People / Organizations: Book can be found here > [Policy Analysis in National Security Affairs: New Methods for a New Era (ndu.edu)]

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Quotes:

• "success is essential, and mistakes can be fatal" - Author (pg. 1)

• "policy analysis and its methods are aids to wise judgement, not a replacement for it" - Author (pg. 4)

• "policy analysis is both an art and a science" - Author (pg. 14)

• "analysis should be anchored in ethics" - Author (pg. 16)

• "in-depth analysis is not the enemy of creative, relevant thought" - Author (pg. 41)

• "globalization is not a policy or an ideology but rather an empirical trend of profound importance" - Author (pg. 65)

• "the fundamental task [of strategy analysis] is…to assess the situation and to compare alternative options on the basis of effectiveness, costs, and other performance-related considerations" - Author (pg. 72)

• "diplomacy requires deep thought, not snap judgements based on superficial appraisals" - Author (pg. 96)

• "normally, democracy cannot be installed at gunpoint" - Author (pg. 122)

• "what matters is not the complexity of a model, but its analytical power, relevance, and capacity to generate insights that can be used for decision-making" - Author (pg. 219)

• "change is a means to an end, not an end itself" - Author (pg. 292)

• "victory through airpower is an illusion" - Author (pg. 331)

Data Resources:

• QDR Reports [Quadrennial Defense Review]

• NSS [National Security Strategy (defense.gov)]

• NMS [National Military Strategy (defense.gov)]

• DoD Reforms [DoD Reforms (defense.gov)]

• [Books - Cornell University Press]

• [Home | Miller Center]

• [Strategic Competition | CNA]

General Notes:

• Chapter 1 - Why This Book Is Necessary (pg. 1)

  • "this book identifies a spectrum of relevant analytical methods from three different academic disciplines:" (pg. 1)

    • Strategic Evaluation

    • Systems Analysis

    • Operations Research

  • The Purpose of Policy Analysis (pg. 1)

    • "troubles arose during the continued U.S. presence in Iraq owing not only to insurgent opposition, but also to the serious political, economic, and social problems existing there, all of which posed tough obstacles to the installation of democracy" (pg. 2)

    • "uncertainty about many things will often be a dominant theme [in the years ahead], and the situation abroad will seldom make the best policy and strategy obvious" (pg. 2)

  • The Purpose of this Book (pg. 2)

    • "the business of forging national security policy has two main components:" (pg. 3)

      • "first, determining how the U.S. should use its powers abroad to pursue its goals" (pg. 3)

      • "second, determining how the U.S. should spend money in order to build its military posture, defense strategy, and other related assets" (pg. 3)

  • Three Methods for Multidisciplinary Analysis (pg. 4)

    • "strategic evaluation uses political analysis to identify policies that can achieve national goals" (pg. 4)

      • "to appraise basic choices facing U.S. foreign policy and national security strategy" (pg. 4)

    • "systems analysis uses economic analysis to show how policies can be translated into plans and programs" (pg. 4)

      • "to address macroeconomic choices in the formation of defense plans and programs" (pg. 4)

    • "operations research uses mathematical analysis to derive, from plans and programs, specific implementation steps and resource allocation priorities" (pg. 5)

      • "to examine resource allocation issues when details about cost and performance are critical" (pg. 5)

  • The Role of Policy and Its Methods (pg. 5)

    • "participants in the process spend much time analyzing key issues and options, and in their debates, the winners often are those who marshal the most convincing arguments" (pg. 6)

    • "the purpose of analytical methods is to improve the quality of policy analysis" (pg. 6)

• Chapter 2 - Policy Analysis and Methodology: A Necessary Discipline for the Future (pg. 11)

  • The Strategic Setting (pg. 11)

    • "like it or not, the U.S. is now truly a global power. Its foreign policy and diplomacy are carried out worldwide, and it has acquired national security stakes in multiple regions" (pg. 11)

    • "globalization has made such distant interests important, as it brings the entire world closer together and washes away the illusion of distance" (pg. 12)

  • The Essence of Policy Analysis (pg. 12)

    • "a nation security policy is an organized action or an integrated set of actions - from making public declarations to waging war - intended to bring about favorable consequences that will help achieve articulated national goals" (pg. 12)

    • "policy analysis is a concerted effort to investigate the core properties of alternative policies" (pg. 12)

    • "one of the most important functions of policy analysis is often to help identify new goals to be pursued abroad or old goals that need fresh efforts" (pg. 12)

  • The Purpose of Policy Analysis (pg. 12)

    • Key Questions in Policy Analysis: (pg. 13)

      • "what goals does a particular policy seek to achieve, and why?" (pg. 13)

      • "what activities will this policy carry out, what resources will it need, and what will they cost?" (pg. 13)

      • "what are the reasons for believing that the policy's proposed actions will attain its goals?" (pg. 13)

      • "what are the potential consequences of this policy, intended and otherwise?" (pg. 13)

      • "to what degree is the policy likely to be effective?" (pg. 13)

      • "what is the risk that the policy will fail or even make the situation worse?" (pg. 13)

      • "what are the risks that, even if it achieves its own aims, the policy will damage other goals in other arenas?" (pg. 13)

      • "how does it compare to other policy options that seek the same goals?" (pg. 13)

      • "on balance, which options makes best sense?" (pg. 13)

    • "above all, it must be honest and objective in its treatment of issues and options" (pg. 14)

      • "good analysis aims to enhance understanding" (pg. 14)

      • "it should be explicit about its own assumptions and biases, and it should acknowledge the conditions under which other options might be better choices" (pg. 14)

      • "the core purpose of scholarly research within the academic community is to contribute to the search for truth and to improve mankind's understanding of the world. In its ethics, policy analysis share this commitment…but in terms of its functional role, its ultimate purpose is to help the government conduct foreign policy more wisely and use its strategic power more effectively" (pg. 14)

    • "policy analysis can come in different forms" (pg. 15)

      • "in its simplest form, a policy analysis can investigate the properties of a single option" (pg. 15)

  • A Spectrum of Methods (pg. 18)

    • "policy analysis involves dissection and integration: tearing a policy apart in order to see its component parts and then putting them back together to see how they add up" (pg. 18)

    • "logical positivism [is] the school of thought that emphasizes theory-building through empirical research" (pg. 19)

    • "the two principle theories of the Cold War concerned bipolarity and alliance development" (pg. 19)

      • "bipolarity theory portrayed the adversarial relationship between the Communist powers led by the Soviet Union and the Western democratic powers led by the United States" (pg. 19)

      • "alliance theory portrayed how those democratic powers organized themselves in order to deal with the Soviet threat in Europe and Northeast Asia" (pg. 19)

    • "any good policy analysis must start with a rich conceptualization of the key variables and their relationships" (pg. 22)

    • "a key structural feature of any policy analysis is a careful appraisal of the relationship between actions and consequences" (pg. 22)

• Chapter 3 - Overview of Strategic Evaluation (pg. 29)

  • "strategic evaluation is a methodology for analyzing U.S. national security policies and strategies" (pg. 29)

    • "then, systems analysis may help design plans and programs for determining, in more focused and specific ways, how these activities are to be carried out and the amount of effort to employ for each of them" (pg. 29)

• Chapter 4 - Analyzing Policy Options for Single Goals (pg. 35)

  • "the first step is to develop a conceptual framework. This involves defining the problem, identifying interests, goals, and options, and choosing substantive areas of analysis" (pg. 36)

  • "the second step is to perform the analysis" (pg. 36)

    • Step 1: Develop a Conceptual Framework (pg. 36)

      • "constructing a framework best begins by taking stock of the international situation that has triggered the issue now facing U.S. national security policy" (pg. 36)

      • Define the Problem (pg. 36)

        • "in order to set the stage for a focused analysis of the international situation, care should be taken to define the exact trend, development, or threat being addressed" (pg. 37)

          • "chief among [the U.S. government's] products are the National Intelligence Estimates" (pg. 37)

        • "in addition to defining an international problem explicitly, the analysis should provide information about its magnitude and the pace at which it is unfolding" (pg. 38)

        • "effective policy analysis requires not only a description of the problem at hand, but also a sophisticated explanation of its causes" (pg. 38)

          • "the better the causal explanation, the better the policy analysis and the decisions that flow from it" (pg. 39)

      • Identify Interests, Goals, and Options (pg. 40)

        • "the evaluation should determine the strategic goal - the desired end-state - that is to be pursued in order to defend or advance those interests and values" (pg. 40)

        • "the main task is to determine how the various policy options produce consequences in several goal areas and then to calculate the overall result" (pg. 40)

        • "the analysis should also specify criteria for judging when the goal has been attained" (pg. 40)

        • "once the goal has been defined and criteria have been articulated, the analysis should then state the policy options to be examined" (pg. 41)

          • "each option should provide a clear sense of scope and purpose and a basis for determining how its instruments are to perform functional activities that create consequences that achieve the goal being pursued" (pg. 41)

      • Choosing Subject Areas for Analysis (pg. 42)

        • A Preliminary List (pg. 43)

          • Visions, Values, and Ambitions

          • Main Actions, Instruments, and Other Characteristics

          • Theory of Actions and Consequences

          • Expected Effectiveness, Benefits, and Losses

          • Level of Effort, Resource Requirement, and Costs

          • Cost-Effectiveness

          • Implementation Strategy

          • Time Horizons

          • Constraints, Difficulties, and Roadblocks

          • Confidence Level: U.S. Ability to Make Policy Succeed

          • Consistency with Other Policies

          • Unilateral or Multilateral

          • Feasibility and Prerequisites for Success

          • Encouraging Signs and Warning Signals

          • Robustness and Flexibility

          • Vulnerability to Opposition

          • Externalities, Wider Consequences, and Implications

          • Persuasion and Public Support

          • Assumptions, Uncertainties, and Biases

          • Sensitivities and Risks

          • Contentious Issues and Key Judgements

          • Trade Offs

    • Step 2: Performing the Analysis (pg. 48)

      • "the purpose of strategic evaluation is not to create enduring scientific theory for the ages, but instead to facilitate informed policymaking" (pg. 49)

      • "reason…mainly advances through deductive logic, inductive reasoning, inference, [and] analogy" (pg. 50)

        • "more often the assessments are built through inductive reasoning and inference" (pg. 50)

      • "the heart and soul of an analysis…is not description but rather evaluation of how each option likely will perform" (pg. 53)

      • "at the end…the next tasks is that of synthesizing the material and presenting an overall evaluation of how the options compare as a whole" (pg. 54)

    • Step 3: Disseminating the Final Product (pg. 55)

      • "senior officials often have time to read only 1 to 3 pages and will not look at anything more" (pg. 56)

      • "memoranda to staff typically run 10 to 15 pages" (pg. 56)

• Chapter 5 - Evaluating Strategies for Multiple Goals (pg. 61)

  • "U.S. national security policies…are part of U.S. national security strategies – action agendas composed of multiple policies intended to advance several goals at the same time through the vehicle of an individual policy for each goal” (pg. 61)

  • "[there are] three main types of strategy:" (pg. 61)

    • Global

    • Regional

    • Functional

  • "in strategy analysis, multiple goals must first be defined…then, policies must be designed for each goal and harmonized to support each other" (pg. 62)

  • Using a Strategy to Pursue Multiple Goals (pg. 62)

    • "in theory, a single policy can be shaped to pursue several goals…but often this is not the case" (pg. 62)

    • "a strategy seeks to surmount this problem…by designing an individual policy for each goal, then weaving these separate policies together to create an overall strategic construct that best advances all of the goals being sought" (pg. 62)

    • "by forging a strategy of multiple policies, the U.S. can pursue one goal without unduly damaging other important goals" (pg. 63)

  • The Essence of Strategy (pg. 64)

    • "a key feature of a strategy is that its multiple actions are not independent of each other, but highly interdependent" (pg. 64)

      • "in the national security arena, strategy is commonly associated with military thinking" (pg. 64)

    • "U.S. national security strategy is more than solely military. It pursues a broader definition of security than just deterrence and defense. It includes such other instruments as diplomacy, alliance management, trade, and multinational institutions to pursue not just security goals, but also political and economic goals, all of which are combined in order to advance national interests and democratic values" (pg. 64)

    • "strategy employed here says that strategy provides the framework for pursuing policies…some observers call this grand strategy, but a better term may be goals-oriented strategy" (pg. 64)

      • "not all strategies are grand or extensive in their coverage, but they all focus on pursuing multiple goals" (pg. 64)

    • "policies themselves can require strategies - that is, schemes to implement them achieve their subordinate objectives" (pg. 64)

      • "this is…operations-oriented strategy, which conveys a sense of tactics and activity" pg. 64)

  • Different Types of Strategies (pg. 65)

    • Global Strategies (pg. 66)

      • "provide a roadmap for how the U.S. conducts its national security affairs on a worldwide basis" (pg. 65)

    • Regional Strategies (pg. 67)

      • "define the goals and policies of the U.S. in the key regions of the world" (pg. 65)

    • Functional Strategies (pg. 68)

      • "provide a sense of how the U.S. should act in such interdependent, multiregional areas as alliance affairs, arms controls, and economic aid" (pg. 65)

  • Contributions of Strategic Evaluation (pg. 69)

    • "strategies…necessitate making many judgements about the relationship between ends and means" (pg. 69-70)

    • "a strategy should have an overarching concept, a guiding theme, and policies that fit together" (pg. 70)

      • "multiple policy gears of a strategy need to mesh if the strategy is to succeed" (pg. 71)

    • "strategies typically require attention to timing, pacing, synchronization, and choreography" (pg. 71)

      • "each policy component of a complex strategy requires an implementation agenda of its won, and all of these agendas must be blended to yield a coordinated and harmonized execution of the strategy" (pg. 71)

• Chapter 6 - Forging National Security Strategy (pg. 85)

  • National Security Goals - "secure and prosperous U.S. homeland, cohesive democratic community, stable global security system, progress toward economic prosperity and freedom" (pg. 86)

  • Strategic Functions - "leader of democratic community and alliances, architect of global and regional security affairs, global developer of world economy and poor regions" (pg. 86)

  • Policy Instruments - "political diplomacy, military power, and economic strength" (pg. 86)

  • "all countries try to gain maximum strategic mileage from the instruments and resources at their disposal" (pg. 87)

  • Three Instruments (pg. 94)

    • Political Diplomacy (pg. 94)

      • "refers to the commitments, negotiations, pressures, and similar tools to influence how foreign countries and international institutions behave in world affairs" (pg. 94)

      • "diplomacy requires deep thought, not snap judgements based on superficial appraisals" (pg. 96)

      • "diplomacy must be anchored in a clear understanding of U.S. goals and priorities and must also have an accurate appraisal of the interests and proclivities of the countries being engaged" (pg. 96)

      • "knowing when to concede and when to stand firm is key to successful negotiations" (pg. 97)

    • Military Power (pg. 97)

      • "military power provides political diplomacy with much of its credibility" (pg. 97)

        • "wars are fought in order to achieve political and strategic objectives" (pg. 98)

    • Economic Strength (pg. 103)

      • "the U.S. exerts its biggest impact on the world economy through its imports and exports as well as its foreign investments" (pg. 104)

• Chapter 7 - Crafting Strategy for Alliance Leadership (pg. 115)

  • "by pooling the resources of multiple nations, alliances can lessen the costs that each nation must pay to defend itself and otherwise to pursue its security goals" (pg. 118)

  • "peacetime alliances exist because they enable their members to advance their own interests as well as common causes. Normally, they are anchored in strategic bargains: reciprocal agreements by which members make commitments to each other" (pg. 118)

  • "in the years ahead, two goals will dominate U.S. policy and strategy toward alliances:" (pg. 120)

    • "preserving them so that they can continue to perform traditional missions that are still important" (pg. 120)

    • "reforming them so that they can better perform new-era missions" (pg. 120)

  • "the traditional functions of alliances fall under the rubric of border defense" (pg. 121)

    • "they were not created to project power outside [one's] borders" (pg. 121)

  • "keeping allies willing and able to provide [help on distant missions] is one of the biggest challenges confronting U.S. national security strategy today" (pg. 125)

  • "five alternative strategies…still frame the defense and military options [of NATO]" (pg. 135)

    • "the fist, least ambitious option - 'status quo plus' - calls for the Europeans to remain mostly focused on continental defense missions" (pg. 135)

    • "the second option, a division-of-labor approach, also calls for reliance on [a few] ad hoc coalitions, but seeks greater efforts by European countries to field forces that could perform peacekeeping, occupation, and stabilization duties" (pg. 135)

    • "under the third option, European countries would pursue role specialization to a limited degree, but NATO would become better able to perform at least limited expeditionary strike missions" (pg. 135)

    • "the fourth option…calls for the Europeans gradually to develop an improved portfolio of military assets in multiple areas for power-projection missions" (pg. 135)

    • "the fifth option is the most ambitious: Europeans would broadly match U.S. force contributions to expeditionary missions on Europe's periphery and the Middle East" (pg. 135)

• Chapter 8 - Pursuing Stability in a Dangerous World (pg. 151)

  • "the role of national security policy and strategy is to provide the critical ingredient of clear, purposeful thought so that effective action can follow" (pg. 154)

  • "wise ideas and successful actions must be anchored in an accurate understanding of the fundamentals of strategy" (pg. 154)

    • "such a strategy should be anchored in the premise that because the globalizing world is changing rapidly, a main task is to guide the process of change rather than attempt to stop it" (pg. 154)

  • "a strategy of confrontation has four components:" (pg. 159)

    • Containment

    • Deterrence

      • "enemies are contained by formidable military resistance at locations where they might transgress and by threats of heavy retaliation in the event they actually commit aggression" (pg. 164)

    • Defense

    • Limited Arms Control

    • "its essence is firm political and military pressure designed to keep the targeted country contained, coupled with diplomacy aimed at preventing war and arms races" (pg. 159)

  • "a strategy of geopolitical management…embodies such concepts as:" (pg. 159)

    • Balance of Power

      • "the main goal of power-balancing is to establish a distribution of military forces that discourages such countries as Russia and China from aggressive conduct yet does not menace their own safety" (pg. 163)

      • "too little military power can lead to a potential adversary to underestimate U.S. resolve [yet] too much power may unduly alarm it" (pg. 163)

    • Dissuasion

      • "the intent of dissuasion is firmly to signal a potential adversary not to behave in ways that could turn it into a real adversary" (pg. 164)

    • Equilibrium

      • "the aim of seeking a political equilibrium…[requires] that in addition to insisting that U.S. and allied interests be respected, the other country's legitimate interests must be treated with similar respect" (pg. 164)

    • Limited Business Partnerships

      • "for a limited partnership to work, both sides must profit in strategic terms" (pg. 165)

    • "this strategy strives to warn the targeted country not to transgress, but refrains from threatening it overtly. It protects U.S. and allied interests, but shows respect for the legitimate interests and aspirations of the targeted country" (pg. 159)

  • "the third strategy [of] cooperative integration abandons pressures and warnings in favor of a positive embrace" (pg. 159)

  • "Russia's foreign policy is likely to be guided by a pragmatic, hard-headed sense of national interests" (pg. 161)

  • "in the greater Middle East and southern arc, the U.S. has five dominant goals:" (pg. 167)

    • "the top-priority goal is to defeat global terrorism…to halt the proliferation of WMD into the hands of dangerous rouge states, and to deter other forms of rogue country aggression" (pg. 167)

    • "the second goal…is to protect close allies such as Israel and the friendly nations of the Persian Gulf and to ensure unfettered Western access to Gulf oil" (pg. 167-168)

    • "a third goal is to preserve and expand the U.S. circle of friends and partners…and to promote a greater spirit of multilateral collaboration in key regions" (pg. 168)

    • "a fourth goal is to help defuse local conflicts" (pg. 168)

    • "a fifth goal is to promote democratization and economic progress" (pg. 168)

  • "the first option [in the Middle East] is a strategy limited to defending vital interests" (pg. 169)

  • "the second…is a strategy focused on defending vital interests plus promoting region-wide security and stability" (pg. 169)

  • "the third and most ambitious option is a strategy of protecting interests, promoting security, and accelerating development" (pg. 169)

• Chapter 9 - Promoting Economic Progress and Democracy (pg. 179)

  • "long range prospects for world peace depend partly upon three interconnected issues:" (pg. 179)

    • "whether the world economy grows steadily" (pg. 179)

    • "whether underdeveloped countries rise out of poverty" (pg. 179)

    • "how widely democracy replaced dictatorships" (pg. 179)

  • "in addition to activism, moderate goals, and flexibility, U.S. policymakers will need to think in holistic terms" (pg. 180)

  • "the world economy is ruled by competitive market dynamics and national profit-seeking, not by theories of collective good" (pg. 183)

    • "the wealthy democracies are the main beneficiaries of economic globalization" (pg. 189)

    • "wealthy democracies conduct about 77% of the world's exporting and thus earn most of the profits" (pg. 188)

  • "a core problem is that the world economy continues relying heavily upon the U.S. economy as its engine of growth" (pg. 192)

    • "it needs other powerful engines" (pg. 192)

  • "a main challenge facing U.S. strategy…will be to balance bilateral agreements and regional endeavors with global initiatives so that the result is an integrated world economy" (pg. 194)

  • "poor countries [tend to] have large agricultural sectors, with less industry and services" (pg. 196)

• Chapter 10 - Overview of Systems Analysis (pg. 211)

  • "in the defense arena, systems analysis includes…methods for assessing military balances, requirements, and force posture priorities, using such economic decision models as the curve of diminishing marginal returns and the program optimization model" (pg. 211)

• Chapter 11 - Methods of System Analysis (pg. 215)

  • "system analysis is, simply stated, the analysis of systems" (pg. 217)

    • "a system…is any set of regularly interacting factors and activities that has definable boundaries and that produces measurable outputs" (pg. 218)

  • "systems analysis in the defense arena mostly focuses on two issues: the nature of the military environment and the combat situations in which U.S. forces are likely to operate" (pg. 219)

  • "in addition to model, systems analysis also requires measures of effectiveness (MOE's)" (pg. 219)

    • "an MOE does not measure whether a force is operating effectively, and therefore MOE's must be accompanied by criteria for judging effectiveness" (pg. 219)

  • Systems Analysis for Defense Planning (pg. 220)

    • "defense planning focuses on the relationship between strategy and force posture" (pg. 220)

    • 5 Key Methods: (pg. 220)

      • Strategy Analysis - "compares alternative strategies" (pg. 220)

        • "defense strategy is a component of national security strategy. Its purpose is to provide strategic guidance on how military forces can best be built and employed in order to achieve national goals in global security affairs" (pg. 220)

        • "systems analysis offers three important advantages:" (pg. 222)

          • "the capacity to develop a holistic understanding of the security environment in which defense strategy is operating" (pg. 222)

          • "the capacity to assess strategy alternatives in terms of their activities and consequences" (pg. 222)

          • "the capacity to apply economic reasoning to the choice of strategy to highlight the force needs, resource implications, and budget costs" (pg. 222)

      • Force Balance Assessment - "compares the size and strength of two opposing forces" (pg. 220)

        • "static methods appraise the physical characteristics of forces and weapons" (pg. 225)

          • "their disadvantage is that they do not measure the actual performance on the battlefield" (pg. 225)

      • Requirement Analysis - "assess how many U.S. and allied forces are needed to attain defense goals" (pg. 220)

      • Force Posture Analysis - "assess alternative force structures and mixes" (pg. 220)

        • "most often…the best option will be a mix of ground, naval, and air forces to provide an optimal blend of short-range and long-range fires" (pg. 231)

      • Capability-Based Analysis - "determines how a flexible and modular force can be built to handle a wide spectrum of demands" (pg. 220)

  • "a defense program can be defined as a set of weapons systems and associated assets and activities that interact to perform military operations to achieve specified goals" (pg. 236)

• Chapter 12 - Sizing Conventional Forces (pg. 255)

  • "U.S. defense planning faces a threefold challenge:" (pg. 257)

    • "continuing to refine new force sizing standards so that the focus is on future strategic purposes" (pg. 257)

    • "maintaining a force posture that is not only adequately large in aggregate, but also has the internal diversity and flexibility" (pg. 257)

    • "doing so affordably" (pg. 257)

• Chapter 13 - Pursuing Defense Transformation (pg. 287)

  • "process, change, and capability are the principal determinants of transformation's essence" (pg. 288)

  • "transformation is not about end-states, but about guiding innovative changes toward ultimate outcomes that may be inherently unknowable" (pg. 291)

  • "above all, transformation must joint: it must seek to combine the military services so that they can operate as a single team" (pg. 291)

    • "creating jointness is partly the province of military commanders and their staffs during the preparatory stages of campaign planning, before battles actually begin" (pg. 305)

  • "if transformation is to succeed, it must be pursued energetically, and it must have real meaning, not be encased in a fog of hyped claims and exaggerated expectations" (pg. 292)

  • "transformation must strike a sensible balance between continuity and change" (pg. 296)

  • "the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review Report set the stage by endorsing a deliberate, well-planned transformation as a main goal of defense planning" (pg. 299)

  • "one of the biggest challenges will be determining how to afford transformation and invest its resources wisely" (pg. 302)

• Chapter 14 - Mastering Joint Force Operations (pg. 319)

  • "if systems analysis is to be relevant in this arena, it must anchor itself in the study of expeditionary warfare" (pg. 321)

    • "an expeditionary operation can be defined as a temporary military journey to a distant place for a specific strategic purpose" (pg. 321)

    • "their underlying purpose may thus not be merely to protect the borders of allies, but to shape the geopolitics of countries and sometimes entire regions" (pg. 321)

    • "expeditionary wars are power-projection in a new sense" (pg. 321)

    • "while speeding deployment rates will strengthen the Army's role in joint expeditionary operations, efforts to reorganize its main tactical combat formations - brigades and divisions - will also be important" (pg. 336)

      • "the Army modified its transformation plan in 2003-2004" (pg. 336)

      • "one of the Army's goals was to respond to charges that its deployed forces for wartime operations are saddled with too many layers of command echelons" (pg. 336)

      • "the most prominent, well-defined feature of the Army's plan is its scheme to restructure how combat brigades are organized and operated" (pg. 337)

        • "a key feature of the Army's plan is to expand the existing active force of 33 old-style brigades to 43-48 new-style brigades, called brigade combat teams" (pg. 337)

        • "this step was accomplished mainly by reducing the size of existing brigades from about 5,000 troops to roughly 3,700 troops" (pg. 337)

        • "a main purpose of this 'force expansion' is to provide a larger number of brigades for carrying out the Army's proliferating missions in expeditionary operations, including the need to rotate brigades regularly" (pg. 337)

        • 3 Types of Brigades: (pg. 337)

          • Heavy

          • Infantry

          • Stryker

        • "most new brigades will be equipped with two maneuver battalions of four companies apiece, rather than three battalions" (pg. 337)

          • "each brigade, however, will gain strength by virtue of being equipped with a reconnaissance, surveillance, and target-acquisition squadron, a fire battalion of two artillery batteries, a support battalion of logistic assets, and a brigade troop battalion that will provide command posts, intelligence, and signals units" (pg. 337)

          • "the implication is that each new brigade will be able to operate as an independent, self-contained unit on the battlefield, without turning to the division for many kinds of support" (pg. 337)

      • "[critics] suggested that the Army is trading less quality for more quantity" (pg. 337)

        • "the Army, however, put forth a new design aimed at enhancing the combat power of each new brigade in order to help compensate for its smaller size" (pg. 337)

      • "another criticism is that the Army's plan overloads the brigade commander and [their] staff" (pg. 338)

    • "the Marines provide nearly one-fourth of active U.S. ground forces" (pg. 345)

      • "each division has a Marine air wing attached to it, thus creating a Marine Expeditionary Force" (pg. 345)

  • "mastering the air-ground interaction in expeditionary wars will be critical" (pg. 346)

  • "continuing to improve the combat power of air forces is key" (pg. 346)