International Competition in the High North: Kingston Conference on International Security 2022

The 16th annual Kingston Consortium on International Security conference, “International Competition in the High North,” took place on October 11–13, 2022, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The conference examined the Arctic region in the context of ongoing climate change and against the backdrop of war in Ukraine. Over the past several years, the United States has acknowledged the growing importance of the Arctic as a strategic region, and the Department of Defense and each of the US military services have published Arctic policies or strategies. In addition, the Department of Defense has created a new regional study center, the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies in Alaska. Canada and the other Arctic Council nations have also acknowledged the growing importance of the Arctic region and revised strategic frameworks and changed institutional approaches to ensure Arctic security challenges arising from great-power competition and other threats, like those to the environment, are addressed. This volume captures these ideas for the United States and its allies so all can benefit from this experience. Contributors Janeen L. Birckhead, Andrea Charron, J.P. Clark, Joseph L. Corriveau, Michele Devlin, Wayne Eyre, Kathryn Bryk Friedman, James Fergusson, Wilfrid Greaves, Thomas Hughes, Ryan E. Jurkowski, Devin Kirkwood, Rauna J. Kuokkanen, Lori L. Leffler, W. Barrett Martin, James R. Morton Jr., Roch Pelletier, Camilla T. N. Sørensen, Wendy R. Tokach, Michael K. Tovohttps://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1961/thumbnail.jp

Book Review: Boots and Suits: Historical Cases and Contemporary Lessons in Military Diplomacy

Author: Philip S. Kosnett (editor) Reviewed by Kenneth Weisbrode, assistant professor of history, Bilkent University Historian and professor Kenneth Weisbrode reviews retired US ambassador Philip S. Kosnett’s anthology on “just how contested, and how significant,” military diplomacy is. After highlighting the value of General Kenneth F. McKenzie’s (US Marine Corps, retired) instructive foreword, which defines military diplomacy, Weisbrode outlines the book’s range of case studies across history (from the Confederacy to Afghanistan), author perspectives (“academics and government officials”), and subject matter (“strategy, operations, and tactics”). He distills some of the book’s essential policy lessons for readers and notes the book’s wide-ranging utility for “teachers, students, and aspiring (or even veteran) military diplomats.”https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1036/thumbnail.jp

Book Review: Forging the Anglo-American Alliance: The British and American Armies, 1917–1941

Author: Tyler R. Bamford Reviewed by Dr. Dean Nowowiejski, professor and Ike Skelton Distinguished Chair for the Art of War, US Army Command and General Staff College Professor and historian Dean Nowowiejski presents a thoughtful review of historian Tyler R. Bamford’s study on the “long-term impact of the interwar relationship between army officers” of the United States and Great Britain, which “endured despite tensions” and “despite the absence of guidance and in advance of the political approval that would later lead to the formal alliance.” Nowowiejski highlights Bamford’s emphasis on military exchanges, mechanization, military attachés, and intelligence sharing and notes the refreshing significance of the book’s focus on army—rather than navy or executive-level—relationships, which makes this title of particular value.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1035/thumbnail.jp

Deterrence Gap: Avoiding War in the Taiwan Strait

The likelihood China will attack Taiwan in the next decade is high and will continue to be so, unless Taipei and Washington take urgent steps to restore deterrence across the Taiwan Strait. This monograph introduces the concept of interlocking deterrents, explains why deterrents lose their potency with the passage of time, and provides concrete recommendations for how Taiwan, the United States, and other regional powers can develop multiple, interlocking deterrents that will ensure Taiwanese security in the short and longer terms. By joining deterrence theory with an empirical analysis of Taiwanese, Chinese, and US policies, the monograph provides US military and policy practitioners new insights into ways to deter the People’s Republic of China from invading Taiwan without relying exclusively on the threat of great-power war.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1960/thumbnail.jp

Innovation, Flexibility, and Adaptation: Keys to Patton’s Information Dominance

In 1944, Third US Army created a cohesive and flexible system for managing information and denying it to the enemy that aligned operational concepts with technological capabilities. The organization’s success in the European Theater highlights its effective combined arms integration. An examination of the historical record shows the creative design of the Signal Intelligence and Army Information Services enabled Third Army to deliver information effects consistently and provides a useful model for considering the dynamics at play in fielding new and experimental multidomain effects formations

Review and Reply: On “Why America’s Army Can’t Win America’s Wars” (part 1)

This commentary responds to John A. Nagl’s article, “Why America’s Army Can’t Win America’s Wars,” published in the Autumn 2022 issue of Parameters (vol. 52, no. 3)

Trusting AI: Integrating Artificial Intelligence into the Army’s Professional Expert Knowledge

Integrating artificially intelligent technologies for military purposes poses a special challenge. In previous arms races, such as the race to atomic bomb technology during World War II, expertise resided within the Department of Defense. But in the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race, expertise dwells mostly within industry and academia. Also, unlike the development of the bomb, effective employment of AI technology cannot be relegated to a few specialists; almost everyone will have to develop some level of AI and data literacy. Complicating matters is AI-driven systems can be a “black box” in that humans may not be able to explain some output, much less be held accountable for its consequences. This inability to explain coupled with the cession to a machine of some functions normally performed by humans risks the relinquishment of some jurisdiction and, consequently, autonomy to those outside the profession. Ceding jurisdiction could impact the American people’s trust in their military and, thus, its professional standing. To avoid these outcomes, creating and maintaining trust requires integrating knowledge of AI and data science into the military’s professional expertise. This knowledge covers both AI technology and how its use impacts command responsibility; talent management; governance; and the military’s relationship with the US government, the private sector, and society

Factoring Gender into Kinetic Operations

US military practice neither considers the gendered effects of kinetic actions in planning and executing operations nor tracks and measures them. The Department of Defense’s implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 instead focuses on the role of women in preventing armed conflict and resolving it. The implementation of the Department of Defense’s new Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan provides an opportunity to close this gap in an operationally relevant way