Themes and Suggested Topics

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Members of the Indonesian Special Forces hold a demonstration in honor of U.S. Defense Secretary James N. Mattis 24 January 2018 before Mattis met with Indonesia's Chief of Defense Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo by Sgt. Amber I. Smith, U.S. Army)

Global Security

• What nations consider themselves to be at war or in conflict with the United States? How are they conducting war, and what does this mean for the Army?
• Pakistan: friend or foe?
• What operational and logistical challenges are foreseen due to infrastructure limitations in potential foreign areas of operation and how can we mitigate them?
• What lessons did we learn during recent hurricane relief operations?
• What lessons have we learned from U.S. counterinsurgent military assistance in Africa?
• What was the military role in the recent coup in Zimbabwe, Africa? Evaluation of whether such military involvement is ethical or appropriate?
• What are the security threats, concerns, and events resulting from illegal immigration into Europe?
• Saudi Arabia and Iran: How are cultural changes in both societies affecting the operational environment and potential for conflict between them?

Institutional

• After eighteen years of institutional/operational experience largely focused on counterinsurgency, how do we return to preparing for large-scale combat operations (LSCO)?
• See/understand/seize fleeting opportunities?
• Develop the situation in contact and chaos?
• Offset “one-off” dependencies and contested domains?
• Rapidly exploit positions of advantage?
• Survive in hyperlethal engagements?
• Continuously present multiple dilemmas to the enemy?
• Decide and act at speed?
• Fully realize mission command?
• What are the greatest threats the Army faces (either externally or internally)? How should the Army deal with them?
• What is needlessly duplicated in the Army (e.g., what should be done away with, how should the Army adjust, and how would it benefit)?
• What must be done to adjust junior leader development to a modern operational environment?
• What must we do to develop a more effective means of developing and maintaining institutional memory in order to deal with emerging challenges?
• What is the role for the Army in homeland security operations? What must the Army be prepared for?
• Case studies: How is gender integration changing the Army and how it operates?
• Case studies: How do we properly integrate emerging technology?
• What are the potential adverse impacts on military standards due to factors associated with poor integration of new cultures, ethnicities, or racial considerations and how can those impacts be mitigated?
• How is gender integration changing the Army and how it operates?

May-June 2018