In his introductory essay for Volume 5, Issue 3, the chair of our editorial board, Frank Gavin, contemplates being wrong, the value of academic debate, and the importance of a society looking at itself in the mirror, warts and all.
The U.S. military has shifted from a counterinsurgency “population-centric” approach to an enemy-centric one, focused on destroying an enemy through decisive victory. And yet it should be careful not to cast aside measures to protect civilians as a vestige…
Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, pundits agreed that the ongoing crisis was likely to involve extensive cyber conflict. Some argued that cyber war would accompany traditional forms of warfare. Others claimed that cyber conflict would substitute for a…
The 1970s energy crisis, which rocked global markets and caused oil prices to skyrocket, had a number of far-reaching and unexpected consequences, many of which have become the focus of academic study in recent years. However, one topic that has eluded…
Concerns have developed in recent years about the acquisition of U.S. biomedical information by Chinese individuals and the Chinese government and how this creates security and economic threats to the United States. And yet, China’s illicit acquisition of…
America’s policy toward Iran’s nuclear program has shifted over the past two decades from an exclusive reliance on coercive measures to an emphasis on diplomatic measures and then back again to coercion. What explains the different policies that the United…
The renewed interest in the utility of historical study — sometimes referred to as “applied history” — is a growing trend in both Europe and the United States. But while an invaluable foundation for understanding political, economic, and social issues,…
Roundtables are where we get to hear from multiple experts on either a subject matter or a recently published book. These collections of essays allow for detailed debates and discussions from a variety of viewpoints so that we can deeply explore a given topic or book.
The contributors re-assess Alexander Haig’s stint as secretary of state and his impact on President Ronald Reagan’s early foreign policy, especially toward Cuba, the Soviet Union, and Afghanistan. His legacy offers insight into whether individual agency or deeper structures drive history.
Our contributors review Jon Lindsay’s book “Information Technology,” in which the author looks at military innovation and effectiveness and offers a framework for charting how organizations adapt and reform their information systems as new technologies emerge.
In this roundtable, Stephen Tankel, Craig Whiteside, Colin Clarke, and Megan Stewart discuss Jenna Jordan’s book on the tactic of leadership decapitation of terrorist groups and why some organizations are able to survive leadership decapitation, while others are not.