Good strategy is more than a collection of objective instrument packages, or a list of acceptable initiatives loosely bound to the pablum of fluffy objectives. Good strategy must have a clear, well-considered vision of the world combined with a uniting theory that focuses action on viable objectives and creates power and clarity amid uncertainty and complexity. Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has experienced a slide into strategic atrophy: we have slowly bled international support, squandered advantage, and burned resources while repeatedly coming out on the losing side of generally unnecessary conflicts. Our brief unipolar moment meant the immediate cost of this strategic atrophy was bearable, yet as we rapidly transition back to a period of multipolar competition, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since before World War II, that is no longer the case. It is time to begin putting our strategic house in order.

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Attend any wonky discussion on the challenges posed by China’s rise, and someone will insist that the United States must compete with China. But ask those same pundits to define what competition with China looks like, and instead of getting a straight answer, you’ll be met with incredulity, as if competing with China is really a set of self-evident and indisputable foreign policy options. Most often, competition with China gets reduced to mirroring Chinese actions—if China is going to invest in infrastructure for the developing world, so should the United States. The same, mirror-image thinking is also applied to increases in China’s military, advancements in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, and so on. Contemporary discussions on great power competition are devoid of proactive, self-justified foreign policy options. A US reactive posture cedes the initiative to China, allowing Chinese interests to dictate the time, place, and modality of competition. To escape its reactive rut, the United States should apply the logic of what in business contexts is called competitive strategy, develop a coherent response to China’s rise, and shape the arena of competition to favor America’s strengths and exploit China’s weaknesses.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The commanding general for U.S. Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) will speak at a conference focusing on cyber resiliency for critical infrastructure, which is scheduled to take place February 24-25 at The Citadel.

Lt. General Stephen G. Fogarty will deliver a keynote address at the Jack Voltaic Cyber Conference.

The project was developed by the Army Cyber Institute to analyze weaknesses in critical infrastructure through "an innovative, bottom-up approach… focusing on cities and municipalities where critical infrastructure and populations are substantial."

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The Army Cyber Institute is turning to an unusual source to help leaders anticipate future threats: graphic novels. Three graphic novels based on research into information warfare and weapons of mass destruction are intended to “generate conversation within the Army, NATO and the broader community about the future threats in the environment and today’s actions to prepare for those threats,” according to a Jan. 24 notice ...

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WASHINGTON: It’s not unusual for the military to seek out specialized contractors with a unique set of skills. But a new solicitation has the Army looking for someone with a more artistic bent — someone who can take technical information about the service’s cyber and weapons of mass destruction strategies and turn them into comic books.

According to a SAM.gov notice, the Army Cyber Institute wants to use science-fiction prototyping (SFP) — science-fiction stories, graphic novels/comics, movies and animations to explore the implications of futuristic technologies — to support the service’s and NATO’s research about future operating environments.

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This fascination with the future extends to the U.S. Department of Defense, which has been seeking science fiction writers to help predict the nature of tomorrow’s conflicts. Calls for proposals have asked consultants to imagine how artificial intelligence (AI) will “change how decisions are made on the battlefield.” NATO recently published a set of short stories on the future of warfare in 2036, and the Army Cyber Institute commissioned an “Invisible Force” graphic novel to explore the role of cyberattacks in a 2030 conflict scenario.

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No one likes to wake up in the morning, but now that artificial intelligence–powered algorithms set our alarms, manage the temperature settings in our homes, and select playlists to match our moods, snooze buttons are used less and less. AI safety-assist systems make our vehicles safer and AI algorithms optimize police patrols to make the neighborhoods we drive through, and live in, safer as well. All around us, AI is there, powering the tools and devices that shape our environment, augment and assist us in our daily routines, and nudge us to make choices about what to eat, wear, and purchase— with and without our consent. However, AI is also there when our smart devices start deciding who among us is suspicious, when a marginalized community is disproportionately targeted for police patrols, and when a self-driving car kills a jaywalker.

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Imagine a future where moral and cognitive battles are waged with well-crafted narratives delivered and manipulated by an intricate web of simple and sophisticated cyber, information, electronic, and psychological warfare tools. The modern information environment, and how we interact with it, allows perceptions to be shaped in seconds with a retweet, a share, a like, or a download. With the internet, access to information is instantaneous—until it’s not—and autocratic rulers are increasingly taking advantage of their populations’ reliance on the internet and the information environment in times of unrest and upheaval by shutting off access. Most recently, internet traffic was cut off in Kazakhstan, as authorities in the petrostate tried to quell unrest over rising fuel prices and sow confusion among protestors by disrupting communications and popular messaging platforms (e.g., Telegram and Signal). What autocratic rulers clearly understand is the power of social connection and how the internet and information environment facilitate idea mobilization and narrative affinity across populations. Ultimately, we do not have to imagine a future war to recognize that the next conflict will include an information component, and the US military will need to contribute to perception and information management in the cognitive dimension as a core element of future battles.

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" U.S., European and Russian negotiators are meeting this week to discuss the security crisis over Ukraine, and the steady buildup of Russian troops along the Ukraine border. The United States and its European allies have threatened to impose additional sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin invades its neighbor."

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