Enter the U.S. Army’s premier writing competition!
2025 General William E. DePuy
Special Topics Writing Competition
This year’s theme: “The challenges of planning for security in a world that is increasingly borderless, multicultural, and economically interdependent.”
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Developments in modern technology, changing global demographics, increasingly complex economic ties among nations, and the speed and ease of population mobility have dramatically highlighted factors that now must be considered and dealt with to achieve success in modern conflicts. The age of empires that overtly built on the assumption that some states had a natural Darwinian entitlement for military conquest of other states viewed as racial or cultural inferiors has largely disappeared. However, while the age of empires is arguably over, the myths of empire remain. Different permutations of the same instinct to pursue imperial ambitions, but in a different guise, appear to remain powerful underlying elements of aggressor ideologies, nationalism, racial animus, some forms of organized religion as well as international economic and criminal cartels of one stripe or another. It is also a key impetus for resurgent revanchism, a state posture seeking to retaliate against other states for perceived historical wrongs that animates the desire to recover lost territory
The intent of this year’s DePuy competition is to identify by close examination where such factors strongly influence today’s operational environment and to identify specific strategies to either mitigate their influence or provide solutions for exploiting them to achieve the accomplishment of strategic objectives. A few examples of such possible topics are provided below. These are provided primarily to encourage authors to identify on their own the most salient of any of a myriad of other such topics relevant to the theme.
- How are China, Russia, and the United States viewed by the populations in Central and Southern Africa as each nation competes to exploit Africa’s natural resources? How are they viewed by the international community with regard to their presence in Africa?
- Does racism, tribalism, ideology, and religion play a role in China, Russia, Iran, and other states where conflict has emerged or is emerging? How do they manifest?
- Does regionalism, racism, ideology, or history play the most prominent role in Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region where increasing tensions and potential for conflict are emerging? How do they manifest?
- How much influence do cartels of different varieties and international business conglomerates have on foreign policy dealing with the U.S. military deployments overseas? Do such entities view themselves as virtual independent nations without an obligation of loyalty to traditional nation states?
- What long-term impact would a large-scale war (non-nuclear) between China and the United States have on their mutual economies? Impact the world order?
Competition opens 1 January 2025 and closes 30 June 2025
1st Place: $1,000 and publication in Military Review
2nd Place: $750 and consideration for publication in Military Review
3rd Place: $500 and consideration for publication in Military Review
Prize money contributed by the Association of the United States Army
For information on how to submit an article, please visit https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/ Military-Review/MR-Article-Submission-Guide/.
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