The Journal of International Security Affairs, Fall/Winter 2012

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The Journal of International Security Affairs is a semi-annual, scholarly journal covering foreign and defense policy with articles, interviews, and book reviews.

This issue - Fall/Winter 2012 - offers insights beyond the “revolution in military affairs, typified by new adversaries, new battlefields and new tactics. Today, the challenge is more profound than ever. New technologies have given non-state actors such as al-Qaeda an unprecedented ability to exert influence over nation-state behavior. Rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea increasingly exhibit extensive ballistic missile and nuclear capabilities and are actively seeking to acquire more. Meanwhile, strategic competitors are busy making major investments in everything from cyber capabilities to space warfare.

To address these questions, and others, The Journal leads off with a quintet of articles focusing on “The Future of Warfare.” Admiral William H. McRaven, the commander of United States Special Operations Command , lays out how America’s special operators are augmenting security through a range of direct and indirect action and, in the process, expanding the ability of partner nations to do the same.

General Norton Schwartz, the recently retired Air Force Chief of Staff, explains the rationale behind the Pentagon’s new “Air-Sea Battle” concept, and outlines how it will help America confront new threats facing the U.S. and its allies.

Mark Schneider of the National Institute for Public Policy lays out the pressures now facing the U.S. arsenal—and the dire consequences that will result if America doesn’t get serious about its strategic capabilities. The George C. Marshall Institute’s Eric Sterner then makes a compelling case that Washington needs to get beyond rhetoric and begin to truly treat space as a new medium for conflict. Finally, Frank Cilluffo and J. Richard Knop of The George Washington University explain the changing nature of cyber threats to the U.S. homeland—and suggest a way forward for both cyber defense and cyber offense.

We then turn our attention to President Obama’s foreign policy record. The Legatum Institute’s Jeff Gedmin, a former Director of Radio Free Europe, leads off by looking at U.S. strategic communications—and where it is currently falling short. Jamie Fly and Evan Moore of the Foreign Policy Initiative take a critical look at the old thinking that animates the Obama administration’s approach to nuclear policy. Thomas Joscelyn of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies then takes aim at exactly what the White House has—and hasn’t—accomplished in the arena of counterterrorism. In turn, Andrew Davenport of RWR Advisory outlines our current approach to economic pressure, and explains why and how much more can be done.

From there, the American Foreign Policy Council’s Herman Pirchner underscores the missteps and that have plagued the Administration’s outreach toward Russia. Defense expert Mike Pillsbury does the same with China, outlining the misconceptions that continue to plague American policy toward the PRC. Last but not least, yours truly explains why the Administration’s approach has fallen short of addressing the menace posed by Iran and its nuclear program.

The “Perspective” interviewee is one of Washington’s consummate defense insiders, former Under Secretary of State and Pentagon Defense Science Board Chairman Dr. William Schneider, Jr. We also have “dispatches” examining developments in Chile, Turkey and Pakistan.

Concluding this edition are four important new works: on intelligence, the Arab world, international law and the unfolding Cold War between Israel and Iran.