Welcome to the Winter 2024–25 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Indo-Pacific, Security Cooperation, and Historical Studies), and the regular Civil-Military Relations Corner installment.
Our In Focus special commentary, “The American Way of Studying War: What Is It Good For?,” by Michael Ferguson, discusses the concept of new military history, traces developments in military historiography, and explores the US Army’s relationship with its history and the challenges the service faces in interpreting its past. Ferguson concludes with recommendations for further research.
The first forum, Indo-Pacific, features three articles. In the first article, “Korea: The Enduring Policy Blindspot,” Justin Malzac and Rene Mahomed claim that the threat posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is under-prioritized and requires a dramatic change of approach—the elevation of US Forces Korea to combatant command status as part of a new command structure that emphasizes mission over geography. The second article, “Weapons of Influence: Unpacking China’s Global Arms Strategy,” by Jake Rinaldi, explores the strategic motivations behind China’s arms sales, identifies the five main interests driving Chinese arms exports, and underscores the need for the United States and its allies to compete in the arms trade. In the third article, “The Philippines’ Security in the Face of China’s Rising Threats,” Shang-Su Wu summarizes the modern history of the Philippines’ military and defense capabilities, analyzes the current state of the country’s defenses, and provides recommendations for how the United States can assist within the constraints of existing commitments.
Our second forum, Security Cooperation, includes two articles. In the first, “Reforming and Enhancing Partnerships to Strengthen NATO’s Strategic Posture,” Nicolò Fasola contends that NATO’s current partnership policies, procedures, and mechanisms inadequately address the Alliance’s evolving mission. The second article, “US Relations with Africa and the New Cold War,” by Hamid Lellou, shows how Africa remains a key battleground in the global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism and offers actionable policy recommendations for fostering stable, long-term relations.
The third forum, Historical Studies, showcases two articles. Michael Fitzpatrick, in “Korea, Germany, and the Arsenal of Democracy,” examines the 1970s partnership between the United States and West Germany that focused on new military doctrines and technology to meet the challenges of the late Cold War and concludes that Washington should use it as a template for developing a more collaborative relationship with Seoul. In “Allies, Partners, or Puppets?: American and Chilean Armies, 1961–69,” Hugo Harvey-Valdés challenges the politicized narratives of the Cold War in Latin America—especially in Chile—and offers insights into the impacts of international military policies on future military exchange programs.
The issue concludes with the Civil-Military Relations Corner. In “The Military and Democratic Transition: Paradoxes of the Democratic Ethos,” Carrie Lee argues that existing attempts to define the democratic ethos fall short and examines different definitions of the democratic ethos vis-a-vis the military, its positions on maintaining it, and the paradoxes inherent in these conceptions. ~CAP