Welcome to the Autumn 2025 issue of Parameters. We open with two In Focus commentaries. The first, “A Case for Military Proportionality: Disabling Nuclear Plants” by Henry Sokolski, offers practical ways in which military planners can disable civilian targets, such as nuclear infrastructure, without undermining operational goals, alliance cohesion, or long-term political objectives. Our second commentary, “The Consequences of Declining Patriotism in the United States” by Neil N. Snyder, presents findings from a national survey showing a decline in patriotism, especially among Generation Z nonveterans. His article highlights a growing civil-military values gap with implications for recruitment and national cohesion.
This issue’s primary forum, Strategic Competition, features four articles. In the first article “Coercive Deterrence: Adapting Deterrence for Strategic Competition with China,” Terry Tracy introduces the concept of coercive deterrence as a proactive strategy to constrain adversary choices without relying on threats or force. She discusses the concept against the backdrop of the hybrid threats posed by China, emphasizing the need for interagency coordination and collaboration with our allies. The second article, “Russian Arctic Land Forces and Defense Trends Redefined by NATO and Ukraine,” by Troy J. Bouffard, Lester W. Grau, Charles K. Bartles, and Mathieu Boulègue assesses how the Russia-Ukraine War and NATO’s Nordic expansion have weakened Russia’s Arctic land forces. The authors call upon war planners to counterbalance Russian influence in the region, offering detailed insights into Russian force structure, mobility, and vulnerabilities. The third article, “Disinformation as Ground-Shifting in Great-Power Competition” by Sorin Adam Matei, introduces a novel framework called ground-shifting, which can help heighten understanding how disinformation exploits cognitive biases and social behaviors to create alternate realities for the purpose of manipulating populations. In the forum’s final article, “Bangladesh in Transition: Testing Democratization in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific,” Rudabeh Shahid analyzes Bangladesh’s democratic transition following Sheikh Hasina’s resignation. She recommends ways US policymakers can support democratic consolidation within South Asia as a form of strategic competition.
Next in the lineup is our Cyber Spotlight, which showcases the timely and critical article, “Who Is in Charge of Cyber Incidence Response in the Homeland?” by Kelly R. M. Ihme, Patrick O’Brien Boling, Michael J. Zimmerman, and Timothy G. McCormick. This article shows how the SolarWinds, Colonial Pipeline, and Change Healthcare cyberattacks revealed the inadequacy of the current US cyber incident response framework. They propose a remedy centered on a unified whole-of-government strategy, a consistent lead agency assignment, and stronger enforcement of cybersecurity standards.
Our Autumn issue closes with a contribution to History and Military Publishing, featuring Thomas Bruscino’s article, “War Fighting: The Case of Ulysses S. Grant.” Bruscino reinforces the US Army’s use of military history to sharpen its professional focus on the study of war. ~AJE