U.S. National Security Policy and Military Strategy: Understanding the Environment for Contemporary Warfare
Abstract
No problem facing the United States is more important than national security, particularly in the context of our contemporary wars. In addition, no institution is more involved and more affected by this problem of protecting national security in the context of contemporary wars than the U.S. Army (and the U.S. military overall). The problem of contemporary wars has created numerous challenges for the U.S. Army. Through an active academic outreach program, of which this colloquium with Texas Tech University, the Vietnam Center and Archive, and the Department of Political Science was part, many perspectives and methodologies can be brought to bear on these problems. The purpose of this collaboration is to begin a dialogue that can help bridge the gap between two worlds, one where senior U.S. military officers are educated and the other where scholars work on problems that relate to the causes and conduct of war. To help bridge this gap, Texas Tech University proposed to bring together two traditions of research that as a rule do not collaborate. The first is the case-rich, historical tradition of military scholarship. This is an important tradition and an essential part of the academic education of senior officers. However, because it is case based, it is limited in terms of generalizability. To address this limitation, the colloquium proposed to explore how a case-based academic tradition could be married to a quantitative study of warfare, which is practiced in several liberal arts political and social science departments. The reference here is to large-N quantitative studies of interstate conflict, sanctions, and terrorism.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA540630
Entities
People
- Dave Lewis
- Dennis Patterson
- Steve Maxner
Organizations
- United States Army War College