Editor’s Corner

By now, it’s become widely accepted that the United States has found itself in a new kind of conflict, fundamentally different from those that confronted it in the past. The question of how to respond to this different type of war, however, is far less settled. As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wrote recently in Foreign Affairs, in the future the U.S. will need to strike a balance “between trying to prevail in current conflicts and preparing for other contingencies, between institutionalizing capabilities such as counterinsurgency and foreign military assistance and maintaining the United States’ existing conventional and strategic technological edge against other military forces, and between retaining those cultural traits that have made the U.S. armed forces successful and shedding those that hamper their ability to do what needs to be done.”

The nature of that adaptation is the central theme of our current issue. We kick off our discussion with best selling author Ralph Peters, who offers up a scathing indictment of our lack of seriousness in addressing the religious and ideological dimensions of the current struggle. Admiral Eric Olson, the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, outlines how the vision of “balanced” warfare outlined above is being implemented by America’s special operations forces. Rear Admiral (ret.) John Sigler of the National Defense University follows with his projections of what U.S. military commitments in the Middle East are likely to be in the years ahead. The George C. Marshall Institute’s Jeff Kueter then explores the growing worldwide threat of ballistic missiles—and how the United States has begun erecting a strategic response to it. From there, two military experts, Stephen Sloan and Sebastian Gorka, provide a bit of historical perspective on counterinsurgency strategy, and the lessons that previous conflicts can teach us about waging what has come to be known as the “Long War.” Center for International Private Enterprise president John Sullivan and two of his colleagues, Aleksandr Shkolnikov and Anna Nadgrodkiewicz, then examine “the day after” military conflict - and the political, economic and social prerequisites for lasting stability in countries emerging from war. We close with counterterrorism specialist Patrick Poole’s sobering survey of the shortcomings of modern military education when it comes to understanding our current adversaries.

But that’s not all. From there, we move on to examine some of the most pressing challenges now confronting America’s warfighters and policymakers. Strategists Bradley Thayer and Thomas Skypek paint a grim picture of America’s slow decline from nuclear supremacy, and what it portends for the future of U.S. stature and alliances abroad. Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy explains the dangers inherent in the new push for nuclear disarmament now visible in Washington and elsewhere. Military cyberwarfare expert Brian Mazanec posits how China could use cyberspace in the event of a conflict with the United States, and suggests what needs to be done in response. Former congressional staffer Mario Loyola lays out a new approach to tackling the Iranian nuclear crisis—one that leverages America’s comparative advantage in military escalation as a way of deterring and containing the Islamic Republic. Last but not least, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies explores the roots of radicalism in Pakistan’s feared Inter-Services Intelligence, the agency that lies at the heart of our current problems with our “strategic partner” in South Asia.

This time, Ambassador Max Kampelman, one of the intellectual founders of the “Global Zero” movement, is our featured “Perspective” interviewee. Our regular “Dispatch” feature returns with three articles, covering Lebanon’s changing political scene, Pakistan’s internal contradictions, and how Montenegro is coming of geopolitical age. In closing, we offer reviews of four important books, Keith Payne’s The Great American Gamble, The Truth About Syria by Barry Rubin, Bill Gertz’s The Failure Factory, and China, Space Weapons, and U.S. Security by Bruce MacDonald.

In his recent Foreign Affairs article, Secretary Gates outlined the importance of looking at a range of factors—“psychological, cultural, political, and human”—in formulating a comprehensive new approach to warfare. We hope that this issue of The Journal provides readers and policymakers alike with ideas about how to begin doing so.