Russian Opportunities and Challenges in the Arctic
Russia and the Arctic. Author | Editor: Levis, A. & Elder, R. (GMU). The receding of the Arctic ice presents the Russian Federation with complex opportunities and challenges, both domestic and international. Russia is investing heavily in developing the infrastructure on its Arctic coastline to support both destination shipping in the Arctic and transit shipping […]
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Putin’s Information Warfare in Ukraine
Putin’s Information Warfare in Ukraine, Soviet Origins of Russia’s Hybrid Warfare. Author | Editor: Snegovaya, M. (Institute for the Study of War). Russia has been using an advanced form of hybrid warfare in Ukraine since early 2014 that relies heavily on an element of information warfare that the Russians call “reflexive control.” Reflexive control causes […]
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Scientific Methods for Countering Extremism (2015 Edition)
Countering Violent Extremism: Scientific Methods and Strategies (2015 Edition) Author | Editor: Fenstermacher, L. (Air Force Research Laboratory) [Note: 2011 edition available here] Why are we reissuing the paper collection, “Countering Violent Extremism: Scientific Methods and Strategies”? The answer is simple. Five years later, violent extremism is still an issue. In September 2014, President Obama […]
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ISIL’s Intangible Influences and Resolve
ISIL Influence and Resolve. Author | Editor: Astorino-Coutois, A. & Canna, S. (NSI, Inc). During FY 2014, the SOCCENT Commander requested a short-term effort to understand the psychological, ideological, narrative, emotional, cultural, and inspirational (“intangible”) nature of ISIL. As shown below, the SMA1 team really addressed two related questions: “What makes ISIL attractive?” or how […]
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Conflict and Convergence in the Asia-Pacific Region
Drivers of Conflict and Convergence in the Asia-Pacific Region in the Next 5-25 Years. Author | Editor: Bragg, B. (NSI, Inc). USPACOM requested that the Strategic Multi-layer Assessment (SMA) team conduct an “Examination of future political, security, societal, and economic trends to identify where US interests are in cooperation or conflict with Chinese and other […]
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Operating in the Human Domain 1.0
Operating in the Human Domain 1.0. Author | Editor: U.S. Special Operations Command. Building on the vision of USSOCOM strategic guidance documents, the Operating in the Human Domain (OHD) Concept describes the mindset and approaches that are necessary to achieve strategic ends and create enduring effects in the current and future environment. The Human Domain […]
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Israeli-Palestinian Security Conundrum Assessment
A Geopolitical and Cognitive Assessment of the Israeli-Palestinian Security Conundrum. Author | Editor: Wilkenfeld, J. (). At the request of the U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (USSC) the J-39 Strategic-Multilayer Assessment (SMA) Branch undertook a Coordinator’s Mission Review in July 2014 and concluded it in February 2015. This SMA project resulted […]
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Impact of NRC Strategic Deterrence Study
The most recent news on the impact of the National Academy of Sciences’ Deterrence study co-chaired by Dr. Allison Astorino-Courtois. The excerpt below is from the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Report on this year’s National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2016. The HASC has used the National Academy of Sciences’ Deterrence study report […]
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Science of Decision Making Across Human Activity
The Science of Decision Making Across the Span of Human Activity. Author | Editor: Wright, N. (University of Birmingham & Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) & Astorino-Courtois, A. (NSI, Inc). The US is affected by the decisions of highly diverse actors, ranging from individuals, to groups (e.g. Violent Extremist Organizations; VEOs) to large and sophisticated […]
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Dignity is the Key Metric for Customer Service
Why Dignity is the Key to Customer Service. By Tom Rieger. Taking another look at what it means to treat customers with dignity and how it benefits your business. For the last several decades customer service has cycled through an evolution of different metrics, all focused on measuring if the customer is happy. It started […]
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