Competition in the Gray Zone: Countering China’s Coercion Against US Allies and Partners in the Indo-Pacific

May 2022 No Comments

Speaker(s): Garafola, C. (RAND) Date: 24 May 2022 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a speaker session with Ms. Cristina Garafola (Associate Policy Researcher, RAND) as part of its SMA INDOPACOM Series. *Below is a summary provided by Ms. Garafola which reflects information from her presentation and her team’s findings.   Few studies have systematically tracked how China is using […]

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Escalation Management in Gray Zone Crises: A Proposed Toolkit

March 2022 No Comments

Speaker(s): Ellis, D. (University of Maryland); Elder, R. (George Mason University); Astorino-Courtois, A. (NSI) Date: 22 March 2022 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a speaker session with Mr. Devin Hayes Ellis (University of Maryland), Lt Gen (Ret) Robert Elder, PhD (George Mason University), and Dr. Allison Astorino-Courtois (NSI) as part of its SMA General Speaker Series. Gray zone conflict—which […]

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Russian Information Operations and War in Ukraine—What Can We Expect and Do?

March 2022 No Comments

Speaker(s): Pomerantsev, P. (Johns Hopkins University); Rid, T. (Johns Hopkins University) Date: 17 March 2022 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a speaker session with Dr. Thomas Rid (Professor of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins University) and Mr. Peter Pomerantsev (Senior Fellow, Johns Hopkins University) as part of its SMA EUCOM Speaker Series. While it is hard to process all […]

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Russian Approaches to Strategic Deterrence and Tactical Coercion

February 2022 No Comments

Speaker(s): Charap, S. (Senior Political Scientist, RAND) Date: 18 February 2022 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a speaker session with Dr. Samuel Charap (Senior Political Scientist, RAND) as part of its SMA EUCOM Speaker Series. In his presentation, Dr. Charap discussed two papers: one that describes Russia’sconcept of military deterrence and one that relates Russia’s deterrence approach directly to […]

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Integrating Deterrence Across the Gray—Making It More Than Words

January 2022 No Comments

Speaker(s): Crombe, K. (US Army Strategist & Director, US Special Operations Command Central J5 Strategy, Plans, and Policy Division); Ferenzi, S. (US Army Strategist & Special Forces Officer, US Special Operations Command Central J5); Jones, R. (Principal Strategist, Donovan Integration Group, US Special Operations Command) Date: 20 January 2022 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a […]

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Deterring Iran in the Gray Zone: Insights from Four Decades of Conflict

September 2021 No Comments

Speaker(s): Eisenstadt, M. (Kahn Fellow & Director of Military and Security Studies Program, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Date: 30 September 2021 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a speaker session with Mr. Michael Eisenstadt (The Washington Institute), as part of its SMA STRATCOM Academic Alliance Speaker Series. Iran has been increasing its gray zone […]

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The Shape of the Future Operating Environment

August 2021 No Comments

Author: Dr. Belinda Bragg (NSI) This publication was released as part of the SMA project “Risk of Strategic Deterrence Failure.” For more information regarding this project, please click here. Video Summary In 2021, at the request of USSTRATCOM, SMA initiated an effort to address eight questions regarding the implications of the increasing numbers, and expanding […]

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Escalation Management in Gray Zone Crises: The Proxy Factor

July 2021 No Comments

Speakers: Egle Murauskaite (University of Maryland); and Devin Ellis (University of Maryland) Date: 27 July 2021 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a speaker session with Ms. Egle Murauskaite (University of Maryland) and Mr. Devin Ellis (University of Maryland) as part of its SMA STRATCOM Risk of Strategic Deterrence Failure Speaker Series.   This research, supported by […]

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Strategic Influence: Applying the Principles of Unconventional Warfare in Peace

July 2021 No Comments

Author(s): Jones, R. (United States Special Operations Command) Invited Perspective Preview “The most important aspect of our containment strategy is that it serves to contain ourselves,” former President Dwight Eisenhower reportedly observed after he had left office. Perhaps the greatest problem facing the United States in the post-Cold War era is not our waning ability […]

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What Deters and Why in Taiwan, Korea, and the Gray Zone

April 2021 No Comments

Speaker(s): Mazarr, M. (RAND); Heath, T. (RAND) Date: 28 April 2021 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a panel discussion with Dr. Michael Mazarr (Senior Political Scientist, RAND) and Mr. Timothy Heath (Senior International Defense Researcher, RAND) as a part of its SMA General Speaker Series.  RAND’s study on deterrence focused on two phases: interstate and gray zone aggression. […]

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