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31. The Islamic State and Drones: Supply, Scale, and Future Threats

Author:
Don Rassler
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
The Islamic State is a group known for doing things a bit differently, for its capacity for innovation, and for its many ‘firsts.’ Two of those ‘firsts’ happened within months of each other. The first occurred in October 2016 when the group used a bomb-laden drone to kill, after the explosive hidden within the drone killed two Kurdish peshmerga soldiers who were investigating the device. Another ‘first’ happened in January 2017 when the Islamic State released a propaganda video that showed nearly a dozen examples of the group releasing munitions on its enemies from the air with a fair degree of accuracy via quadcopter drones it had modified. And it wasn’t long before the group’s bomb-drop capable drones would go on to kill, too.
Topic:
International Affairs and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

32. The Challenge of Emerging Technologies to Non-proliferation Efforts: Controlling Additive Manufacturing and Intangible Transfers of Technology

Author:
Kolja Brockmann and Robert E. Kelley
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
Additive manufacturing (AM) machines are multipurpose manufacturing instruments that rely on the transfer of build-information in a digital form. AM is a rapidly developing technology with a growing range of applications, especially in the aerospace and defence industry. It is also generating concerns about its potential to create ways of weakening or circumventing dual-use and arms export controls. This SIPRI Paper examines (a) the state of the art in AM; (b) its ability to produce military equipment and dual-use items; (c) the application of export controls to AM and their implementation at the national level; and (d) the challenges that implementation and compliance present for governments, companies and research institutes. The conclusions summarize potential options and considerations when expanding controls on AM. This is one of two research papers that address the closely related issues of controlling transfers of software and technology and applying exports controls to AM. Taken together, the papers examine some of the most challenging issues that governments, companies and research institutes in the European Union (EU) and the wider world are facing when they seek to effectively implement dual-use and arms export controls. The papers also address a range of topics that are under active discussion within the multilateral export control regimes and in connection with the recast of the EU Dual-use Regulation. For the second paper, 'The Challenge of Software and Technology Transfers to Non-proliferation Efforts: Implementing and Complying with Export Controls', see here. Funding for the concept paper was provided by the US Department of State’s Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program.
Topic:
Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Science and Technology, Military Affairs, Disarmament, and Exports
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

33. Fall 2017 edition of Strategic Visions

Author:
Alan McPherson
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Strategic Visions
Institution:
Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy, Temple University
Abstract:
Contents: News from the Director ...................... 1 A Quarter-Century of Thanks....... 1 A Half-Year of Help ........................... 1 SV’s New Look .................................... 2 Fall 2017 Colloquium ...................... 2 Fall 2017 Prizes .................................. 3 Final Words .......................................... 4 Spring 2018 Lineup .............................. 5 Note from the Davis Fellow............... 6 Book Reviews.......................................... 7 Jeffrey Engel’s When the World Seemed New: George H.W. Bush and the End of the Cold War. By Brian McNamara. ............................ 7 Stephen Kinzer’s The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire. By Alexandre Caillot. ............................ 9 Meredith Hindley’s Destination Casablanca: Exile, Espionage, and the Battle for North Africa in World War II. By Mathias Fuelling. .......................... 11 Jeremi Suri’s The Impossible Presidency. The Rise and Fall of America's Highest Office. By Manna Duah. .................................. 13
Topic:
Cold War, Diplomacy, Military Affairs, Empire, and American Presidency
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, Middle East, North Africa, and Global Focus

34. Cyber and Deterrence: The Military-Civil Nexus in High-End Conflict

Author:
Franklin Kramer, Robert J Butler, and Catherine Lotrionte
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
This paper analyzes cyber’s role in deterrence and defense—and specifically the military-civil nexus and the relationship between the Department of Defense (DoD), the civil agencies, and the key private operational cyber entities, in particular the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and electric grid operators. The focus of the paper is on high-end conflict including actions by an advanced cyber adversary, whether state or nonstate, and not on the “day-to-day” intrusions and attacks as regularly occur and are generally dealt with by governmental agencies and the private sector without military involvement. High-end conflict can be expected to include attacks within the United States homeland as well as in forward theatres.
Topic:
Civil Society, International Security, Military Strategy, Military Affairs, and Cybersecurity
Political Geography:
America and Global Focus

35. Higher, Heavier, Farther, and now Undetectable?

Author:
Jerry Hendrix and Lt Col James Price
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for a New American Security
Abstract:
On Christmas Day in 1914, three former cross-channel packet ships, the Engadine, Empress, and Riviera, stood off the island of Heligoland in the North Sea. Under the watchful eye of the Royal Navy cruisers Arethusa and Undaunted, the three ships pulled back the tarps erected on their sterns and forecastles to reveal nine seaplanes. The aircraft – three Short Folders (Short was the company name; Folder was the model and denoted the aircraft’s ability to fold its wings for storage), four Short 74s, and two Short 135s – were assembled and carefully lowered into the water. The Folders had a 67-foot wingspan, were powered by a 160-horsepower engine, and weighed 3,040 pounds fully loaded. The other two models were derivatives of the original Folder and had similar, if not exact, characteristics. Seven of the nine aircraft were able to get airborne (the other two were unable to break the dynamic tension of the water) and headed eastward carrying three 20-pound Hale bombs apiece, each of which contained 4.5 pounds of explosives within 13 pounds of steel guided by aluminum tail fins. Combined, the 21 bombs had less destructive power than one 13-inch shell fired from a British battleship, but these weapons could be taken directly to their targets and dropped precisely on top of them.
Topic:
International Security and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

36. Xi Transforms the PLA: How the Military Is Being Adapted to China’s Changing Global Position

Author:
Marcin Przychodniak
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Reform of the Chinese armed forces gained new momentum under Xi Jinping in 2015. The main argument behind the strategy, structure, and equipment modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the active defence of China’s global interests to strengthen its competitiveness with the United States. A short-term goal is to make the PLA operationally capable of projecting China’s power abroad constantly, using joint exercises, peacekeeping missions, and the development of military infrastructure. One recent example was opening of China’s first foreign military base in Djibouti. The PLA should also be capable of defending China’s territory and overseas interests by performing combat operations abroad. This means a possible change to the non-intervention clause that has until now been a crucial element of China’s foreign policy.
Topic:
International Security and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

37. Collective Defence in the Age of Hybrid Warfare

Author:
Benjamin Tallis and Michal Šimečka
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of International Relations Prague
Abstract:
The discussion paper by Benjamin Tallis and Michal Šimečka, senior researchers at the Institute of International Relations, provides a (critical) reflection on hybrid warfare – as both a concept and a practice – in the context of collective security in Europe, and discusses the role of the institutions and policies of NATO, the EU, and Member States.
Topic:
International Affairs and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

38. Closer Than You Think: The Implications of the Third Offset Strategy for the U.S. Army

Author:
Samuel R White Jr
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
The Defense Innovation Initiative (DII), begun in November 2014 by former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, is intended to ensure U.S. military superiority throughout the 21st century. The DII seeks broad-based innovation across the spectrum of concepts, research and development, capabilities, leader development, wargaming, and business practices. An essential component of the DII is the Third Offset Strategy—a plan for overcoming (offsetting) adversary parity or advantage, reduced military force structure, and declining technological superiority in an era of great power competition. This study explored the implications for the Army of Third Offset innovations and breakthrough capabilities for the operating environment of 2035-2050. It focused less on debating the merits or feasibility of individual technologies and more on understanding the implications—the second and third order effects on the Army that must be anticipated ahead of the breakthrough.
Topic:
Science and Technology and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

39. Then and Now: Comparing the Flow of Foreign Fighters to AQI and the Islamic State

Author:
Brian Dodwell, Daniel S. Hamilton, and Don Rassler
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
Using two different sets of data derived from internal, bureaucratic documents produced by the Islamic State (and its predecessor group) during two distinct periods of time (2006-2007 and 2011-2014), this report evaluates how the make-up, scale, and scope of the Iraq- and Syria-bound foreign fighter problem has changed over the last decade. It does so across three dimensions. First, it outlines the similarities and differences that exist in the backgrounds of the foreign fighters who joined the Islamic State during separate blocks of time. Second, it provides insight into the local travel and flow of foreign fighters across time as well as the mobilization infrastructure that the Islamic State had in place to facilitate the travel of recruits into Syria or Iraq. Third, it details changes in the preferences of foreign fighters, as reflected by the roles they wanted to fill within the organization.
Topic:
International Affairs and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

40. From Cradle to Grave: The Lifecycle of Foreign Fighters in Iraq and Syria

Author:
Arie Perlinger and Daniel S. Hamilton
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
In April 2016, the CTC released a major report on Islamic State foreign fighters. This report, based on over 4,000 leaked personnel records, gave an interesting inside look at who the group was able to bring into the organization and also how the group was trying to manage the large number of recruits. The Combating Terrorism Center is pleased to announce the release of another major report on foreign fighters. This report, From Cradle to Grave: The Lifecycle of Foreign Fighters in Iraq and Syria, breaks down the experience (or lifecycle) of foreign fighters into three stages: pre-departure, in theater, and return. However, because the personnel records used in the previous report do not speak to each of these stages, this report then uses open-source reporting on these fighters to code variables in each of these different stages. Using a dataset of nearly 1,200 foreign fighters from mostly Western Europe and North America, this report offers a more holistic examination of what the fighter flows look like, but also what challenges policymakers and practitioners will face as they continue to deal with this enduring and complicated problem.
Topic:
International Affairs and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus