Author Archives: Daniel Gouré, Ph.D.
Hunting for Black Swans: Military Power in a Time of Strategic Uncertainty
Presentation to the 2008 Air Force Strategy Conference
What are Black Swans?
The term Black Swan comes from a book by Nassim Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. The title derives from the fact that in [Read More...]
Doctor Gates Hangs Out His Shingle
Issue Brief
Many of you may remember the famous Peanuts cartoons in which Lucy would play the psychiatrist, offering to diagnose Charlie Brown’s problems for five cents a session. Well, a new therapist has hung out his shingle. Secretary of [Read More...]
The Military Beyond Iraq
Presentation to the Heritage Foundation Seminar for Journalists
The next president will confront a series of national security challenges that are in many ways as daunting as those made by President’s Truman and Eisenhower at the start of the Cold [Read More...]
GAO Myopia Increases Risk Of Nuclear Attack On U.S.
Issue Brief
In a recent report on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) program to deploy advanced detectors of nuclear materials, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) focuses on minutiae and fails to recognize that the nation is terribly vulnerable to [Read More...]
Finally, Missile Defense That Works
Issue Brief
On February 20, 2008 a single modified Standard 3 missile (SM-3) launched by the Aegis cruiser Lake Erie hit and destroyed an errant U.S. intelligence satellite some 130 miles above the Earth. Culminating a series of successful tests, [Read More...]
A Quick, Cheap Way To Help Soldiers Survive In Iraq
Issue Brief
Over the past three years, the Army generally has done an impressive job at getting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan the equipment they need to fight a new kind of war. It recently delivered the one millionth Rapid [Read More...]
Availability Is What Matters To The Warfighter
Issue Brief
Historically, the government bought military equipment, supplies and services “by the yard” with relatively little thought as to the costs of integrating all the parts and activities. How the troops used that material and support was sometimes a [Read More...]
Availability Is What Matters To The Warfighter
Issue Brief
Historically, the government bought military equipment, supplies and services “by the yard” with relatively little thought as to the costs of integrating all the parts and activities. How the troops used that material and support was sometimes a [Read More...]
Gaining Situational Awareness On The Ground
Issue Brief
The most important information military commanders can have is the location of friendly forces. With this knowledge maneuvers can be accomplished more deftly, fires planned more accurately and the risk of friendly fire casualties reduced. Add to that [Read More...]
“Quick Kill:” The Next Revolution In Warfare
Issue Brief
One of the keys to an effective counterinsurgency/counterterrorist strategy is the ability to defeat asymmetric threats. In Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. forces have confronted an array of asymmetric weapons intended to defeat armored vehicles including improvised explosive devices [Read More...]