"Lieutenant General Glenn A. Kent was a uniquely acute analyst and developer of American defense policy in the second half of the twentieth century. His 33-year career in the Air Force was followed by more than 20 years as one of the leading analysts at RAND. This volume is not a memoir in the normal sense but rather a summary of the dozens of national security issues in which Glenn was personally engaged over the course of his career. These issues included creating the single integrated operational plan (SIOP), leading DoD's official assessment of strategic defenses in the 1960s, developing and analyzing strategic nuclear arms control agreements, helping to bring new weapon systems to life, and many others. Each vignette describes the analytical frameworks and, where appropriate, the mathematical formulas and charts that Glenn developed and applied to gain insights into the issue at hand. The author also relates his roles in much of the bureaucratic pulling and hauling that occurred as issues were addressed within the government." -- publisher's website.
A vital text for understanding the twenty-first-century battlefield and the shifting force structure, this book prepares students to think critically about the rapidly changing world they'll inherit. American Defense Policy, first published in 1965 under the leadership of Brent Scowcroft, has been a mainstay in courses on political science, international relations, military affairs, and American national security for more than 50 years. This updated and thoroughly revised ninth edition, which contains about 30% all-new content, considers questions of continuity and change in America's defense policy in the face of a global climate beset by geopolitical tensions, rapid technological change, and terrorist violence. The book is organized into three parts. Part I examines the theories and strategies that shape America's approach to security policy. Part II dives inside the defense policy process, exploring the evolution of contemporary civil-military relations, the changing character of the profession of arms, and the issues and debates in the budgeting, organizing, and equipping process. Part III examines how purpose and process translate into American defense policy. This invaluable and prudent text remains a classic introduction to the vital security issues the United States has faced throughout its history. It breaks new ground as a thoughtful and comprehensive starting point to understand American defense policy and its role in the world today. Contributors: Gordon Adams, John R. Allen, Will Atkins, Deborah D. Avant, Michael Barnett, Sally Baron, Jeff J.S. Black, Jessica Blankshain, Hal Brands, Ben Buchanan, Dale C. Copeland, Everett Carl Dolman, Jeffrey Donnithorne, Daniel W. Drezner, Colin Dueck, Eric Edelman, Martha Finnemore, Lawrence Freedman, Francis Fukuyama, Michael D. Gambone, Lynne Chandler Garcia, Bishop Garrison, Erik Gartzke, Mauro Gilli, Robert Gilpin, T.X. Hammes, Michael C. Horowitz, G. John Ikenberry, Bruce D. Jones, Tim Kane, Cheryl A. Kearney, David Kilcullen, Michael P. Kreuzer, Miriam Krieger, Seth Lazar, Keir A. Lieber, Conway Lin, Jon R. Lindsay, Austin Long, Joseph S. Lupa Jr., Megan H. MacKenzie, Mike J. Mazarr, Senator John McCain, Daniel H. McCauley, Michael E. McInerney, Christopher D. Miller, James N. Miller, John A. Nagl, Henry R. Nau, Renée de Nevers, Joseph S. Nye Jr., Michael E. O'Hanlon, Mancur Olson Jr., Sue Payton, Daryl G. Press, Thomas Rid, John Riley, David Sacko, Brandon D. Smith, James M. Smith, Don M. Snider, Sir Hew Strachan, Michael Wesley, Richard Zeckhauser
The national security of the United States is and will remain heavily dependent on the wise application of the nation's impressive scientific and technological capability. But political, economic, and technological changes are occurring in the world that call for creative adaptation by government if it is to continue to make effective use of science and technology for the nation's security: The momentous political changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the wake of 'new thinking' in the Soviet Union are replacing the monolithic Eastern bloc military threat, to which American defense technology has been directed for almost half a century, with a more complex, variegated, and uncertain threat. Technology will be one of the nation's chief hedges against the uncertainties of the future. At the same time, American dominance of virtually all fields of technology and especially defense technology during the postwar period is giving way to a position of first among equals. The Department of Defense consequently must learn how to share in technological advance wherever it takes place, whether in the nondefense sector or in other countries. Finally, the Department of Defense has increasing difficulty in selecting, procuring, and managing the technology upon which it depends.
Why and how America’s defense strategy must change in light of China’s power and ambition Elbridge A. Colby was the lead architect of the 2018 National Defense Strategy, the most significant revision of U.S. defense strategy in a generation. Here he lays out how America’s defense must change to address China’s growing power and ambition. Based firmly in the realist tradition but deeply engaged in current policy, this book offers a clear framework for what America’s goals in confronting China must be, how its military strategy must change, and how it must prioritize these goals over its lesser interests. The most informed and in-depth reappraisal of America’s defense strategy in decades, this book outlines a rigorous but practical approach, showing how the United States can prepare to win a war with China that we cannot afford to lose—precisely in order to deter that war from happening.
This book examines the implications of counterinsurgency wars for U.S. defense policy and makes the compelling argument that the United States' default position on counterinsurgency wars should be to avoid them. In this compelling study, Eland questions the core assumptions of the American foreign policy and defense establishments that call for military interventions around the world and high and increasing defense budgets at home. He outlines a security policy more appropriate to the sober realities of the post-Cold War era. This is an approach that calls for military restraint overseas, taking advantage of the already secure U.S. geostrategic position, while safeguarding vital national interests. Eland details the military force structure needed for this new role and calculates the reduced defense budget required to pay for these forces. This book is a timely wake-up call to those who make American foreign and defense policies. It demands a badly needed re-thinking of America's national interests. In the author's view, America's natural geostrategic position places it at a natural advantage, rendering unnecessary a forward defense posture. A non-interventionist foreign policy would save money by requiring lower defense budgets. An America less willing to get involved in complex overseas disputes unrelated to U.S vital interests would also be less likely to make enemies around the world.
With many scholars and analysts questioning the relevance of deterrence as a valid strategic concept, this volume moves beyond Cold War nuclear deterrence to show the many ways in which deterrence is applicable to contemporary security. It examines the possibility of applying deterrence theory and practice to space, to cyberspace, and against non-state actors. It also examines the role of nuclear deterrence in the twenty-first century and reaches surprising conclusions.
This history seeks to discover and record the mainstream of thought within the United States Air Force (and its predecessors) concerning the role to be played by air and aerospace power in a deadly struggle for national survival. It seeks to trace the development of a theme of institutional thought, describe the organizational framework in which the thinking took place, and identify individual thinkers and their ideas. In great measure this chronology is the story of dedicated professional men who were attempting to discover the capabilities and limitations of new forms of air and aerospace power and to relate these new characteristics of military power to the defense of the United States and its national interests. The story begins with the first heavier-than-air flight in 1903 and closes at the end of 1984. This ending date permits a coverage of Air Force thinking about counterinsurgency warfare and the military operations in Southeast Asia.A constant concern in developing the narrative has been the problem of how to present the matters under consideration in the most meaningful manner. Since ideas and concepts are frequently interpretations of facts and not facts themselves, a thinker may predict meanings before events transpire or, even more likely, continue over a period of years to draw interpretative meanings from the factual happenings of the past. Fundamentally, ideas often lack a temporal quality, hence a history of ideas lacks the neatness of a history of past events. It is possible that this history of ideas, concepts, and doctrine of air power should have been presented as an anthology of pertinent discourse with accompanying commentary. This technique, however, would have obscured a proper recognition of the circumstance wherein the developing Air Force was itself an excellent manifestation of air ideas. The notion of an anthology was, nevertheless, so persuasive that the author, as often as possible, has allowed the thinkers to speak for themselves and to work their dialogue into the narrative. This practice frequently makes for tedious progress when citations are lengthy, and short quotations run the danger of lifting thoughts out of context. Still summarization of a man's words in contemporary language can easily distort original meanings. The record will show, for example, that air superiority had different meanings to different thinkers during the course of Air Force history. As a matter of practice, the author has sought to present the story of the way things were and what men were thinking in a developing time frame, without attempting a high-gloss interpretation of either the events or the thoughts.Contents: CHAPTER 1 - EMERGING PATTERNS OF AIR FORCE THOUGHT * CHAPTER 2 - EARLY DAYS THROUGH WORLD WAR I 1907-26 * CHAPTER 3 - GROWTH OF THE AIR FORCE IDEA 1926-41 * CHAPTER 4 - AIR FORCE THINKING AND WORLD WAR II * CHAPTER 5 - THE AIR FORCE IN NATIONAL DEFENSE: ORGANIZATION AND STRATEGY, 1944-49 * CHAPTER 6 - RESPONSES TO SOVIET NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND LIMITED WAR, 1949-53 * CHAPTER 7 - THE AIR FORCE WRITES ITS DOCTRINE 1947-55 * CHAPTER 8 - STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE NEW LOOK 1953-57 * CHAPTER 9 - MISSILE TECHNOLOGY AND THE AIR FORCE 1945-60 * CHAPTER 10 - IMPACT OF MISSILES AND SPACE ON NATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND STRATEGY
