Operational Unpredictability and Deterrence: Evaluating Options for Complicating Adversary Decisionmaking

Abstract

The 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy instructed the U.S. military to become more operationally unpredictable and suggested that doing so would help the United States deter attacks on U.S. partners. The authors of this report assess whether and how the U.S. military might utilize unpredictability in force employment, posture, and operations to deter adversaries and identify the possible risks of such approaches.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2021
Accession Number
AD1145472

Entities

People

  • Abby Doll
  • Alyssa A. Demus
  • Angela O'Mahony
  • Bonny Lin
  • Bryan A. Frederick
  • Derek Eaton
  • Michelle Grise
  • Miranda Priebe

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Department Of Defense
  • Deterrence
  • Employment
  • Military Planning
  • National Security
  • Perception
  • Resilience
  • Side Effects
  • United States

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Systems Analysis and Design