November 23, 2009

Defense Policy: Regenerating the American Military

War and Conflict Research at ACDIS

ACDIS integrates diverse academic and military perspectives into its research and dialogue on Reconceptualizing War. Topics covered include:

  • policies and practices in contemporary warfighting
  • military uses of technology
  • origins, history, and causes of war
  • military strategy
  • quantitative and qualitative geospatial and geopolitical analyses of conflict
  • sociological impacts of war
  • U.S. and international military force structures

Selected Books by John A. Lynn

Women, Armies, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

Battle: A History of Combat and Culture (Westview Press, 2003; revised 2004)

The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667-1714 (Longman, 1999)

Giant of the Grand Siecle: The French Army, 1610-1715 (Cambridge University Press, 1997)

The Bayonets of the Republic: Motivation and Tactics in the Army of Revolutionary France, 1791-94 (revised ed. Westview Press, 1996; first ed. University of Illinois Press, 1984)

(edited) Feeding Mars: Logistics in Western Warfare from the Middle Ages to the Present (Westview Press, 1993)

(edited) The Tools of War: Ideas, Instruments, and Institutions of Warfare, 1445-1871 (University of Illinois Press, 1990)

Last updated: May 30, 2008

Author

John A. Lynn
Professor of History Emeritus

Published by Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security (ACDIS), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

ACDIS International Security Policy Brief series
No. 2 / May 2008

Full text [PDF]

Summary

The last five years in Iraq have made it clear that U.S. foreign policy options can be limited or distorted by the character and abilities of the country's military. Rebuilding and reforming U.S. armed forces will be one of the paramount challenges faced by the next president. Professor John Lynn highlights several steps for positioning the American military to more effectively perform a diverse range of tasks corresponding to a spectrum of threats.

Policy Recommendations

The next U.S. presidential administration should:
  • Implement a process of reevaluating what has succeeded or failed in recent military operations, identifying future threats, and examining how to refashion U.S. armed forces to meet them.

  • Create three study commissions: a Military Lessons-Learned Commission, a Future Threat Commission, and a Military Reform Commission.

  • Choose membership of the commissions carefully, with appropriate composition of military men and women and civilian specialists as dictated by specific objectives of each commission.

  • Maintain active involvement and support for the commissions.

The Military Reform Commission should:
  • Develop practices for prioritizing “Phase IV Planning”—how to conduct post-hostility operations—before planning for Phases I-III (Preparation, Shaping the Battlespace, Decisive Operations).

  • Explore creating specific units trained and equipped to carry out peacekeeping, humanitarian, and counter-insurgency operations.

  • Work to align military use of technology with ultimate U.S. strategic goals, rather than immediate tactical advantages.