Decisive Point Podcast

In this episode, Major General David C. Hill, Dr. David D. Dworak, and Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Blair Wilcox discuss their article, “The Forward Edge of the Fifth US Army War College.” They address the evolution of the War College, focusing on curriculum adaptations in response to technological advancements and modern warfare challenges. They highlight the importance of personalized education and the value of multinational collaboration in fostering effective leadership and the necessity for continuous evolution in military education to prepare strategic leaders for future complexities. This episode sheds light on the transformative journey of the US Army War College and emphasizes the collaborative spirit necessary for effective leadership in a rapidly changing world. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss3/3/ E-mail usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: Joint Force, professional military education, information age, human-machine teaming, war gaming

In this episode of Decisive Point, Dr. Jeff McManus, an expert in strategic studies, explores his compelling argument for recognizing bureaucracy as a sixth domain of warfare. The conversation highlights how this perspective can reshape the interactions of military officers and policymakers within the intricate bureaucratic landscape. McManus articulates key fundamentals for adeptly navigating this realm, emphasizing the complex nature of politics, the impact of individual personalities, and the unique pressures faced in policymaking. He discusses the importance of nonpartisanship, trust, and resilience. McManus’s insights challenge the view of bureaucracy as simply an obstacle, positioning it instead as an essential battleground for strategy and success. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss2/11/ E-mail usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: bureaucracy, fundamentals, policy, politics, strategy

The Army has made insufficient progress in arming its officers with science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and management (STEM+M) knowledge. The contemporary battlefield is faster paced, technologically enabled, and data driven, requiring officers to possess more skills, knowledge, and experience. We examine the Army’s history with STEM education and show that, in terms of education, the current Army officer corps has fallen behind its requirements for technology-enabled forces and modern society. We conclude with recommendations on how the Army can close the STEM+M education gap through advances in higher education and adopting talent management practices. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss2/10/ E-mail usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: STEM+M, education, technology, human capital, higher education

The podcast discusses their Parameters article exploring differences between Canadian military and American military colleges. This series shows how domestic context creates the conditions for professional military education reform to a greater extent than the global strategic context. The article assesses the junior officer education delivered by Canada’s military colleges and analyzes interviews with key stakeholders responsible for the formulation and implementation of reform at the military colleges.

Oleh Hukovskyy, a Ukrainian military officer and psychiatrist, shares insights on the Russia-Ukraine War’s impact on soldiers’ mental health. He discusses the daily challenges faced by troops and highlights signs of post-combat stressors. Hukovskyy coauthored an article on stress management for soldiers that draws on Western principles and emphasizes on-site counseling and timely interventions. He introduces the concept of combat path debriefing, focusing on unit history to foster a warrior mindset. Hukovskyy advocates for sharing knowledge in the military community to enhance psychological training and stresses the importance of customization in debriefing processes. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss2/5/ E-mail usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: debriefing, resilience, combat stress, psychology, recovery

US Army Colonel Thomas W. Spahr discusses the development and implementation of the AI model, Raven Sentry, to predict attacks on Afghan centers using unclassified data sources. He highlights the need for innovative solutions in Afghanistan as coalition presence waned. The success of Raven Sentry emphasizes the importance of leadership, collaboration with the commercial sector, and utilizing unclassified information for predictive intelligence. This experience showcases the potential of AI as a tool to enhance decision-making processes in intelligence analysis, stressing the value of human expertise alongside technological advancements. E-mail usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: artificial intelligence, Afghanistan, military intelligence, innovation, culture

Andrea Malouf, a consultant and adviser, discusses her article, “Iraq’s Ministry of Interior: NATO, Capability Building, and Reform.” She emphasizes the importance of defining clear end states for successful reform, avoiding a sole focus on training, making strategic decisions based on practical constraints, questioning assumptions and biases, collaborating with partner organizations, understanding public perceptions, and conducting thorough assessments for effective reform efforts. Malouf advocates for a comprehensive and strategic approach to institutional reform that prioritizes public perception and alignment with objectives. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss2/8/ E-mail usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: Iraq, Ministry of Interior, institutional reform, security sector reform, NATO

American accounts of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) contend that it is a coherent grand strategy that reflects Beijing’s geopolitical ambitions. These accounts ignore the BRI’s fragmented nature, whereby Chinese provinces have been pivotal actors in its development and implementation. Furthermore, these accounts disregard the agency of participant countries and their capacity to shape the BRI. This article illustrates this fragmentation and agency by studying the Yunnan province and its domestic and international neighbors. It contends that these dynamics indicate that the BRI lacks coherence and that Beijing’s capacity to extract geopolitical benefits will remain limited. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss2/4/ E-mail usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: China, Belt and Road, fragmented authoritarianism, geopolitics

Russia will dominate information warfare if the United States does not treat disinformation as central to Russian strategy. This podcast examines the vital role disinformation played in post–Cold War Russian strategy, including its strategy in the current Russia-Ukraine War, and in a departure from previous scholarship, this podcast observes that US defense leaders are aware of Russian disinformation but have failed to assess its impact or sufficiently negate Russian influence. The podcast also suggests proactive ways to counter Russia’s disinformation strategy. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss2/6/ Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: Russia, Ukraine, information operations, disinformation, information literacy

The China Landpower Studies Center Director Richard Butler and Joshua Arostegui, the center’s research director

Strengthening ties with Taiwan is the best chance the United States has to preserve the liberal international order in Asia and improve its security relative to China. This study offers a normative perspective on how Taiwan can contribute to US-led international institutions and the Asian regional order and reduce conflict risk. It concludes with recommendations for the United States and its partners to integrate Taiwan into multilateral institutions in Asia. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss1/6/ Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: US foreign policy, China, Taiwan, Indo-Pacific, rules-based order

The essay this podcast episode is based on sets the stage for the Strategic Studies Institute’s research on the growing importance of South Korea to the US alliance system and security objectives across the Indo-Pacific region, provides reasons why South Korea may become commensurate with Japan as the region’s primary US ally, and proposes ways the United States should leverage this reality to maximize this relationship and maintain a free and open Pacific. This important analysis challenges the orthodox view of South Korea as a self-contained problem set with little relevance to other regional security issues and explains its underappreciated connections to regional stability. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss2/15/ Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: South Korea, North Korea, Indo-Pacific (INDOPACOM), armistice agreement, security, nuclear, Russia-Ukraine War, national defense

This podcast examines the international law of self-defense as it applies to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict to determine whether the October 2023 attacks by Hamas against Israel can be interpreted under Article 51 of the UN Charter as an “armed attack” that gives Israel the right to use military force in self-defense against non-state actors. It situates the conflict within ongoing legal and political debates, shows how this conflict fits into a changing global reality where the most dangerous security threats do not exclusively emanate from other states and concludes that Israel’s resort to force in the current conflict appears to have a sound basis in international law. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss1/7/. Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: self-defense, international law, non-state actors, Israel, Hamas

This article argues that the People’s Republic of China uses its police and internal security forces as a nontraditional means of projecting strategic Landpower in the Indo-Pacific and Central Asia. Instead of limiting analysis of China’s power projection to military forces, this article employs new data on Chinese police engagements abroad to fill a gap in our understanding of the operating environment in Asia. Policymakers will gain an understanding of how these activities enhance China’s presence, partnerships, and inf luence across the region to inform the development of recommendations for a more effective response. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss1/5/ Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: China, strategic Landpower, internal security, security force assistance, police

Domestic constraints make it difficult for the United States to pursue a coherent program of restraint in the Middle East. As events in Gaza revive debates about the appropriate size and scope of the military footprint in the region, this article shows the importance of grounding any revised posture on a firm domestic foundation. Going beyond accounts that blame the obstructionism of a foreign policy establishment, it explores barriers to strategic adjustment and supports its claims through a case study of the Obama administration’s record, drawn from relevant literature, data on the distribution of military capabilities, and interviews with senior officials. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss1/8/ Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: Middle East, restraint, public opinion, domestic politics, polarization, civil-military relations Download the transcript: https://media.defense.gov/2024/May/01/2003454360/-1/-1/0/DP-5-4-PAYNE-TRANSCRIPT.PDF

Self-deterrence is critically understudied in deterrence theory. Similarly, deterrence practitioners prefer to focus on adversaries’ threats rather than seeking to account for the full scope of fears influencing the decision calculus of policymakers. Through historical case studies, this article identifies where self-deterrence has occurred, highlights the benefits of incorporating the concept in future strategic planning and intelligence assessments, and recommends that policymakers, strategists, and analysts acknowledge self-deterrence as an important factor when preparing for future wars. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss1/9/ Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: deterrence, self-deterrence, chemical weapons, nuclear weapons, decision making

This article proposes a new definition of strategy as problem-solving that challenges the focus on goals and assumptions of order within many post–Cold War approaches to strategy. It argues that the military needs strategy to diagnose the complex problems of the twenty-first century before they can be solved. Inspired by practitioners such as Andrew Marshall and George F. Kennan, this new definition clarifies what strategists do and offers a logic for distinguishing the use of the term strategy. Practitioners will also find problem-solving tools and pedagogies they can adopt today. Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: complexity, Andrew Marshall, George F. Kennan, problem-solving, strategy

New strategic art is required to maneuver political economies to meet the demands of future engagements and campaigns. Current discussions of the projection of political-economic power are typically abstract, high-level, and policy-focused or present singular tactical actions as strategic actions, creating a gap for campaign practitioners. This article addresses the gap by drawing on Joint Planning, Joint Publication 5-0, and Joint Campaigns and Operations, Joint Publication 3-0, to further develop the concept and methodologies first introduced in the author’s earlier article “Multidimensionality: Rethinking Power Projection for the 21st Century.” Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss1/4/ Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: sanctions, political-economic power, Russia, Ukraine, China

If the United States and its allies seek to deny Vladimir Putin an objective victory in the Russia-Ukraine War, they must commit to providing sufficient aid to the Ukrainian army soon because the window of opportunity to provide sufficient resources is narrow—and closing. This article argues that the West must articulate a reasonable strategy for Ukrainian victory now, as a failure in Ukraine will weaken relationships between the United States and Western European states and their global partners while emboldening state and non-state actors to threaten the rules-based international order. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol54/iss1/3/ Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: Ukraine, Russia, NATO, Europe, security force assistance

Retired United States general and flag officers participate politically as individuals and in groups. Purportedly, participation damages civil-military relations. This article argues these activities, including but not limited to endorsements of candidates, do little harm to US democratic institutions and to the nonpartisan reputation of the military institution. Read the article here: https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss4/15/. Email usarmy.carlisle.awc.mbx.parameters@army.mil to give feedback on this podcast or the genesis article. Keywords: civil-military relations, general officers, promotions, flag officers, political participation