PRISM - The Journal of Complex Operations

06/23/2021

“Chinese investments in Africa have multiplied in recent years, especially since the 2013 launch of the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). But China has realized that it is a mistake to entrust security and development to trade alone.” Read more in César Pintado's article "Chinese Mercenaries in Africa' in the 5 June issue of Small Wars Journal at https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/chinese-mercenaries-africa

“Chinese investments in Africa have multiplied in recent years, especially since the 2013 launch of the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). But China has realized that it is a mistake to entrust security and development to trade alone.” Read more in César Pintado's article "Chinese Mercenaries in Africa' in the 5 June issue of Small Wars Journal at https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/chinese-mercenaries-africa

06/10/2021

New book alert! "The PLA Beyond Borders" from @ndupress covers #China’s military ops in the #IndoPacific and its expanding overseas reach. Visit the book site at https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Publications/Books/PLA-Beyond-Borders/ to read the free, full-text PDF or to order complimentary print copies. #INSS #NDUPress #PLABeyondBorders

New book alert! "The PLA Beyond Borders" from @ndupress covers #China’s military ops in the #IndoPacific and its expanding overseas reach. Visit the book site at https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Publications/Books/PLA-Beyond-Borders/ to read the free, full-text PDF or to order complimentary print copies. #INSS #NDUPress #PLABeyondBorders

06/07/2021

Iran in Latin America: Malign Alliances, “Super Spreaders,” and Alternative Narratives

Iran's ongoing and multifaceted campaigns of disinformation and carefully curated messages—coordinated with Russian and Venezuelan state media companies and thousands of allied Internet and social media accounts—pose a strategic challenge to U.S. interests and regional efforts to promote stability, democratic values, and the rule of law. Read "Iran in Latin America: Malign Alliances, 'Super Spreaders,' and Alternative Narratives," by Douglas Farah and Alexa Tavarez in INSS's Strategic Perspectives 34.

Iran

05/25/2021

Sarah Jacobs Gamberini is a Policy Fellow at the National Defense University (NDU) Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD). Her research includes quantum sensing, influence operations, and information warfare activities with a focus on understanding the intersections of disinformation and WMD. In her recent report on Social Media Weaponization, Gamberini describes the methods and goals of Russia’s influence operations and assesses the implications for targeting matters of public health like COVID-19 and the vaccination debate. At NDU, she teaches a course on WMD and Mass Media which provides a baseline understanding of WMD threats with an emphasis on media literacy in a post-truth world. Sarah Gamberini also chairs the monthly CSWMD Spotlight Speaker Series featuring thought leaders on a range of WMD topics.

Most recent publications:

Gamberini, S.J. (2021). Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)information Environment: (Dis)trust and Verify? Inkstick. Link: https://inkstickmedia.com/arms-control-in-todays-disinformation-environment-part-i/ The next generation of arms control negotiators and implementors will face a drastically different, more complicated and contentious information environment than when the United States last negotiated a strategic nuclear arms control agreement (New START) in 2009. In the past decade, disinformation has been used to undermine arms control norms and institutions. The United States needs to ask the question: Can it engage in arms control negotiations with a party that seems willing to “trust but verify” on one arms control agreement while actively undermining others? This is the first in series of papers for Inkstick on Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)information Environment with my National Defense University Institute for National Security Studies colleagues Dr. Justin Anderson and Dr. Jaclyn Kerr. Our goal is to contribute to a discussion about how disinformation could play a role in future arms control treaties and agreements.

Gamberini, S.J. (2020). Social Media Weaponization: The Biohazards of Russian Disinformation Campaigns. Joint Force Quarterly. Link:https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/jfq/jfq-99/jfq-99.pdf

Gamberini, S.J. & Rubin, L. (2021). Quantum Sensing's Potential Impacts on Strategic Deterrence and Modern Warfare. Orbis: Foreign Policy Research Institute Journal of World Affairs. Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0030438721000120?via%3Dihub

If you are interested in being featured or wish to nominate someone, please email Michael Miklaucic at [email protected].

Sarah Jacobs Gamberini is a Policy Fellow at the National Defense University (NDU) Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD). Her research includes quantum sensing, influence operations, and information warfare activities with a focus on understanding the intersections of disinformation and WMD. In her recent report on Social Media Weaponization, Gamberini describes the methods and goals of Russia’s influence operations and assesses the implications for targeting matters of public health like COVID-19 and the vaccination debate. At NDU, she teaches a course on WMD and Mass Media which provides a baseline understanding of WMD threats with an emphasis on media literacy in a post-truth world. Sarah Gamberini also chairs the monthly CSWMD Spotlight Speaker Series featuring thought leaders on a range of WMD topics.

Most recent publications:

Gamberini, S.J. (2021). Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)information Environment: (Dis)trust and Verify? Inkstick. Link: https://inkstickmedia.com/arms-control-in-todays-disinformation-environment-part-i/ The next generation of arms control negotiators and implementors will face a drastically different, more complicated and contentious information environment than when the United States last negotiated a strategic nuclear arms control agreement (New START) in 2009. In the past decade, disinformation has been used to undermine arms control norms and institutions. The United States needs to ask the question: Can it engage in arms control negotiations with a party that seems willing to “trust but verify” on one arms control agreement while actively undermining others? This is the first in series of papers for Inkstick on Arms Control in Today’s (Dis)information Environment with my National Defense University Institute for National Security Studies colleagues Dr. Justin Anderson and Dr. Jaclyn Kerr. Our goal is to contribute to a discussion about how disinformation could play a role in future arms control treaties and agreements.

Gamberini, S.J. (2020). Social Media Weaponization: The Biohazards of Russian Disinformation Campaigns. Joint Force Quarterly. Link:https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/jfq/jfq-99/jfq-99.pdf

Gamberini, S.J. & Rubin, L. (2021). Quantum Sensing's Potential Impacts on Strategic Deterrence and Modern Warfare. Orbis: Foreign Policy Research Institute Journal of World Affairs. Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0030438721000120?via%3Dihub

If you are interested in being featured or wish to nominate someone, please email Michael Miklaucic at [email protected].

05/13/2021

Join the NDU Foundation on May 20th at 2pm in their second National Security Briefing of 2021! Focusing on Ethical AI and National Security, the webinar will feature experts Graham Gilmer, Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton, and Alka Patel, Head of AI Ethics Policy at the DoD’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.

Learn more about the event: https://ndufoundation.org/event/ethical-artificial-intelligence-national-security
Ready to attend? Register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5024682791788011533

Join the NDU Foundation on May 20th at 2pm in their second National Security Briefing of 2021! Focusing on Ethical AI and National Security, the webinar will feature experts Graham Gilmer, Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton, and Alka Patel, Head of AI Ethics Policy at the DoD’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.

Learn more about the event: https://ndufoundation.org/event/ethical-artificial-intelligence-national-security
Ready to attend? Register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5024682791788011533

04/26/2021

“Gray Zone tactics are becoming more and more prevalent, especially at the hands of Iran and its militias. As demonstrated with the U.S.’ airstrikes against facilities belonging to Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria, the U.S. is struggling to tread the delicate line between punishing Iran for their actions and avoiding a war in the region." See
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-syria-strike/exclusive-u-s-carries-out-airstrike-against-iranian-backed-militia-target-in-syria-officials-idUSKBN2AP33D?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2002.26.21&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

Photo caption: Biden’s first airstrikes target Iran-backed militias in Syria. US AIR FORCE

“Gray Zone tactics are becoming more and more prevalent, especially at the hands of Iran and its militias. As demonstrated with the U.S.’ airstrikes against facilities belonging to Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria, the U.S. is struggling to tread the delicate line between punishing Iran for their actions and avoiding a war in the region." See
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-syria-strike/exclusive-u-s-carries-out-airstrike-against-iranian-backed-militia-target-in-syria-officials-idUSKBN2AP33D?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2002.26.21&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

Photo caption: Biden’s first airstrikes target Iran-backed militias in Syria. US AIR FORCE

04/22/2021

Why the US Military Is Leading the Charge on 5G

By now, many of us are already experiencing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to 5G technology. Even my personal smartphone occasionally flashes up the 5G symbol when I’m streaming something or using a web application. Unfortunately for me, I don’t see too much of a difference between 4G and 5G networking, but again, most of us only get to see the tiniest bit of what 5G can offer.

Read More at: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2021/04/why-military-leading-charge-5g/173534/

For opposing views on the Huawei 5G controversy see;
The Worst Possible Day: U.S. Telecommunications and Huawei, By Thomas Donahue (PRISM V.8,N.3)
Don’t Trust Anyone: The ABCs of Building Resilient Telecommunications Networks, By Andy Purdy, Vladimir M. Yordanov, and Yair Kler (PRISM V.9,N.1)

What do you think; should we ban Huawei from our 5G infrastructure? ([email protected])

It’s not unlike the way that the armed forces invested in radar technology during World War II.

04/20/2021

The Pentagon’s next move in expanding zero trust

The Pentagon’s top IT office is considering establishing a portfolio management office dedicated to accelerating the adoption of zero-trust cybersecurity architectures, a senior IT official told Congress April14. Read more at: https://www.c4isrnet.com/cyber/2021/04/15/the-pentagons-next-move-in-expanding-zero-trust/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2004.16.21&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

The U.S Department of Defense wants to take further steps to advance zero-trust cybersecurity architectures across the department.

04/06/2021

Commercial Interest Grows in Defense Innovation Unit

“The Defense Innovation Unit received nearly 1,000 proposals in response to its solicitations last year, another sign that the Pentagon’s outreach to commercial industry is bearing fruit.” Read more in Jon Harper's April 5th article in National Defense Magazine at https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/4/5/commercial-interest-grows-in-defense-innovation-unit?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2004.06.21&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

Commercial Interest Grows in Defense Innovation Unit

04/06/2021

Richard B. Andres is a Full Professor of National Security Strategy at the U.S. National War College, where he teaches courses on strategy development and cyber policy. Across his career, he has served as a personal consultant on strategy to the Director of the National Security Agency-U.S. Cyber Command; the Secretary of the Air Force; the Commandant of the Marine Corps and other national leaders. He has led strategy development teams for the Bush and Obama White Houses, various combatant commands, and other government and private organizations. Dr. Andres holds faculty positions related to cyber strategy at Georgetown University SSP and Johns Hopkins SAIS. He is a senior fellow at Auburn University's Center for Cyber and Homeland Security and sits on various think tank and laboratory boards.

This semester, professor Richard Andres and PRISM editor Michael Miklaucic teamed up to offer PME's first graduate seminar on the geoeconomic competition between the United States and China over 5G wireless technology. The cutting-edge course examines a dynamic in which China's ruling party subsidizes Huawei, which then sells its 5G technology at a loss in order to increase China's control over global information networks. The course's key themes include explorations of geoeconomic competition between pure-market and state-market economies, the role of information in the 4th Industrial Revolution, and the dynamics of the technology race between the United States and China. According to professor Andres and Miklaucic, the course intentionally has a ripped-from-the-headlines character combining theoretical economics with weekly briefs from the world's leading thinkers on the US-China 5G contest. "When we were designing the course," professor Andres said, "we were afraid students might find it a bit too edgy or niche. As it turned out, it's one of the more popular courses at the university. It looks like the next generation of U.S. leaders are as interested as we are in the geoeconomic competition between the U.S. and China."

Two of Dr. Andres' publications are being featured today:

Richard B. Andres, "Emerging Critical Information Technology and Great Power Competition," in Tom Lynch ed., Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition, (Washington, DC: NDU Press 2020). Available at: https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/2404326/6-emerging-critical-information-technology-and-great-power-competition/

Richard B. Andres, "Inverted-militarized-diplomacy: how states bargain with cyber weapons." Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 15 (2014): 119. Available at:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292126817_Inverted-Militarized_Cyber_Diplomacy

Richard B. Andres is a Full Professor of National Security Strategy at the U.S. National War College, where he teaches courses on strategy development and cyber policy. Across his career, he has served as a personal consultant on strategy to the Director of the National Security Agency-U.S. Cyber Command; the Secretary of the Air Force; the Commandant of the Marine Corps and other national leaders. He has led strategy development teams for the Bush and Obama White Houses, various combatant commands, and other government and private organizations. Dr. Andres holds faculty positions related to cyber strategy at Georgetown University SSP and Johns Hopkins SAIS. He is a senior fellow at Auburn University's Center for Cyber and Homeland Security and sits on various think tank and laboratory boards.

This semester, professor Richard Andres and PRISM editor Michael Miklaucic teamed up to offer PME's first graduate seminar on the geoeconomic competition between the United States and China over 5G wireless technology. The cutting-edge course examines a dynamic in which China's ruling party subsidizes Huawei, which then sells its 5G technology at a loss in order to increase China's control over global information networks. The course's key themes include explorations of geoeconomic competition between pure-market and state-market economies, the role of information in the 4th Industrial Revolution, and the dynamics of the technology race between the United States and China. According to professor Andres and Miklaucic, the course intentionally has a ripped-from-the-headlines character combining theoretical economics with weekly briefs from the world's leading thinkers on the US-China 5G contest. "When we were designing the course," professor Andres said, "we were afraid students might find it a bit too edgy or niche. As it turned out, it's one of the more popular courses at the university. It looks like the next generation of U.S. leaders are as interested as we are in the geoeconomic competition between the U.S. and China."

Two of Dr. Andres' publications are being featured today:

Richard B. Andres, "Emerging Critical Information Technology and Great Power Competition," in Tom Lynch ed., Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition, (Washington, DC: NDU Press 2020). Available at: https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/2404326/6-emerging-critical-information-technology-and-great-power-competition/

Richard B. Andres, "Inverted-militarized-diplomacy: how states bargain with cyber weapons." Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 15 (2014): 119. Available at:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292126817_Inverted-Militarized_Cyber_Diplomacy