Posturing Spares for Great Power Competition

NPS NRP Executive SummaryEffectively posturing spares is essential to support forces for Great Power Competition. The purpose of this project is to study the effectiveness of spare posturing strategies towards the improvement of operational availability. Possible strategies for positioning of spare parts include inventory augment and sparing models such as readiness-based sparing (RBS) and demand-based sparing (DBS). An alternative strategy is the use of a depot ship with repair and production capabilities through a combination of subtractive manufacturing and additive manufacturing (AM). The different strategies will be simulated to identify their effect on operational availability and operating cost to improve the readiness of the warfighter.N4 - Fleet Readiness & LogisticsThis research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Israel in the Sino-US great power competition

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Roie Yellinek, Doctoral Researcher at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, explains that "Similar to the struggle waged between the United States and the USSR during the Cold War, the United States and China have started to compete over areas of control and patronage.

Indonesia’s Defense Policy in the Great Power Competition Era

This study explores Indonesia's defense policy in the current era of great power competition. Great Power Competition (GPC) is the term used to describe hegemony and sphere of influence rivalries between the global powers to exercise their influence and alter the global security constellation for their national interests. The current GPC is dominated by the U.S., China, and Russia, while other nations of the world are trying to find their position within the spectrum of power dynamics towards the global powers by either bandwagoning, balancing, or even hedging. Southeast Asia’s power dynamics are mostly bipolar between the U.S. and China and shape the regional countries' defense policies. As a leading country in the Southeast Asia region, Indonesia is the middle power in the international power constellation and intends to further step up on the power hierarchy. This study aims to highlight the possible formulation of Indonesia's defense policy amidst the GPC era. The study proposes a formulation of Indonesia's defense posture with a qualitative analytical approach based on Mahnken's theory of competitive strategies that is suitable within the spectrum of current power dynamics and appropriate within the national interest framework of foreign policy while weighing both leverage points and dilemmatic challenges. The analysis uses survey data from well-known institutes along with complementary literature interpretation. In conclusion, the article provides a comprehensive finding that Indonesia, like the rest of the nations in the region, prefers balanced relations with the great powers, along with several suggestions on considering the propensity of inward-looking military capabilities, diplomatic competence, and an out-of-sync relationship between domestic politics and foreign policy in formulating defense policy

Beyond corona: getting EU economic security right. Egmont European Security Brief No. 127 April 2020

The corona crisis, the US-China great power competition and lacklustre international rules vividly demonstrate the vulnerability of economic interdependence. Interdependence is a power struggle, not a mutual aid society. For the vast benefits of a globalised economy to continue to outweigh its risks, policies to build greater resilience are necessary. For the EU, the unprecedented events also offer an opportunity to forge a new economic security approach to better manage its dependencies in strategic sectors

SEA ASSURANCE: HOW CHINA’S SPRATLY MILITARIZATION IMPACTED GREAT POWER COMPETITION

By creating islands in the Spratlys and placing airfields, radars, and missiles on them, China fundamentally changed Great Power Competition (GPC). To measure and understand these changes within relevant policy communities, this thesis asks two questions: First, how did Spratly militarization impact U.S-China competition within GPC using a diplomatic, information, military, and economic (DIME) framework? Second, how did Spratly militarization affect maritime strategy? Using data within each DIME category and scholarly analysis, this thesis finds that Spratly militarization significantly impacted competition informationally and militarily but with lesser impact to diplomacy and economics. Within maritime strategy, Spratly militarization displayed an entirely new concept that this thesis defines as sea assurance. Using this new terminology, this thesis finds that Spratly militarization provided China with ability to protect or control more than half of the South China Sea, including a major sea line of communication and multiple maritime chokepoints.Lieutenant Commander, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Organizing for hybrid and information warfare

This professional report argues that current national security documents and the national security structure are not optimized to conduct hybrid and information warfare. It reviews an abundance of literature to first understand the United States national security strategy, coupled with the reemergence of great power competition. Four propositions emerged from the readings: national security publications are incoherent; a strategic paralysis has set in with the abundance of literature; there is a lack of organizational innovation; and the instruments of national power have tilted towards information. Following this review, the analysis then explores Russia’s great power competition strategy through private/public, legal/illegal, and regular/irregular lenses. China’s information warfare strategy, Three Warfares, which includes propaganda, public opinion, and legal warfare, provides the final piece of analysis on great power competition. This conflict is particularly vast—the hybrid approach calls on all elements of a nation's society; information is the dominant power shaping perceptions, decisions, opinions, and behaviors; and all this is conducted in the gray zone between peace and total war. The report then investigates the most recent declassified information warfare campaign against a great power, Operation QRHELPFUL, and a recent example of information leveraged as the main effort in a combined joint military operation. The United States can organize more effectively for the challenges it confronts by understanding the principles, lessons learned, and the context of great power competition. This requires vertical and horizontal organizational efforts, which include a shift in policy, a new organizational framework, assigning a lead, and adopting a whole-of-society approach.Global Policy StudiesBusiness Administratio

Mine Warfare in Great Power Competition

NPS NRP Executive SummaryOffensive mine warfare is a domain of growing importance to naval operations. The ability to project power, especially in areas of denied access to traditional naval power, is increasingly important in this era of near-peer, Great Power competition. Understanding the foundational purpose of offensive mining operations, within the context of current and potential threat environments, will enable a better understanding of how such devices and their employment doctrine can be transformed for maximum effect. The development of smart, mobile mine networks - capable of operating in littoral, very shallow environments " for example, may prove essential to modern seabed and mine warfare. Systems and mission engineering processes can be applied to develop potentially-disruptive new offensive mine warfare missions, evaluate technological capabilities, and identify specific needs, requirements and performance measures for such missions. This research supports DCNO N9 - Warfare Systems and ONR S&T Code 33 goals of advancing unmanned sea platforms, autonomy and power, and undersea weapons.N9 - Warfare SystemsThis research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Mine Warfare in Great Power Competition

NPS NRP Project PosterOffensive mine warfare is a domain of growing importance to naval operations. The ability to project power, especially in areas of denied access to traditional naval power, is increasingly important in this era of near-peer, Great Power competition. Understanding the foundational purpose of offensive mining operations, within the context of current and potential threat environments, will enable a better understanding of how such devices and their employment doctrine can be transformed for maximum effect. The development of smart, mobile mine networks - capable of operating in littoral, very shallow environments " for example, may prove essential to modern seabed and mine warfare. Systems and mission engineering processes can be applied to develop potentially-disruptive new offensive mine warfare missions, evaluate technological capabilities, and identify specific needs, requirements and performance measures for such missions. This research supports DCNO N9 - Warfare Systems and ONR S&T Code 33 goals of advancing unmanned sea platforms, autonomy and power, and undersea weapons.N9 - Warfare SystemsThis research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrpChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.