, and more.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
The Link Between Extremism and Military Functioning
Marek N. Posard @mnposard, William Marcellino, Todd C. Helmus @Helmus
May 20, 2021
Military Times
U.S. Department of Defense policy prohibits service members from actively participating in extremist activities. Broadening the policy to include passive forms of participation could introduce two challenges.
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Military Strategy
commentary
Grand Strategy Is Total: French Gen. Andre Beaufré on the Nuclear Age
Michael Shurkin
Oct 8, 2020
War on the Rocks
Gen. André Beaufre, the father of contemporary French strategic thought, epitomizes better than anyone the traits that make modern French military theory unusually rich. He is also a key for accessing a rich and distinctly different way of thinking about war with direct applications for today, whether one is pondering Afghanistan or how to deal with China.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
Modern War for Romantics: Ferdinand Foch and the Principles of War
Michael Shurkin
Jul 8, 2020
War on the Rocks
Recent American military history suggests civilian and military leaders could benefit from studying French military strategy. For those who wish to understand French military thinking, the place to start is with Marshal Ferdinand Foch.
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Iraq
commentary
Can Iraq Evict U.S. Forces?
Stacie L. Pettyjohn
Jan 6, 2020
The Washington Post
The Iraqi parliament voted to expel U.S. troops from Iraq. This vote was nonbinding, and the Iraqi caretaker government cannot pass laws, but it does indicate that a majority in parliament wants U.S. forces to leave.
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Artificial Intelligence
commentary
AI for Peace
Patrick S. Roberts @RamblingRoberts
Dec 13, 2019
War on the Rocks
The United States should apply lessons from the 70-year history of governing nuclear technology by building a framework for governing AI military technology. An AI for Peace program should articulate the dangers of this new technology, principles to manage the dangers, and a structure to shape the incentives for other states.
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Artificial Intelligence
commentary
A Code of Conduct for AI in Defense Should Be an Extension of Other Military Codes
Cortney Weinbaum @cortney_dc
Sep 11, 2019
Friends of Europe's Debating Security Plus 2019 Programme
An AI code of conduct for defense should look a lot like all other defense codes of conduct. A global society that would create the Geneva Convention is a society that believes in a moral code for warfare. This same code could extend into its weaponized algorithms.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
Anticipating a New Russian Military Doctrine in 2020: What It Might Contain and Why It Matters
Dara Massicot @MassDara
Sep 9, 2019
War on the Rocks
The United States and its allies should anticipate the possibility of an updated Russian military doctrine as early as 2020. Evaluating this document closely is important for understanding Russian threat perceptions and the leadership's methods to address those threats.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
The Insurgent Counter-Insurgent: The French Army's Hero and Some Truths About Modern Warfare
Michael Shurkin
Jul 25, 2019
War on the Rocks
When asked about their heroes, one name comes up with French Army officers more than any other: Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc. Saint Marc lived an extraordinary life, to be sure. But his story also contains important lessons about modern warfare and counter-insurgency warfare in particular, the work of training local forces, and the imperative of aligning military means with realistic political objectives.
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Military Strategy
commentary
The Flawed Logic of Proportionality
Raphael S. Cohen
Jul 1, 2019
The Hill
President Trump halted a retaliatory strike against Iran on the basis that it would have claimed many Iranian lives and was not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. There are many good reasons to avoid attacking Iran, but if Washington must resort to force in the future, it should avoid the flawed logic of proportionality.
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China
commentary
Getting to Know the Competition
Cortez A. Cooper III
May 13, 2019
RealClearDefense
Americans are facing a new reality in global great power relations that will define the trajectory of U.S. foreign policy for the foreseeable future. Understanding China's threat perceptions, while remaining clear-eyed regarding differences in objectives, is essential to developing strategies to deter conflict.
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Japan
commentary
Japan's Invisible Hand
Jeffrey W. Hornung
Oct 10, 2018
The Japan Times
Shinzo Abe has cemented his position as Japan's prime minister for the next three years. Now he is expected to make a concerted push for revising the Constitution, which has not been amended since 1947. But the Japanese public is not convinced of the need to revise the Constitution, making his efforts likely to fail.
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Afghanistan
commentary
The Risks of Permanent War
Ali Wyne
Sep 28, 2018
Just Security
Why is America in Afghanistan? What interests justify its sacrifices? How will the war end? If the United States finds it hard to answer such questions after nearly two decades, the coming years are unlikely to provide clarity. If a campaign has no end, it can have no objective. If it has no objective, it cannot be won.
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Vietnam
commentary
Deciphering Vietnam's Evolving Military Doctrine in the South China Sea
Derek Grossman @DerekJGrossman, Nguyen Nhat Anh
May 11, 2018
Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
Vietnam has sought to balance China's expanding presence in the South China Sea through diplomacy and military modernization. The Vietnam People's Army has acquired many useful weapons, but unfamiliarity with combat in the sea and air will test its evolving military doctrine.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
Toward One Understanding of Multiple Domains
Michael Spirtas
May 2, 2018
C4ISRNET
The U.S. defense community can and should do what it can to get the most benefit from operating across domains. It just needs to remember to proceed carefully to discern between actual benefits and falsehoods that may do more harm than good.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
Meet France's War Philosophers
Michael Shurkin
Jan 5, 2018
War on the Rocks
Gen. Vincent Desportes and Col. Michel Goya draw on careers focused on the study and practice of war and share a grimmer and more Hobbesian vision than what one normally meets in French public debates. This makes them appealing guides to the dark world in which the French now find themselves.
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Military Strategy
commentary
Xi's Consolidation of Power at the 19th Party Congress: Implications for PLA Aerospace Forces
Derek Grossman @DerekJGrossman, Michael S. Chase
Dec 11, 2017
Jamestown Foundation's China Brief
Xi Jinping has emerged from the 19th Party Congress stronger than at least his past two predecessors. He solidified his grip on power and revealed significant changes to the Central Military Commission, which oversees the People's Liberation Army.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
What a 1963 Novel Tells Us About the French Army, Mission Command, and the Romance of the Indochina War
Michael Shurkin
Sep 20, 2017
War on the Rocks
The novel La 317e Section (The 317th Platoon) informs and reflects an operating style rooted in the French Army's collective memory of the colonial wars. Colonial operations tended to be low-budget, small-footprint missions that placed junior officers in positions of considerable authority and responsibility. Service promised quick glory but was also more dangerous.
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Military Strategy
commentary
Managing Chaos in an Era of Great Power Competition
Austin Long, Linda Robinson @RobinsonL100, Seth G. Jones
Sep 5, 2017
War on the Rocks
As Washington policymakers seek a new strategic course, U.S. national security strategy should not neglect the importance of competition short of armed conflict. A U.S. strategy that incorporates this perspective from the beginning could manage chaos at a reasonable cost.
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Military Strategy
commentary
Why Strategies Disappoint — and How to Fix Them
Raphael S. Cohen
Mar 20, 2017
Lawfare
Strategies fail because leaders are unwilling to make difficult decisions at the risk of being wrong. Can the new U.S. administration succeed in fixing the strategy process?
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Military Strategy
commentary
Five Simple Strategy Lessons for a New Secretary of Defense
Raphael S. Cohen
Mar 2, 2017
RealClearDefense
Secretary of Defense James Mattis will need to lay the intellectual groundwork to fulfill President Trump's promise of “a great rebuilding” of the United States military. History suggests that how the strategies are developed may be as important to their success as what they say.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
The U.S. Military: Between a Rock and a Repulsive Place
Jeffrey Eggers
Sep 29, 2015
Foreign Policy
There is a reasonable argument that the best route to address pedophilia and other human rights violations by Afghan forces is to remain engaged, and to make U.S. support conditioned upon remediation and accountability, as the Leahy law requires. Others might insist that the U.S. guarantee that not a single taxpayer dollar goes to an Afghan soldier who commits gross violations of human rights.
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Russia
commentary
Russia's New Military Doctrine: Same as the Old Doctrine, Mostly
Olga Oliker
Jan 15, 2015
The Washington Post Monkey Cage Blog
Russia maintains it will use military force only defensively, when other options have failed. But this is the doctrine of a state that sees a lot to defend against, even as its interests expand globally. The danger is Moscow's view of threats everywhere may prove self-fulfilling.
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Russia
commentary
Yes, Russia's Military Is Getting More Aggressive
James T. Quinlivan
Dec 31, 2014
Foreign Policy
As Russia's relations with the U.S. and Europe have deteriorated following Moscow's aggression in Ukraine, fly-bys of European neighbors by Russian aircraft have taken on new urgency. How should the West think about these provocative flights in light of understanding Russia's nuclear threat?
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Military Strategy
commentary
Is Obama a Modern-Day Quintus Fabius Maximus?
Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins
Oct 22, 2014
Los Angeles Times
Critics say President Obama dragged his feet on sending more troops to Afghanistan, on addressing the dangers in Libya, on providing support to Syria's rebels and, most recently, on initiating military action against Islamic State. But is that necessarily such a bad thing?
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Military Doctrine
commentary
An Inconvenient War
Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins
Sep 25, 2014
The Hill
Congress has not addressed President Obama's plans to take other military steps against ISIS. Some members of Congress do not want to vote on the use of military force until after the upcoming elections. Among these are some who fear their vote could cost them votes.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
Ukraine and the Death of Territorial Integrity
Bryan Frederick
Mar 5, 2014
The National Interest
Russia's increasingly brazen violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity threatens to undermine the widely accepted principle that international borders are not subject to further revision, a principle that has contributed to a global decline in interstate war in recent decades.
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Military Technology
commentary
War Robots Will Lessen Killing—Not Increase It
John Matsumura
Oct 18, 2013
Christian Science Monitor
Could armed autonomous robots embark on a campaign of indiscriminate killing? John Matsumura says that there is a convincing base of evidence that robots are more likely to prevent slaughter than engage in it.
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Iran
commentary
How Would Iran Fight Back?
Alireza Nader
Oct 1, 2012
The Iran Primer, USIP
Iranian leaders are well aware that they cannot defeat the U.S. military in a face-to-face conflict. But as Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel demonstrated, battlefield losses (or draws) can be turned into psychological victories, writes Alireza Nader.
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Military Budgets and Defense Spending
commentary
History Shows Danger of Arbitrary Defense Cuts
Paula G. Thornhill
Nov 23, 2011
CNN
As America embarks on a tough strategic journey in the aftermath of Iraq, and contends with an ailing economy, it is wise to be mindful of the difference between hope and fact, writes Paula G. Thornhill.
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Military Doctrine
commentary
Dueling Doctrines: Mullen vs. Powell? Or Mullen & Powell vs. Rumsfeld?
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
Mar 17, 2010
Proceedings, a magazine of the U.S. Naval Institute
Reflecting changes in the American approach to counterinsurgency, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen recently enunciated a new and apparently more restrained doctrine for the use of armed force. But is this really a repudiation of the so-called Powell Doctrine, asks James Dobbins.
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Counterinsurgency
commentary
Countering the Military's Latest Fad: Counterinsurgency
Celeste Gventer
May 17, 2009
The Washington Post
When Defense Secretary Gates announced that he was dismissing Gen. McKiernan as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and replacing him with Lt. Gen. McChrystal, he signaled his support for an intellectual movement that in a few short years has come to dominate military thinking in Washington, writes Celeste Ward.
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Nuclear Weapons and Warfare
commentary
A New National Strategy for Korea: North Korea Threats Require Deterrence, Reconciliation
Bruce W. Bennett @bwbennett
Mar 13, 2008
The Korea Herald
The new Korean government should fully recognize the North Korean military threats and respond by fielding military counters against dangerous North Korean military capabilities, writes Bruce Bennett.
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commentary
Ad Men for U.S. Defense
Todd C. Helmus @Helmus, Russell W. Glenn, Christopher Paul
Aug 20, 2007
United Press International
Improving the U.S. military's brand identity demands more than just a catchy new slogan. While communications can help explain U.S. policies, the behavior of every soldier, sailor, airman and marine is what ultimately determines how civilians view U.S. forces, write Todd Helmus, Russell Glenn and Christopher Paul in a commentary appearing in United Press International.
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commentary
Lessons from the Past for Iraq's Future
Bruce Hoffman
Jul 23, 2004
San Diego Union-Tribune
Published commentary by RAND staff.
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commentary
Swarming -- The Next Face of Battle
John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt
Sep 29, 2003
Aviation Week & Space Technology
Technological advances often give rise to new types of weapons, but the achievement of lasting breakthroughs in fighting power requires organizational and doctrinal innovation as we.
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commentary
Learn the Lessons: Know the Price of Iraq War Before Fighting Erupts
Robert E. Hunter
Mar 17, 2003
Defense News
Published commentary by RAND staff.
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commentary
To Intervene or Not to Intervene
Charles Wolf, Jr.
Nov 5, 2000
Los Angeles Times
When U.S. policymakers contemplate intervention abroad, they should do so with abundant humility, if not timidity, because of the profoundly uncertain connections between the blunt instruments they can use and the complex ends they seek.
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commentary
A Balance of Mom, Apple Pie and Grand Strategy
David Ronfeldt
Oct 27, 2000
Los Angeles Times
Baseball, the least military of team sports, is the most highly attuned to reflecting the classic dilemma of grand strategy.
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