To best serve the nation, the Profession of Arms must nurture a culture of candor that enables good ideas and adaptation in order to successfully adjust to the rapidly changing circumstances of the modern world. To achieve this, we should practice moral courage by occasionally, respectfully expressing Divergent and “Red” Ideas.
I’ve actually written quite a bit on ISIS to date, so it may be prudent for those that are unfamiliar with WarCouncil.org to visit some of these other short essays in order to provide some broader context: “ISIS Won and Four Fundamental Factors that Explain Why” “Destroying Value: ISIS, The Anaconda, and War On The…
DetailsImage (proudly) created by Matt Cavanaugh Armies do not fight wars alone; entire societies fight wars. And information extracted from war shapes societal perceptions of costs and benefits of continuance as well as how best to keep fighting. Information is the essential link that binds societies to war.
DetailsImage courtesy of Veuve Clicquot. I came across this fascinating story over the past week and couldn’t resist running it down and sharing it with readers (in the same way I did several months back with landpower’s role in the Rosetta Stone discovery). Much, much, much, more important, however: my wife is a huge Veuve Clicquot fan and…
DetailsImage from page 5 of “quad fold” for US Army TRADOC PAM 525-3-1. I recently listened to Lieutenant General HR McMaster speak at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Note that this program is available in podcast via iTunes and you should download it and listen to it (now) as I can affirm it will be…
DetailsImage courtesy of Submarine Cable Map. Several weeks ago I noticed that the Atlantic Council was running a competition via their “Art of Future Warfare” Project. Their idea is to “use ‘war-art’ challenges to showcase the value of creative thinking in the national security realm and gain insight into the future of warfare.” Specifically,…
DetailsImage courtesy of NATO. Regular readers will know that just before the holidays (late November), I wrote a two page document that intended to form the basis for a rapid and simple introduction to the study of strategy. I “chunked” each term into 6 word definitions and generated 50 terms – in sum, a 300…
DetailsImage courtesy of Tremr. Make no mistake, this is not an assessment one offers with a smile. But it’s a fact: ISIS (or ISIL) has achieved victory in Northern Iraq and Eastern Syria and does meet minimum requirements for statehood. Just spend a few miserable minutes reading the most recent situation updates or listen to the Foreign…
DetailsImage courtesy of Flikr user US Army. If a soldier gets hit in a war and no one is around to film it, does it really matter? Following two highly publicized police encounters – one in Ferguson, Missouri and the choking death of Eric Garner in New York City – the New York Times…
DetailsImage courtesy of UK Ministry of Defence is of a US Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey Aircraft from the USS Kearsarge, lands onboard HMS Illustrious during Cougar 13. The Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute recently published a book entitled American Grand Strategy and the Future of U.S. Landpower. The book is available for free,…
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