Wild Blue Yonder

April 13, 2020
Wrong Time to Hack: How Deterrence Theory Informs Policy Options in a Time of COVID-19

This article begins by highlighting the risks to the Internet, then presents a summary of deterrence theory to conceptualize a range of options available for senior leaders. A review of the research on the Internet, deterrence theory, national authorities, and limited criminal justice theory
March 30, 2020
The Strategy Web: A New Framework for Analyzing Military Strategy

Warfare is a complex endeavor, and those tasked with planning and implementing military strategy must be equipped with a robust framework capable of incorporating theory, historical evidence, and truths. It is necessary to cultivate an entirely new framework for representing and analyzing strategy.
March 16, 2020
Multi-Domain Operations: Bridging the Gaps for Dominance

This article will take a quick look at how warfare has evolved and why we have headed toward the multi-domain operations (MDO) doctrine. Additionally, the article provides a framework as a rudimentary way to understand basic MDO concepts that can be utilized to create offensive and defensive MDO
Feb. 17, 2020
Afghanistan Intelligence War

A comparison between the way the pro-Soviet intelligence agencies carried out strategic interference against the political system in the past and the way the post-2001 pro-Western agencies are interfacing with the political process is important for understanding Afghan politics today. In some ways,
Feb. 17, 2020
Air Corps Infantry: The Original Cross-Functional Airmen

The planes droned by, filling the sky with a chest-rattling thrum. Allied material superiority was in full display as lines of over 1,600 C-47 Skytrains and C-46 Commandos stretched from airfields near London and Paris all the way to the Rhine. Fighters and medium bombers swept the skies and
Feb. 3, 2020
Between Theory and Practice: The Utility of International Relations Theory to the Military Practitioner

This article advances the argument that theory influences the policy makers’ view of the world in ways that impact policy development and, by extension, defense strategy. Thus, it is an indispensable weapon in the senior military advisor’s arsenal. However, these theories tend to overemphasize or
Feb. 3, 2020
Integrating Cyber Effects into the Joint Targeting Cycle

Using guidance presented in JP 3-0, JP 3-60 and CJCSI 3370.01C, cyber effects and targeting may be effectively presented for a combatant commander in the same format as “traditional” targets. With development of better “supported/supporting” command relationships between US Cyber Command and
Jan. 20, 2020
Techno-Fetishism and Meta-Rhetoric: Assessing the Nature and Character of Past and Future Warfare

What will future war look like? Answering this question requires first reflecting on wars of the past. Warfare, from antiquity to present, has been defined by a constant nature and evolving character heavily influenced by the technology-theory interaction. Future war portends more of the same;
Jan. 20, 2020
Building Partnership Capacity and Logistics

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency administers Building Partner Capacity programs funded with US appropriations and administered as cases within the foreign military sales (FMS) infrastructure. One of these programs enables the agency to provide logistics solutions to allied countries.
Jan. 2, 2020
“It’s the People, Stupid!”: Step One of Fixing the DOD’s Software Challenges

The Department of Defense (DOD) is full of flawed software applications that create a frustrated workforce and result in countless hours wasted. In 2018, Congress was fed up and directed the Defense Innovation Board (DIB) to conduct a Software Acquisition and Practices Study to root out the problem.