Volume 10, Issue 2
Spring 2025
Civil War Comes to the West, Part II: Strategic Realities
David Betz
Civil war is a strong likelihood in the West over the next five years. Policymakers, senior military leaders, and the public should understand why this is the case and what form the coming civil turmoil is likely to take. Building on the civil wars literature and the 'feral cities' concept, this paper spells that out: low grade 'dirty war' will metastasise into large scale internal conflict via 'system disruption' attacks aimed at vulnerable urban infrastructure. It also outlines strategies, in the spirit of previous large scale civil defence measures, for mitigating the damage.
ReadStrategy for a Complex Age: To Frame or Solve?
Andrew Carr
This article challenges the view that strategists should primarily frame problems rather than solve them. Drawing on historical military cases and complexity science, it demonstrates why strategists must operate at both political and operational interfaces—not merely as thinkers but as active participants in problem identification, diagnosis, and resolution. The paper highlights the practical imperative for military strategists to pursue meaningful solutions in today's complex security environment while also contributing to an emerging literature on problem-based approaches to strategy.
ReadPolitical Obedience as a Military Strategic Asset: From Cyrus to the 2023 War in Gaza
Manuel Lozano Rodríguez
Political obedience is a decisive strategic asset that directly influences military effectiveness by linking policy ends, strategic ways, and military means. From ancient times to the 2023 Israel-Hamas War, this study reveals how political leadership shapes military capabilities and outcomes in modern warfare.
ReadA New Fight: Deception, Adaptation, and Regeneration
Renato Messina
This article introduces a new conceptual tool—the "continuum of persistence"—to analyze war through the lens of the historical continuity of war’s inherent properties. This formulated continuum should be thought of as a spectrum with two poles: war’s immutable nature and its changing character. This ‘continuum of persistence’ offers a more balanced assessment of technological innovation alongside other traits of war, highlighting deception, adaptation, and force generation as strategic drivers of competitive advantage.
ReadDistributed Maritime Operations, Logistics, Industry, and American Strategy in Asia
Harry Halem
This article critiques the U.S. Navy’s concept of Distributed Maritime Operations in Asia, contrasting its combat logic with practical logistical and industrial limitations. If Distributed Maritime Operations is not viable, the Navy should consider returning to carrier-centric concepts to obtain American policy objectives against China.
ReadMulti-Dimensional Game-Theory Analysis of North Korean Nuclear Threat
TW Lee
Game theory has been applied to the North Korean nuclear threat situation. Various scenarios and their gain and loss are estimated through a contextual analysis. It leads to insight into potential future developments. Based on game theory perspective, North Korea’s past and recent maneuvers are neither illogical nor unpredictable, and meaningful estimation of their current strategic plan can be made.
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