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Military Strategy

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RAND research on military strategy has ranged from issues related to the tactics that lead to success in armed engagements, to work that describes how the size and deployment of one nation's military affects its political relationships with others.

Report

New Challenges in Cross-Domain Deterrence

Apr 12, 2018

America's ability to deter aggression in the traditional air, land, and sea domains of warfare has been cast in doubt. And new requirements to deter future aggression in the domains of space and cyberspace have arisen. How can the United States and its allies meet these challenges?
Report

How China Seeks to Wage Modern Warfare

Feb 1, 2018

The People's Liberation Army's approach to training, organizing, and equipping for modern warfare over the past two decades has been influenced by systems thinking. It now characterizes modern warfare as a confrontation between opposing operational systems rather than merely opposing armies.

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Commentary

The Need to Think More Clearly About 'Great-Power Competition'

Today's world order is increasingly defined by competition between the United States and a host of major powers, especially China and Russia. Who is America's principal competitor and over what is it competing? What is America’s ultimate objective? And how will it prepare its economy and its society for infinite competition of an indefinite nature?

Feb 11, 2019
Commentary

How Horizon Scanning Can Give the Military a Technological Edge

Horizon scanning could promote innovative practices and innovation uptake, through the adoption of new ideas, equipment, and methods, with benefits that could positively affect the UK economy as a whole. But a wider mechanism for processing and assessing the selected developments would be needed.

Feb 8, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Of Bombs and Bureaucrats: Internal Drivers of Nuclear Force Building in China and the United States

This article examines the domestic influences on US and Chinese nuclear forces. While strategic factors largely drive each side's, underappreciated domestic and organizational factors also influence outcomes.

Feb 8, 2019
Report

Report

Conceptual Design for a Multiplayer Security Force Assistance Strategy Game

The authors explain the conceptual underpinnings and basic rules for a RAND-designed security force assistance strategy game. The game is a tool to explore the potential benefits and risks of different security force assistance strategies.

Feb 7, 2019
Commentary

Hard to Predict Outcome of Second Trump-Kim Summit

It is difficult to predict the outcome of the second summit between Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump. In September, 2018, Kim offered to fully denuclearize during President Trump's first term. But despite Kim's offer, he continued building nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, according to multiple reports. If Kim decides to keep stalling, serious tensions could follow.

Feb 6, 2019
Report

Report

The U.S. Department of Defense's Planning Process: Components and Challenges

This report explores the current defense planning process used by the U.S. Department of Defense, with a focus on how scenarios are developed and employed to support defense planning.

Feb 4, 2019
Commentary

An Army Caught in the Middle Between Luddites, Luminaries, and the Occasional Looney

The Futures Command is the U.S. Army's newly established major command focused on preparing for future war with a peer competitor. Why was this such an important move for the Army?

Dec 20, 2018
Report

What Does the Emerging Era of International Competition Look Like?

There is a general expectation of a new era of strategic competition, characterized by growing rivalry in the political, economic, and military spheres. But there is no consensus on what that means or what forms it could take. Theory and history can shed light on the coming era.

Dec 19, 2018
Commentary

Sino-Japan Rapprochement Will Likely Fail

Recent meetings and otherwise relative calm between China and Japan may give the impression that their ties are improving. But because of their strategic competition and fundamental differences, it is more likely than not that their current rapprochement will fail.

Dec 7, 2018
Commentary

Is Japan's New Defense Plan Ambitious Enough?

Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan has significantly increased capabilities to meet increasing regional security challenges. But Tokyo may need to do more to manage the complex security environment surrounding Japan.

Dec 6, 2018
Report

Standoff Over Senkaku Islands Carries Growing Risk of Miscalculation

China has stepped up its vessel and air activities near the disputed Senkaku Islands. Japan has made posture changes and increased the quantity of aircraft and radar in the region, but it does not have the resources to match Chinese air activity. And since it's an issue of domestic air sovereignty, the U.S. is limited in what it can do to assist Japan.

Dec 3, 2018
Report

Comprehensive Analysis of Strategic Force Generation Challenges in the Australian Army

This report reviews the modernisation efforts and force generation practices of four armed forces with global presence to derive lessons and practices to inform the Australian Army's own reorganisation policy.

Dec 3, 2018
Report

Report

Planning an Army for the 21st Century: Principles to Guide U.S. Army Force Size, Mix, and Component Distribution

In this Perspective, the authors seek to provide criteria for an effective and efficient Army for the 21st century and lay out principles to help guide leaders in making contemporary force-planning decisions.

Dec 3, 2018
Commentary

How America Can Test North Korea's True Intentions

While North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has suggested he may be prepared to abandon his nuclear ambitions, there has been no proof that he is serious. The United States could take steps to discover Kim's true intentions.

Nov 26, 2018
Commentary

Why North Korea Sanctions Relief Is Inappropriate at This Time

In early 2018, Kim Jong Un signaled that he was ready to negotiate abandoning North Korea's nuclear weapons with the United States. But since then, Pyongyang hasn't taken steps to denuclearize. The DPRK's actions speak louder than its words.

Nov 26, 2018
Report

How the U.S. Air Force Shapes China's Military Aerospace Goals

Aerospace power has been a core feature of the People's Liberation Army's rapid modernization. The main driver for its development is the PLA's view that it needs to be prepared to deter and, if necessary, defeat the United States in a high-end clash.

Nov 21, 2018
Report

What Deters and Why

What must the United States do to deter potential aggressors from attacking allies or other countries in large-scale conventional conflicts? Managing an adversary's motives is the key first step.

Nov 20, 2018
Report

The Strategy of China's Bomber Flights

Since March 2015, China's PLAAF has conducted a series of long-range bomber flights in the Asia-Pacific region, including over the South China Sea, near Japan, and around Taiwan. What's driving these flights? And what are the implications for U.S. interests in the region?

Nov 14, 2018
Report

Report

Pacific Engagement: Forging Tighter Connections Between Tactical Security Cooperation Activities and U.S. Strategic Goals in the Asia-Pacific Region

This report examines U.S. Army security cooperation (SC) processes in the Pacific Command area of responsibility to forge stronger links between strategic and tactical levels in the planning and execution of SC activities.

Oct 23, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Defense Planning When Major Changes Are Needed

The special efforts needed to make "big things happen" in defense planning.

Oct 23, 2018

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RAND Topic:
Military Strategy

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