Missile Defense

Dec. 3, 2018

The National Defense Strategy Commission Calls Attention to the “Quiet” Cross Functional Team Revolution in the National Security System

Is there a hidden gem in the recently released National Defense Strategy Commission report? Distinguished Research Fellow Dr. Christopher Lamb thinks so. The report recommends cross-functional teams (CFTs), which have the potential to transform the national security system. But few people are aware of what is happening, what is at stake and what it will take to ensure the success of CFTs.

Dec. 3, 2018

Biotechnology for the Battlefield: In Need of a Strategy

In her article, published on War on the Rocks, CSWMD Senior Research Fellow Dr. Diane DiEuliis discusses the need for a more cohesive strategy to harness the potential uses of biotechnology on the battlefield.

Nov. 16, 2018

Joint Force Quarterly 91 (4th Quarter, October 2018)

What do you think about the joint force? Where do we need to adapt to meet the future as you see it? Where does leadership make a difference to you, and what does good leadership look like? When you think you have some answers, JFQ is here to help you reach out to the joint force and beyond.

Nov. 16, 2018

Aspiration vs. Reality: Where are We with the North Korea Denuclearization Process?

Despite President Trump's claim to have "largely solved" the North Korea problem, the President's ambition is now meeting reality as Secretary Pompeo and his North Korean counterparts attempt to fill in the blanks of what President Trump and Kim Jong Un thought they had agreed to at the Singapore Summit. At the same time, progress in President Moon's efforts to engage North Korea is fast outpacing progress in U.S.-North Korea negotiations on denuclearization. This trend is likely to continue and strain U.S.-ROK relations. The policy challenge facing the Trump administration is formidable and will test the President's diplomatic skills.

Nov. 13, 2018

PRISM Volume 7, No. 4

The newest edition of PRISM is now online. With this edition, PRISM completes our seventh volume and prepares to move toward full peer review status next year. The edition is non-themed but offers several features that highlight the importance of innovation and non-kinetic warfare. Among the distinguished authors are a former Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, the Director of Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counterterrorism Center, and a senior executive with the U.S. Department of Treasury. The edition also features a senior executive with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, who is distinguished alumnus from NDU's Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, as well as several military alum from NDU's Joint and combined Warfighting School. Hard copies will be available early in the new year.

Oct. 25, 2018

WMD in the Digital Age: Understanding the Impact of Emerging Technologies

In E&C Research Paper no. 4, Dr. Bajema explores three broad trends associated with emerging technologies that are fundamentally altering the WMD context, changing the threat space, and undermining the traditional tool box for countering WMD: digitization, convergence, and democratization.

Oct. 17, 2018

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Environmental Sustainability

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) are deployed to create, maintain, and secure peace in countries and regions struggling with violence and war. The environmental sustainability of UNPKO mission sites is not essential to the purpose of each deployment, but good sustainability practices can benefit the mission, host nation, troop-contributing countries, and the global environment. As a major contributor to UNPKO efforts, the United States has a direct interest in improving the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of each mission. This paper identifies gaps in sustainability practices at local and organizational levels and recommends an increased focus on sustainability practices that can benefit the mission, host nation, troopcontributing countries, and the environment.

Oct. 2, 2018

China's Strategic Support Force: A Force for a New Era

In late 2015, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) initiated reforms that have brought dramatic changes to its structure, model of warfighting, and organizational culture, including the creation of a Strategic Support Force (SSF) that centralizes most PLA space, cyber, electronic, and psychological warfare capabilities. The reforms come at an inflection point as the PLA seeks to pivot from land-based territorial defense to extended power projection to protect Chinese interests in the “strategic frontiers” of space, cyberspace, and the far seas. Understanding the new strategic roles of the SSF is essential to understanding how the PLA plans to fight and win informationized wars and how it will conduct information operations.

Aug. 13, 2018

Joint Force Quarterly 90 (3rd Quarter, July 2018)

The newest issue of Joint Force Quarterly is now online. With this issue your JFQ team completes our 90th edition and prepares to celebrate the journal’s 25th anniversary this fall, all thanks to our readers, authors, and the veterans of NDU Press, who have kept this great idea of General Colin Powell moving forward in support of the joint force. Join us in supporting what the general called “the cool yet lively interplay among some of the finest minds committed to the profession of arms.”

July 30, 2018

Alternative North Korean Nuclear Futures

Dr. Shane Smith takes stock of what we know about North Korea's nuclear motivations, capabilities, and ambitions.