Integrated deterrence is the alignment of the DOD’s “policies, investments, and activities to sustain and strengthen deterrence— tailored to specific competitors and coordinated to maximum effect inside and outside the Department,” in order to address competitors’ “holistic strategies that employ varied forms of coercion, malign behavior, and aggression to achieve their objectives and weaken the foundation of a stable and open international system.”5 Are there operational, fiscal, and legal authorities and permissions which need to be changed or created in order for SOF to be effective in integrated deterrence?
Within the DOD, what is SOF’s role for global and theater integrated deterrence, campaigning, and engagement? How can SOF best contribute to whole-of-government integrated deterrence efforts? How can integrated deterrence operations be tailored to different states and regions? Are there specific allies and partners in each region that should be the focus of integrated deterrence efforts? How can SOF prioritize which states to focus on within a regional integrated deterrence campaign? Might long-term irregular warfare campaigning contribute to integrated deterrence and optimize allied and partner participation as part of global collective security?
Where does nuclear deterrence fit into integrated deterrence, and what is SOF’s role in nuclear deterrence? How do SOF communicate U.S. counter weapons of mass destruction (CWMD) policy, and how can the CWMD mission fit into SOF’s overall strategy with partners, allies, and neutrals?
- Bueker, Lt. Col. Charles, "Key Measures of Integrated Deterrence," AF Fellows paper (Project on Managing the Atom, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University), 2024, 4 pgs.
- Soesanto, Stefan, "Cyber Deterrence Revisited," Published as an AU Press Perspectives on Cyber Paper, 2022, 49 pgs.