This monograph examines the Arab Spring in light of the past half century of efforts in transnational Arab identity formation and thus considers its links to Arab Nationalism and Pan-Islamism. Then, with a focus on Syria and the sectarian nature of...
Several theoretical and doctrinal problems limit current US Army understanding of conflict, war and operational art. Those problems include confusion between conflict and war, ambiguity of theoretical terms such as "center of gravity" or...
The thesis of this study is that the Continental artillery in the American Revolution, despite its ad hoc beginning and wartime challenges, gradually developed into a professional organization by the end of the war. Rather than operational history...
This monograph examines time estimation at the operational level of war. The study begins with a review of Classical Military Theory to identify the theoretical basis for time estimation. It next examines the Theory of Operational Art to discern...
This monograph examines the 1914 Marne and 1943 Kursk campaigns to determine, from the operational perspective, the reasons for decision failures and how intelligence influences them. Part I defines operational level intelligence, establishes the...
This monograph directly addresses the problem posed when considering the question 'Who says what right is?' or 'Justice according to whom?' The relative nature of the term 'justice' creates a problem for military ethics, particularly when soldiers...
Historical examples are an expedient way to develop an understanding of operational art theory and concepts. A historical illustration of both operational success and failure is the Korean War. Several aspects of the Korean War remain relevant to...
This monograph asserts that, contrary to what current doctrine implies and in order to enhance unity of effort at execution, strategic and operational level commanders and planners must plan Peace Operations and Humanitarian Assistance using...
This monograph examines operational surprise by answering the question, "What are the essential elements for producing operational surprise?” This issue is important because very little has been written about operational surprise despite the...
This paper seeks to examine the changing nature of war and the environment in which it is fought. The fact that America is not applauding its successes at the physical level of war in waging the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and does not perceive the...
Scant literature exists to guide today's operational artist in solving the intrinsic issues of the operational level of war. Most works concentrate on the activities or functions to be performed by the operational artist with little regard for...
In recent years a plethora of comments have appeared praising the impressive combat effectiveness of the pre-1945 German Army. Many of these comments have attributed a large measure of the Germans' tactical success to the concept now referred to as...
Col. John Boyd, USAF (Ret),famous for developing the OODA (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) loop model, spent most of his adult life trying to convince the U.S. military establishment of the merits of his theory for maneuver warfare later called the Boyd...
Transformation is the buzzword of the new millennium for the United States military complex. The future of the Department of Defense and the individual armed services are now at stake, whether current transformational efforts stem from internal...
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...
This paper deals with the writing of doctrine and focuses on the efforts of General DePuy, the first TRADOC commander, to forge a coherent fighting doctrine for an increasingly complex Army in a time of turmoil. While the author praises DePuy's...
This study focuses on the operational level of war -- that level which links tactics to strategy. The study seeks to identify and define principles applicable to the operational level of war. If valid, those principles ought to guide and/or govern...
The deployment of a US Ground-based Mid-course ballistic missile Defense (GMD) within what Russia considers its rightful sphere of influence is an unacceptable challenge to Russian national security. Russians, according to Makhmut Gareev, believe...