Asymmetry and U.S. Military Strategy
Asymmetry and U.S. Military Strategy

Author: Steven Metz

Publisher:

Published: 2014-07-22

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 9781312376250

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In war, there are always differences between the opponents. At times these are insignificant, passing disparities with no bearing on the outcome. At other times, the differences between opponents are important, placing one in a position of advantage, the other at a disadvantage. This is a very simple observation, but from it flows one of the pressing issues faced by the United States today: strategic asymmetry. Strategic asymmetry is the use of some sort of difference to gain an advantage over an adversary. It is an idea as old as warfare itself, appearing under a number of guises. Among strategic theorists, Sun Tzu placed great stock in psychological and informational asymmetry, writing that: All warfare is based on deception. When confronted with an enemy one should offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him. When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong. avoid him.

Asymmetry and U.S. Military Strategy
Asymmetry and U.S. Military Strategy

Author: Steven Metz

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 25

ISBN-13:

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This report gives a simple and comprehensive definition of strategic asymmetry reflecting the need for military doctrine which transcends today's specific issues. The authors assess the strategic situation of the United States in terms of positive and negative asymmetry and offer five strategic concepts as part of the response to asymmetry: maximum conceptual and organizational adaptability, focused intelligence, minimal vulnerability, full spectrum precision, and an integrated homeland security strategy.

Asymmetry and U. S. Military Strategy
Asymmetry and U. S. Military Strategy

Author: Steven Metz

Publisher:

Published: 2001-01-31

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13: 9781463545079

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Following the May 2000 Army-Marine Warfighter Talks, the Army resolved to develop an Army-Marine Corps view of a strategy for combating asymmetric threats. The U.S. Army Strategic Studies Institute, in turn, set about defining asymmetry within the context of military doctrine, assessing the implications of asymmetric military capabilities, and suggesting strategic concepts for countering asymmetric threats. This special report is the result of that tasking. In it, Dr. Steven Metz and Dr. Douglas Johnson recommend a definition of strategic asymmetry that is both simple and comprehensive, reflecting the need for military doctrine that transcends the specific issues of today. They then assess the strategic situation of the United States in terms of both positive asymmetry-that which gives U.S. forces an advantage over opponents-and negative asymmetry that might be used to counter U.S. forces. Finally, they offer five strategic concepts as part of the response to asymmetry: maximum conceptual and organizational adaptability, focused intelligence, minimal vulnerability, full spectrum precision, and an integrated homeland security strategy.

Joint Vision 2020
Joint Vision 2020

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13:

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Joint Vision 2020 is the conceptual template for how we will channel the vitality of our people and leverage technological opportunities to achieve new levels of effectiveness in joint warfighting.

Rethinking Asymmetric Threats
Rethinking Asymmetric Threats

Author: Stephen J. Blank

Publisher:

Published: 2014-07-06

Total Pages: 69

ISBN-13: 9781312335035

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Assessment of the threat environment is a critical element in the formulation of any state's strategy and defense doctrine. It also should be an inherently critical process that seeks to free policymakers from incorrect, antiquated, or misconceived perceptions about the threat. Consequently, the nature of the threat(s) the United States or any other government faces is the subject of a never-ending debate. For several years U.S. policymakers, officials, and writers on defense have employed the terms "asymmetric" or "asymmetry" to characterize everything from the nature of the threats we face to the nature of war and beyond. This monograph challenges the utility of using those terms to characterize the threats we face, one element of the broader debate over the nature of war, U.S. strategy, and the threats confronting us. As a work of critique, it aims to make an important contribution to the threat debate.

Learning from Iraq
Learning from Iraq

Author: Steven Metz

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13:

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While the involvement of the United States in counterinsurgency has a long history, it had faded in importance in the years following the end of the Cold War. When American forces first confronted it in Iraq, they were not fully prepared. Since then, the U.S. military and other government agencies have expended much effort to refine their counterinsurgency capabilities. But have they done enough?

Strategic Information Warfare
Strategic Information Warfare

Author: Roger C. Molander

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 1996-02-28

Total Pages: 115

ISBN-13: 0833048465

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Future U.S. national security strategy is likely to be profoundly affected by the ongoing, rapid evolution of cyberspace--the global information infrastructure--and in particular by the growing dependence of the U.S. military and other national institutions and infrastructures on potentially vulnerable elements of the U.S. national information infrastructure. To examine these effects, the authors conducted a series of exercises employing a methodology known as the Day After ... in which participants are presented with an information warfare crisis scenario and asked to advise the president on possible responses. Participants included senior national security community members and representatives from security-related telecommunications and information-systems industries. The report synthesizes the exercise results and presents the instructions from the exercise materials in their entirety.

American Grand Strategy After 9/11: An Assessment
American Grand Strategy After 9/11: An Assessment

Author: Stephen D. Biddle

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1428910026

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Grand strategy integrates military, political, and economic means to pursue states ultimate objectives in the international system. American grand strategy had been in a state of ux prior to 2001, as containment of the Soviet Union gave way to a wider range of apparently lesser challenges. The 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade towers, however, transformed the grand strategy debate and led to a sweeping reevaluation of American security policy. It may still be too early to expect this reevaluation to have produced a complete or nal response to 9/11 policies as complex as national grand strategy do not change overnight. But after 3 years of sustained debate and adaptation, it is reasonable to ask what this process has produced so far, and how well the results to date serve American interests.