The Latest Issue: Spring 2026
From the Editor in Chief
C. Anthony Pfaff
Welcome to the Spring 2026 issue of Parameters, which consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Clausewitz and Modern Warfare, Operational Considerations, and Historical Studies), and the Strategic Competition Corner.
The PDF version of this issue can be found here.
Features
In Focus
Legacies Worth Considering: (Re)examining the Assumptions Behind Denial Strategies
Samuel Zilincik
©2026 Samuel Zilincik
Contemporary analyses of denial strategies risk conceptual confusion because they neglect the legacies of two distinct traditions: coercion versus control. This article explores the two traditions’ legacies from a broader perspective. It shows how neglecting those legacies contributes to conceptual confusion concerning operational conduct and strategic affairs in the South China Sea. The article facilitates smoother communication between and among civilians and military members involved in operational planning, which is essential if the United States and its allies want to combine military and nonmilitary instruments in future operations.
Keywords: denial, coercion, control, deterrence by denial, area denial
Clausewitz and Modern Warfare
Approaching the Military as a Profession Through the Clausewitzian Trinity
Adam T. Biggs
The Clausewitzian trinity (people, government, and military—or passion, reason, and chance) can enhance existing scholarship and discussions about military professionalism by emphasizing the fundamental purpose of military forces. Specifically, managing chance incorporates elements of reducing uncertainty and applying creativity as individuals develop coup d’oeil. Junior personnel manage chance by reducing cognitive load while enhancing cognitive skills needed to quickly assess battlefield conditions as they progress to becoming senior leaders. This article contrasts these ideas against the various roles assigned to civil-military forces in the Clausewitzian trinity to emphasize professionalism in developing military leaders.
Keywords: professional, Clausewitz, coup d’oeil, cognitive, creativity
Strategic Theory and Clausewitz’s Trinitarian Test
Lukas Milevski
©2026 Lukas Milevski
Carl von Clausewitz’s trinity represents a qualitative test for strategy in both theory and practice. With the trinity, Clausewitz transforms competing influences into a mark of theoretical quality. Synthesizing several translations of Clausewitz’s On War and interpretations by experts such as Hew Strachan, Antulio J. Echevarria II, and Frank G. Hoffman, this article suggests that Clausewitz believed that good theory encompasses and accounts for all fundamental forces of war, whereas bad theory emphasizes the extremes of one force. The trinity compels mandatory considerations for students of theory, war planners, and practitioners.
Keywords: Clausewitz, trinity, trinitarian, theory, strategy
Operational Considerations
Successful Large-Scale Combat Operations Require Artificially Intelligent Breaching Munitions
Michael P. Carvelli
The US Army must invest in artificial intelligence–enabled breaching munitions to succeed in large-scale combat operations. This article combines existing technologies to propose a new capability the Army does not currently possess. It lays out the current state of breaching materiel, identifies additional technology available, and proposes combining multiple pieces of existing technology to create improved breaching munitions for the Army’s use. This new capability will require practitioners and policymakers to enable the creation of artificial intelligence systems through acquisition and tactical experimentation.
Keywords: artificial intelligence (AI), countermine operations, large-scale combat operations (LSCO), breaching tactics, machine learning (ML), Russia-Ukraine War, Nagorno-Karabakh
Imitating US Doctrine Cost Europe Its Heavy Combat Power
Bence Nemeth
©2026 Bence Nemeth
This article argues that Europe’s loss of heavy combat power is primarily the result of doctrinal shifts influenced by the United States, rather than underfunding alone. Unlike existing research that focuses on defense budgets or burden-sharing, this study isolates the opportunity costs of adopting US-based expeditionary and counterinsurgency doctrines. Using force structure data for Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom (1990–2022), it conducts a counterfactual analysis of lost tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and heavy artillery pieces. The article shows that Europe’s shortfalls are doctrinal as much as fiscal and highlights the relevance of maintaining balance in future doctrinal choices.
Keywords: military doctrine, European defense, heavy combat power, expeditionary operations, NATO deterrence
Historical Studies
Risk Decision-Making and Intertemporal Choice: Lessons from the Taiwan Strait
Rachel Downing
©2026 Rachel Downing
This article argues that domestic and political factors may incentivize US presidents to use risky military options to resolve crises quickly, though high costs or threats to long-term vital interests can overcome leaders’ natural tendencies to focus on the present. Recently declassified documents from President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration allow a detailed examination of how US leaders balanced risks over time during the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises. The findings inform policy recommendations to enhance military planning and enable military advisers to communicate long-term risks more effectively to political leaders.
Keywords: presidential decision making, risk analysis, China, Taiwan, crisis
Spezialpropaganda: The East German Military’s Covert Information-Warfare Program
Joe Cheravitch
©2026 Joe Cheravitch
This article details the East German military’s extensive, innovative covert-propaganda program, which was designed to influence West German attitudes for almost two decades during the Cold War. Unlike existing scholarship that primarily addresses intelligence-led disinformation, this study uniquely analyzes military-led information warfare. The article uses previously classified East German military records to examine capabilities and tactics ranging from fake conscription notices to radio broadcasts. The findings offer contemporary US military planners and practitioners insight into the complexities of integrating information-warfare capabilities, measuring the effectiveness of propaganda, and understanding adversarial influence campaigns, with direct implications for current Joint Force planning and doctrine.
Keywords: information warfare, information operations, propaganda, East Germany, intelligence
Strategic Competition Corner
Strategic Rivalries: How Are They Won?
Antulio J. Echevarria II
This article argues strategic rivalries—distinct from general strategic competition—are best understood as contests in which states prioritize weakening a specific opponent’s capacity to compete. It departs from existing work by critiquing the Joint Concept for Competing’s narrow definition and by emphasizing rivalry termination as a central but understudied dimension. Drawing on decades of international relations scholarship and historical datasets of interstate rivalries since 1815, the article analyzes how rivalries end and identifies strategic preclusion as a proactive approach for winning them. Its insights offer policy and military practitioners guidance for shaping competitive strategies short of war.
Keywords: interstate strategic competition, strategic rivalry, enduring rivalry, strategic competition termination, Joint Concept for Competing
Review Essay
The Army: A Primer to Our Profession of Arms – Field Manual 1
by Headquarters, Department of the Army
Reviewed by Colonel Darren Buss, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College; and Dr. John A. Nagl, General John J. Pershing Professor of Warfighting Studies, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College
Keywords: profession of arms, American soldier, Army values, military ethics, leadership
Strategy
The Impossible Mission: The Office of Security Cooperation and the U.S. Forces Drawdown in Iraq
by Robert L. Caslen Jr.
Reviewed by Dr. Kate Tietzen-Wisdom, US Army Center of Military History
Keywords: Iraq War, Iraq, Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, withdrawal, U.S. Army
Securing Space: A Plan for U.S. Action
by Nina M. Armagno and Jane Harman, chairs, and Esther D. Brimmer, project director
Reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel David C. Zesinger, aerospace operations director, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College
Keywords: space, Space Force, great-power competition, resilience, hard power
Irregular Warfare
The Spy and the State: The History of American Intelligence
by Jeffrey P. Rogg
Reviewed by Dr. Thomas W. Spahr, Francis W. De Serio Chair of Strategic and Theater Intelligence, US Army War College
Keywords: intelligence, American history, civil-intelligence relations, counterintelligence
Winning Without Fighting: Irregular Warfare and Strategic Competition in the 21st Century
by Rebecca Patterson, Susan Bryant, Ken Gleiman, and Mark Troutman
Reviewed by Dr. John A. Nagl, General John J. Pershing Professor of Warfighting Studies, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College
©2026 John A. Nagl
Keywords: irregular warfare, grand strategy, resilience, gray zone, hard power
Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict Between Russia and the West
by Maximilian Hess
Reviewed by Dr. Joel R. Hillison, director, National Security Policy and Strategy, Department of Distance Education, US Army War College
Keywords: global economic order, trade, geoeconomics, international relations
How Drones Fight: How Small Drones Are Revolutionizing Warfare
by Lars Celander
Reviewed by Colonel Chase Metcalf, assistant professor, Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations, US Army War College
Keywords: drones, technology, modern warfare, drone tactics
Reflections on the Russia-Ukraine War
Edited by Maarten Rothman, Loenneke Peperkamp, and Sebastiaan Rietjens
Reviewed by Dr. Tor Bukkvoll, senior research fellow, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment
©2026 Tor Bukkvoll
Keywords: Russia-Ukraine War, geopolitics, strategy, international security, cyberwarfare
Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War
by Sean M. Wiswesser
Reviewed by Dr. Thomas W. Spahr, Francis De Serio Chair of Strategic and Theater Intelligence, US Army War College
Keywords: intelligence, Russian studies, counterintelligence, CIA