The Global War on Terrorism cannot be won without a coherent commitment from national, defense, and military leadership to eradicate extremist organizations. The current National Security Strategy, referred to by one expert as only the third grand strategy in the history of the United States, cannot succeed on its own. An unambiguous military strategy of annihilation not only supports the current National Security Strategy but enables the other elements of national power - diplomatic, informational and economic - increased opportunities to achieve national objectives without the commitment of...

In Somalia in 1993, famine and civil war riddled the country resulting in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths leading to a major United Nations (U.N.) peacekeeping mission and U.S. led military operations. Following the U.S. led Battle of Mogadishu, which resulted in a strategic disaster and U.S. withdrawal that scarred public opinion, Somalia became a politically sensitive and emotive issue impacting U.S. policy. This work will identify the clear and present danger that Somalia's terrorist and violent extremist networks (VEN) pose to our country and if U.S. policy remains unchanged will...

The national security problems facing the Joint Force are increasingly ill-defined and can be characterized as "wicked problems" and that these "wicked problems" cannot be solved solely by better planning or decision support processes. The current joint definition of command and control does not adequately address changes introduced through technology trends, our understanding of the global operating environment, and capabilities offered by modern information and communications technology. The inclusion of mission command in joint doctrine as a method to synchronize the actions of tactical...

As the Earth sets new record highs in temperature almost every year, the Arctic could begin experiencing ice free summers as early at 2013. With a new ocean opening up, the Arctic's future is unclear. In addition to the opening sea lines of communication, many fear that an ice free Arctic will lead to a resource race for the oil, natural gas, and minerals that the Arctic is expected to hold. Of the eight Arctic nations, only the U.S. remains non-party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Becoming a party to the convention would provide the framework necessary for the U.S....

Cyberspace warfare is clearly a candidate for a new DoD core mission area. This paper will explore each of the primary missions of the U.S. Armed Forces and the U.S. DoD core mission areas. This analysis will support a requirement for a new DoD core mission area for cyberspace warfare. The threats are real. It is not a matter of if but a matter of when a nation or non-nation state develops a new type of warfare to exploit an Achilles heel of the United States in order to achieve its own strategic objectives.

Cyberspace warfare is clearly a candidate for a new DoD core mission area. This work will explore each of the primary missions of the U.S. Armed Forces and the U.S. DoD core mission areas. This analysis will support a requirement for a new DoD core mission area for cyberspace warfare. The threats are real. It is not a matter of if but a matter of when a nation or non-nation state develops a new type of warfare to exploit an Achilles heel of the United States in order to achieve its own strategic objectives.

The United States is at a crossroads of fiscal austerity with an unclear grand strategy. The result leaves the joint force in a state of fluctuation in the future of America's national security. Recently the Executive branch of the U.S. government produced a document that further muddies the waters of the national security strategy. Senior U.S. security officials refer this document titled "Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for the 21st Century Defense," as defense strategic guidance versus a national strategy, but its declaration of a rebalance to the Pacific is being treated as...