MILITARY INNOVATION IN PEACE AND WAR

U.S. Naval War College

Fall 2024

We live in a world obsessed with innovation and the next big thing—and militaries are not immune. But behind the buzzwords is a complex reality that any major change involves bureaucratic in-fighting, strategic foresight and debate, managing technical risks, inter-service and budgetary competition, among a host of other challenges. This course takes a deep dive into the relationship between technological, doctrinal, and organizational innovation in the design and employment of modern military forces. Rather than assume that “innovation” is always advantageous, we interrogate its causes and consequences. Some innovations we will study concern the development and adoption of technologies; others involve changes in tactics, strategy, command and control, and force structure. Some have occurred in peacetime, others under fire. Throughout the course, students will engage with scholarly writing while leveraging their professional experiences to develop their own arguments about past and present military innovation efforts and the role of innovation and adaptation in modern warfare.

MILITARY AND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

U.S. Naval War College

Fall 2023

Fierce debate surrounds whether and how emerging technologies such as cyberspace, unmanned systems, and hypersonic weapons will change the character of war in the twenty-first century. This course takes a deep dive into the relationship between technological innovation and modern military force. Rather than assume that “innovation” is always advantageous, we interrogate its causes and consequences. We also examine critical challenges and opportunities for making the social and technical changes required to successfully integrate new technologies into the armed forces—from bridging the valley of death between prototypes and production to balancing the tradeoffs between advanced capabilities and legacy platforms.

MILITARY POWER AND EFFECTIVENESS

Brown University

Spring 2023

What is military power, and how do states translate it into effectiveness in war? This course seeks to explain why some states develop highly effective militaries and others cannot or fail to do so. Students survey key concepts and theories of military effectiveness, apply them to historical and contemporary issues in the use of military force, and learn about the various factors that determine military performance at all levels of war—tactical, operational, and strategic.

HOLLOWAY GROUP

U.S. Naval War College

Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2022, Spring 2023

The Holloway Group at the U.S. Naval War College (NWC) is a part-time student elective program that students take for three trimesters. Working closely with NWC faculty, the joint U.S. students conduct data collection, wargaming, research, and analysis on specific scenario-based problems. Scenarios involve a variety of access denial challenges and joint maritime conflict, all enabled by sophisticated military technology. The group maintains direct contact with the full range of relevant intelligence and operational commands to ensure project currency and to provide feedback to these commands.