The American Way of War in the Emerging Strategic Environment

Abstract

An American Way of War emerged after the end of the Cold War, in successive combat experiences. We at the CNA Corporation examined the eight main cases of combat from 1989 through 2002 to discern its characteristics. The U.S. has now successfully undertaken a ninth combat case Operation Iraqi Freedom in which the characteristics have generally been confirmed, but with some new twists. I will describe them shortly. War-fighting is, of course, the core of what U.S. forces do. Around that core, we speak of some larger strategic functions, like deterrence, presence, interaction with allies, and, of course, preparing for the future, currently referred to as transformation.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA574318

Entities

People

  • Henry H. Gaffney

Organizations

  • Center for Naval Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Strikes
  • Cold War
  • Environment
  • Globalization
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Organizations
  • Iraqi-War
  • National Security
  • New York
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Security
  • Synthetic Aperture Radar
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Software Engineering
  • Strategic Security Studies