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Parameters | Autumn 2022
August 26, 2022 — Welcome to the Autumn issue of Parameters. This issue consists of two In Focus commentaries, three forums, and the SRAD Director’s Corner. In our first In Focus essay, “Why America’s Army Can’t Win America’s Wars,” John Nagl presents a detailed historical analysis of the US military wins and losses since World War II. He provides a perspective on where past decisions and doctrines have led to defeat and where they may have succeeded if given more time or executed differently... MORE

The Future of the Joint Warfighting Headquarters: An Alternative Approach to the Joint Task Force
August 17, 2022 — Eric Bissonette, Thomas Bruscino, Kelvin Mote, Matthew Powell, Marc Sanborn, James Watts, Louis G. Yuengert — Collaborative Study by the US Army War College, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute — "The US military must create standing, numbered, and regionally aligned Joint warfighting headquarters— American Expeditionary Forces (AEFs)—around a command council and a staff organized into Joint centers and cells. Calls for standing Joint force headquarters are not new, but the demonstrated military effectiveness of the Joint Task Force (JTF) model coupled with increasing service-specific resource requirements and tightening fiscal constraints have resulted in little evolution in joint force headquarters construction since the end of World War II."... MORE

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Coercing Fluently: The Grammar of Coercion in the Twenty-first Century
August 1, 2022 — Dr. C. Anthony Pfaff — Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press — To illustrate the logic and grammar of coercion, this analysis relies on decision-theory methods, such as game theory, that examine the strategic decision-making process in interactions with adversaries and partners. The intent here is not to offer predictive models of rational-actor behavior. Rather, the intent is to use game-theory and similar approaches to understand how coercion works better. This analysis considers competitive interactions between actors that have discrete and qualifiable, if not quantifiable, preferences and who behave rationally, though this analysis acknowledges the behavior that is considered rational is frequently informed by nonrational social, cultural, and psychological factors. Considering these competitive interactions allows one to identify “rules of thumb” that can orient and guide actors as they compete... MORE

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Enabling a More Externally Focused and Operational PLA – 2020 PLA Conference Papers
July 27, 2022 — Roger Cliff and Roy KamphausenWith Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, David Brewster, Christopher Cairns, R. Evan Ellis, April Herlevi, Roderick Lee, Paul Nantulya, Meia Nouwens, Rebecca Pincus, Joel WuthnowAlthough the People’s Liberation Army is not yet a global expeditionary force on par with the US military, the former has nevertheless significantly... MORE

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The Grand Strategy of Gertrude Bell: From the Arab Bureau to the Creation of Iraq
July 13, 2022 — Heather S. Gregg — Monograph by the US Army War College, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute — The remarkable life of early-twentieth-century British adventurer Gertrude Bell has been well documented through her biographies and numerous travel books. Bell’s role as a grand strategist for the British government in the Middle East during World War I and the postwar period, however, is surprisingly understudied. Investigating Gertrude Bell as both a military strategist and a grand strategist offers important insights into how Great Britain devised its military strategy in the Middle East during World War I—particularly, Britain’s efforts to work through saboteurs and secret societies to undermine the Ottoman Empire during the war and the country’s attempts to stabilize the region after the war through the creation of the modern state of Iraq. As importantly, studying the life and work of Bell offers a glimpse into how this unique woman was able to become one of the principal architects of British strategy at this time and the extraordinary set of skills and perspectives she brought to these efforts—particularly, her ability to make and maintain relationships with key individuals. Bell’s life and work offer insights into the roles women have played and continue to play as influencers of grand strategy... MORE

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Parameters | Summer 2022
May 5, 2022 — Parameters Summer 2022 From the Editor in Chief Antulio J. Echevarria IIIn Focus: Dysfunctional Warfare: The Russian Invasion of Ukraine Rob Johnson Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine in 2022: Implications for Strategic Studies Antulio J. Echevarria IIRussia and China Economic Statecraft and US-Russian Policy Ryan J. Orsini Strengthen Arctic Governance... MORE

China, Europe and the Pandemic Recession: Beijing’s Investments and Transatlantic Security
May 4, 2022 — John R. Deni, Chris Alden, Erik Brattberg, Roger Cliff, Mark Duckenfield, R. Evan Ellis, Nicholas Nelson, Lauren Speranza — Collaborative Study by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press — "The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has unleashed an immense shock to the global economy. In Europe, gross domestic product has fallen, and unemployment has risen. China might take advantage of the crisis—just as it did in the wake of the global financial crisis a decade ago. As part of its broader national security strategy, China might again use its sovereign wealth fund, government-affiliated companies, and nominally private Chinese firms to provide necessary liquidity in Europe. In doing so, Beijing could take advantage of Europe’s economic difficulties to obtain sensitive technologies, build soft power, and acquire militarily significant infrastructure."... MORE

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Contested Deployment
April 1, 2022 — Bert B. Tussing, John Eric Powell, Benjamin C. Leitzel With James L. Boling, Jonathan M. Boling, John J. Borek, Charles P. Brady, John Bretthorst, Stephen W. Ladd, Steven E. Landis, Edmund “Beau” Riely, Arthur C. Roscoe, Brian D. Wisniewski — IRP by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press, Center for Strategic Leadership — "Early in academic year 2018, a group of US Army War College faculty and students came together in pursuit of an integrated research project devoted to an examination of contested deployment and the growing realization the US homeland can no longer be considered an inviolable zone in preparing for war. Expecting free movement of forces in mobilization, movement to ports of embarkation, and deployment against the nation’s adversaries is beneath reason. Two oceans and benevolent neighbors to the north and south can no longer be considered a significant buffer against internal and external enemies. Adversaries of the United States will seek to disrupt or disable the movement of its forces long before they can be placed in combat against foes overseas, and the nation must be prepared for this opposition."... MORE

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Parameters | Spring 2022
February 24, 2022 — Civil-Military Relations: Guidelines in Politically Charged Societies | Interrupting Bias in Army Talent Management | Rethinking Female Urinary Devices for the US Army | Understanding a Changing China | China’s Global Monopoly on Rare Earth Elements | Chinese and Western Ways of War and Their Ethics | Confronting Complex Security Dilemmas... MORE

Framing the Future of the US Military Profession
January 13, 2022 — Richard A. Lacquement Jr., Thomas P. Galvin — Monograph by the US Army War College, US Army War College Press, Strategic Studies Institute — "The military profession needs to be redefined by examination of its expertise and jurisdictions of practice, whereas previously the focus was on securing its professional identity. Twenty years ago, the original Future of the Army Profession research project responded to growing concerns among officers that the Army was no longer a profession in light of the post–Cold War drawdown and the onset of global operations including Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, the profession faces recurrent challenges raised by the changing character of war, the renewal of great-power competition, crises surrounding issues of sexual harassment and assault, the effects of a major global pandemic and associated social and political unrest, and the growing societal distrust toward professions in general..."... MORE

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