Volume 13 Issue 4 - Winter 2019 Published Nov. 21, 2019 Strategic Studies Quarterly, Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL POLICY FORUM On Great Power Conflict: Entangled or Untangled Alliances? An Interview with Charles A. Kupchan Are current US alliances likely to precipitate or prevent a great power conflict—particularly with China or Russia? Comment on Article Attrition and the Will to Fight a Great Power War Emma Moore Can the US tolerate manpower and platform attrition and maintain the capability and will to fight and win a great power conflict? Comment on Article FEATURE ARTICLE Through the Glass—Darker James Wood Forsyth Jr. and Ann Mezzell China and Russia pose challenges to US interests, which is another way of saying that great power rivalry is back and with it competition, and perhaps even great power war. Comment on Article PERSPECTIVES Missile Defense for Great Power Conflict: Outmaneuvering the China Threat Henry Obering III and Rebeccah L. Heinrichs Should the US adapt its missile defense policy and strategy and leverage new technology to increase the capability of missile defenses? Comment on Article Ambiguity, Risk, and Limited Great Power Conflict Thomas G. Mahnken and Gillian Evans Are China and Russia leveraging ambiguity and US risk aversion to make the prospect of limited nuclear war more likely? Comment on Article Techniques for Great Power Space War Paul Szymanski To ensure a favorable outcome of a great power space war, the US must analyze fundamentals of space warfare, rules for its conduct, escalation control, and criteria for space war termination. View appendices. Comment on Article Minding the Gaps: US Military Strategy toward China Derek Grossman and John Speed Meyers What gaps exist in the analytical debate on the proper US military strategy to deter China, and can these gaps be filled? Comment on Article Decide, Disrupt, Destroy: Information Systems in Great Power Competition with China Ainikki Riikonen How will twenty-first-century information technologies shape the way China develops and uses IT before, during, and after a potential great power conflict.? Comment on Article BOOK REVIEWS Rising Titans, Falling Giants: How Great Powers Exploit Power Shifts by Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson Reviewed by Joseph M. Parent As China rises, so does the number of books grappling with what that means. Enter a recent scholarly contribution to the debate—Rising Titans, Falling Giants. Where much of the literature focuses on narrow slices of the puzzle, Shifrinson integrates multiple perspectives into a wide-angle view of great power politics. China's Vision of Victory by Jonathan D. T. Ward Reviewed by Lt Col Matthew Tuzel, USAF China’s Vision of Victory is part contemporary affairs and part history of Chinese strategy. It brings a distinctive, valuable perspective about one of the world’s great powers. Ward provides a good yardstick with which to measure Chinese actions. Will we see actions that match Ward’s argument of great continuities in Chinese strategy, or will world events and internal politics lead to different strategic movements from China? Time will tell, but Ward offers a useful model for thinking about China and Chinese strategy. US National Security: New Threats, Old Realities by Paul R. Viotti Reviewed by William E. Kelly The world we live in today in terms of national security is quite different from the past because of new challenges including cyber warfare, terrorism, global climate change, threats in outer space, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These challenges will not go away but become more serious, dangerous, important, and in need of a proper response by US policy makers. The author calls for a more realistic future consideration of the central concepts associated with national security. American Power and Liberal Order: A Conservative Internationalist Grand Strategy by Paul D. Miller Reviewed by Lt Col Kevin McCaskey, USAF American Power and Liberal Order covers a range of concepts in the realm of international relations. Currently a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Miller himself served in the Bush and Obama administrations, the CIA, and RAND and as an Army Reserve officer. This breadth of experience clearly shows as the book—while clearly a contribution to the international relations body of literature—engages regional conflict, homeland security, grand strategy, military power, political theory, and even diplomatic history. Importantly, this work values practicality, relevance, and accessibility over esotericism. The Future of Intelligence by Mark M. Lowenthal Reviewed by Col Jamie Sculerati, USAF, Retired The Future of Intelligence is Lowenthal’s distilled assessment of challenges facing the intelligence community in the immediate future. The slim volume is divided into chapters on changes in technology, the evolving role of analysis, and issues of governance and oversight. In the end, Lowenthal’s latest work doesn’t provide answers or a roadmap to the future of intelligence so much as it starts a discussion about key issues affecting that future. DOWNLOAD FULL EDITION
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