This study assesses the validity and general utility of selected instances of physical metaphor in tactical military theory and doctrine. An analytical framework is built upon the curriculum of the Advanced Military Studies Program, US Army Command...
This study assesses the validity and general utility of metaphors used in military theory and doctrine to describe the nature and role of information in military operations. The monograph is an extension of the author's earlier work (Physical...
This monograph examines the question can modern metaphors, based on late twentieth century nonlinear scientific thought, better explain concepts described by Clausewitz, using early nineteenth century linear scientific thought. Clausewitz...
On 12 October 1999, the U.S. Army began a journey down a new path to innovation, when General Eric Shinseki presented his vision of Army Transformation at the 45th annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army. In this speech, General...
After almost a decade of war, some senior Army leaders have attributed the challenges experienced in both Iraq and Afghanistan to an inadequate response to complex environmental changes or even blatant misidentification of the problem. Today’s...
It is dangerous to assume that in today's operating environment, a universally accepted definition of what war is, and what war is not, is readily available. While most Soldiers and policy makers claim to know war, "knowing it when they see it," is...
Current conditions in Somalia create difficult challenges for the United States. To address ungoverned spaces in the failed state of Somalia, the United States appears to seek multilateral solutions to piracy in the Gulf of Aden, and displays an...
This monograph addresses the fact that most writing on strategy is descriptive rather than explanatory. Describing strategy in terms of categories such as "grand strategy," or "theater strategy," or by various analogies, does not illuminate what...
Throughout the past 15 years, both the Western allies and the Russians have entered into a series of military engagements that have in one way or another spectacularly failed to achieve the results intended, namely a decisive military victory which...
This monograph examines Chinese warfare and suggests that three and a half millennia of Chinese military history have produced a distinctive and enduring Chinese way of war. While the art and science of war in China have evolved considerably...
This monograph examines the ambiguities of Chinese strategic and military thought and introduces a new concept of Chinese Strategic Art to help analysts understand how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) thinks about and practices strategy. This...
This monograph addresses how humans think and make sense of the world, and whether the current logic used by the U.S. military is still useful for understanding and influencing a world where complexity continues to increase. Drawing from elements...
This monograph offers a definition of "military art," discusses military art's relationship to the commander's management of battlefield uncertainty, and uncertainty's relationship to nonlinearity. Using the terms of art, uncertainty, and...
Since the end of the Cold War in 1989, the United States has embarked upon many military operations that were not bound by the traditional framework of revolution or insurgency. States formerly held together by the political logic and financial...
The tale of Odysseus and his encounter with Scylla and Charybdis is an instructive metaphor for considering theories of organizational design and leadership. The tale speaks of navigating between two extremes where dodging one increases the risk...
The purpose of this monograph is to answer the question: Can the Army increase its strategic responsiveness in order to narrow the current gap between Army capabilities and requirements? To arrive at an answer, this paper begins by examining...
This study analyzes the theories of Pragmatic Communications, Cybernetics, and Perturbation under the framework of the Pragmatic Complexity Model to illustrate how two Presidential administrations beginning in the 20th and 21st centuries used 'new...
Decision making in combat is one of the core competencies most valued in leaders. Much effort is dedicated to the analysis of decision-making models, processes, and methodologies in order to develop skills that enable leaders to make qualitatively...
Is American air power sliding toward irrelevancy in the security environment that the United States confronts as it moves into the twenty-first century? Attitudes of certain senior airmen about the application of air power in the new security...
This monograph examines the relationship between battlefield synchronization and decision-making. Beginning with a review of rational analytical decision theory and Gary Klein’s recognition primed decision theory, the monograph reviews the...