Updated Landpower Discourse
This year will be a year of transitions within the Joint Force. With the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) looming in midst of continuing fiscal pressures, many experts anticipate significant reductions in the capacity or size of American Landpower.
Our Landpower lead article: “What the QDR Ought to Say about Landpower” by Francis G. Hoffman makes a case for the retention of sufficient American Landpower capability and capacity.
We have added three new articles to Landpower Discourse focused on Fighting Irregular Fighters:
Is the Law of Armed Conflict Outdated? by Sibylle Scheipers - The law of armed conflict has often been described as outdated and ill suited to military conflicts in the twenty-first century. Both academics and practitioners have argued that today’s wars tend to be asymmetric conflicts between states and nonstate actors, whereas the law of armed conflict was made with a view to symmetrical interstate war. This article challenges that notion.
Defeating Violent Nonstate Actors by Robert J. Bunker - The role of landpower “at war” is as integral to US defense needs as landpower “short of war.” But what about the role of landpower between these two in environments in which violent nonstate actors dominate? In such cases, it is best to devolve opposing violent nonstate actors as quickly as possible so policing forces can implement follow-on strategies. Landpower can help provide security conditions under which these strategies can be facilitated.
Confronting Africa's Sobels by Robert L. Feldman and Michel Ben Arrous - While the phenomenon described in this article may appear to be an African problem, the Western world's increasing involvement in fighting terrorists make it one that America's military forces might encounter. Unfortunately, it could add a significant layer of complexity to US operations as American troops attempt to differentiate allies from enemies. In Africa, sometimes they are one and the same.
We hope you will enjoy these articles and bookmark our new Home webpage for Landpower.
Scott