Scalpel Instead of a Sledgehammer: A Comparative Cultural Study on Preparing for Future Conflict

摘要

Intrinsic to the safety, maintenance, and status of the United States is conflict preparedness. Fundamental to conflict preparedness is anticipating future uses of the national instruments of power (Diplomatic, Informational, Military, Economic) throughout the spectrum of conflict against potential enemies. To frame these strategies, government leaders must suppose what future conflict will be. To envision future conflict, one must study man and his societies as they are today and what brought them to their present situations. In anticipating future conflict and modeling scenarios for future uses of American diplomatic, informational, military, and economic power (DIME), one is able to formulate how to set the conditions for success and what the future Army should look like in order to effect this success at the tactical, operational, and strategic level.