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Heinrich Headlines National Directed Energy Summit
“The added value of directed energy weapon systems can no longer be ignored. Cost-effectiveness, lethality, infinite magazine capacity, and precision targeting are all attributes that the military seeks and needs in its weapon systems.”
Analysis
How Much is Enough: Setting a Topline for Defense Spending
Twenty-six years after the end of the Cold War, the United States once again must prepare for great power competition and confrontation.
Analysis
Taking Stock of China’s Growing Navy: The Death and Life of Surface Fleets
The Chinese navy’s surface forces are on the march. Destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and fast-attack craft comprise the surface fleet, along with—most strikingly—China’s first aircraft carrier, a refurbished Soviet-built flattop dubbed Liaoning.
Analysis
The Need for Maritime Thinking and Sea Power
Dealing with problems associated with operating and building a fleet can be so self-absorbing that one could miss how changes in the strategic environment are increasing the need for maritime thinking and sea power in general. Unfortunately, Western navies are not well disposed to understand and relate the broader implications of those changes to naval purpose – which of course must be defined before embarking on efforts to redesign and recapitalize the fleet. In terms of time and talent, the focus is on finding high-tech solutions to operational-level problems. In these naval institutions, that which is learned and inculcated is limited to that which is useful in the context of naval operations. While strategic and economic history is not thought to be of much use, it is precisely the kind of knowledge needed to understand such implications and think in maritime terms
Analysis
What Should Trump Do After the Islamic State Is Defeated?
Donald Trump’s favorite crutch to lean on these days is the idea that he “inherited a mess.” But with respect to the ongoing U.S.-led war against the Islamic State, Trump actually inherited a campaign that is approaching military success.
Analysis
Contain, Degrade, and Defeat
The decade and a half the United States has spent fighting the “long war” in the Middle East has yielded many tactical successes but left a lasting victory elusive. The inconclusive nature of these struggles has sapped support for the U.S. policy of shouldering the burden of providing security and stability in the region. Although many believed U.S. involvement in the region resulted in more violence, disorder, and radicalization of local Arab populations, the current situation in the Middle East illustrates that inaction has been highly destabilizing. The United States must contend with two intertwined challenges in the region: Iranian aspirations for mastery in the Middle East and the Muslim world and often related violent jihadist terrorism. Both threaten the security of the broader Middle East and the U.S. homeland.