Envisioning Future Warfare War College Series PDF Download

The strategic environment at the end of the 20th century is characterized by two competing trends. First, the international system has entered a period of increased instability. Second, we are witnessing the maturation of information processing technology and its subsequent impact on economics, politics, and the conduct of war. This collection of three articles by General Gordon R. Sullivan and Colonel James M. Dubik explores these trends and seeks to envision their implications on future war. Taken together, these articles illuminate contemporary debates in military affairs. "Land Warfare in the 21st Century" establishes a vision of the strategic landscape and identifies the two broad trends of instability and technological acceleration. "Ulysses S. Grant and America's Power-Projection Army" examines the issues of organizational change in the face of technological and social evolution. And "War in the Information Age" elaborates on what the power of information processing technology might mean for the conduct of future war. The ideas found in these three pieces are not definitive, rather they should be used as starting points for understanding subsequent Army initiatives and actions. They are important thoughts that are continuing to grow and evolve within our institutional base of knowledge. The challenge of realizing the maximum benefit from information technology has been taken up in TRADOC Pamphlet 525-5, Force XXI Operations (August 1994). This document forms the intellectual base of the development of the 21st-century Army. The role of the Army under conditions of international instability is elaborated in the Army white paper, Decisive Victory: America's Power-Projection Army (October 1994).