Global Insurgency: A Prescription for Imposing Strategic Paralysis

Abstract

After over 6 years of national effort, which has included the loss of nearly 4,000 service members in combat operations and the expenditure of over 500 billion dollars of national wealth, many questions have been raised regarding the nation's strategy to counter a threat based on a radical revolutionary religious ideology. Some argue that this threat constitutes a global insurgency. This Strategy Research Project examines the nature of this 21st century threat and analyzes the option of "strategic paralysis" to counter it. The analysis begins with consideration of the global insurgency as a "system of systems." It continues with a discussion of its cultural, ideological, and political ideals and its strategic ends, ways, and means. The author then describes the ends, ways, and means of the current U.S. strategy for combating this global threat. Finally, he proposes a strategic adaptation of John Warden's "Five Rings" Model as a means to identify critical threat nodes and use the instruments of national power to impose strategic paralysis on the enemy.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 17, 2008
Accession Number
ADA478490

Entities

People

  • Michael B. Katka

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Counterterrorism
  • Globalization
  • Governments
  • Information Systems
  • Insurgency
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Military Strategy
  • National Security
  • Societies
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies