Space Warfare in the Pentagon: In Support of an Independent Space Corps

DR BLEDDYN BOWEN The US Department of Defense and the House of Representatives have been abuzz of late regarding the question of setting up an independent space corps within the US Air Force (USAF).  The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee unveiled their intention to legislate this space corps loosely along the lines of the… Read More Space Warfare in the Pentagon: In Support of an Independent Space Corps

Strategy: Creating Power or Justifying Reality?

The material in this post is drawn from the author’s forthcoming book – The Fear of Invasion: Strategy, Politics, and British War Planning, 1880-1914 – which is published by Oxford University Press in July 2017. This post originally appeared in The European Financial Review. DR DAVID MORGAN-OWEN Strategy, it seems, matters. No forward thinking business, organisation, or government… Read More Strategy: Creating Power or Justifying Reality?

History & Policy

DR CHRISTIAN TRIPODI As the annual Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom progresses toward its conclusion, the students will shortly divide into three separate modules for the final term. One of those, the ‘Ends’ module, will draw the students into deeper consideration of the dynamics and processes underpinning… Read More History & Policy

‘TOTAL NATIONAL STRATEGY’: A CAUTIONARY TALE

DR GERAINT HUGHES Concepts of grand strategy generally stress the requirement of governments to outline clear strategic goals, and to ensure that all elements of national power are co-ordinated by ministers and senior officials (civil service and military) to achieve them. In recent history, one state achieved the apparent success of devising a ‘total’ strategy… Read More ‘TOTAL NATIONAL STRATEGY’: A CAUTIONARY TALE

The British Army & the Chilcot Report: Strategy isn’t the answer

DR DAVID MORGAN-OWEN This post originally appeared on The Wavell Room – a new blog to encourage the discussion of thinking within the British armed forces. Follow the Wavell room on Twitter @wavellroom The long-await report of Sir John Chilcot’s commission on the Iraq War is feeding a dangerous illusion in the British Armed Forces: that… Read More The British Army & the Chilcot Report: Strategy isn’t the answer

Breaking: Opening salvo fired in coming war with machines

Dr. Ken Payne DeepMind, the world’s leading Artificial Intelligence outfit, has released a remarkable new study with implications for those of us interested in war, cooperation, and the strategic ramifications of AI. You can read and watch it here. In short, their agents demonstrated the ability to relate socially in a competitive environment. When resources… Read More Breaking: Opening salvo fired in coming war with machines

China’s space weapons test ten years on: Behemoth pulls the peasants’ plough

DR BLEDDYN BOWEN This post is based aspects of a forthcoming paper presented at the ISA Annual Convention 2017 in Baltimore, MD. Ten years ago, on 11th January 2007, a road-mobile SC-19 Chinese antisatellite (ASAT) weapons test renewed interest, debate, and occasional polemic hysteria, in the role of space weapons in international security and Sino-US… Read More China’s space weapons test ten years on: Behemoth pulls the peasants’ plough