This interdisciplinary course examines the subject of military innovation or transformation from a theoretical, historical and policy oriented perspective. Using the U.S. Army as the primary object of inquiry, the course addresses several key questions: Why do militaries innovate? How does this process of innovation occur? Why do attempts at military innovation succeed or fail? The first course block introduces competing theoretical explanations that provide a framework for understanding military innovation at the systemic, state and organizational levels of analysis. Block two of the course examines several historical cases of U.S. Army transformation in the 20th Century and their effect on the U.S. Army today. The final course block analyzes the U.S. Army's current attempts at transformation. This block explores the possibility of a recent Revolution in Military Affairs and considers the dilemmas of future U.S. Army transformation given emerging technology, current operational requirements and the international security environment.
Lessons
40 @ 55 min (0.000 Att/wk)
Labs
0 @ 0 min
Special requirements
An analytical paper and class presentation on a cadet selected recent or future operational concept.
