Examines how two countries with large defense industries have succeeded in integrating defense and commercial technology. Explores ways for the U.S. to use their lessons learned to preserve U.S. defense capabilities in the face of budget cuts. Photos, charts, and tables.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has embarked on its most wide-ranging and ambitious restructuring since 1949, including major changes to most of its key organizations. The restructuring reflects the desire to strengthen PLA joint operation capabilities- on land, sea, in the air, and in the space and cyber domains. The reforms could result in a more adept joint warfighting force, though the PLA will continue to face a number of key hurdles to effective joint operations, Several potential actions would indicate that the PLA is overcoming obstacles to a stronger joint operations capability. The reforms are also intended to increase Chairman Xi Jinping's control over the PLA and to reinvigorate Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organs within the military. Xi Jinping's ability to push through reforms indicates that he has more authority over the PLA than his recent predecessors. The restructuring could create new opportunities for U.S.-China military contacts.

American Civil-Military Relations offers the first comprehensive assessment of the subject since the publication of Samuel P. Huntington’s The Soldier and the State. Using this seminal work as a point of departure, experts in the fields of political science, history, and sociology ask what has been learned and what more needs to be investigated in the relationship between civilian and military sectors in the 21st century. Leading scholars—such as Richard Betts, Risa Brooks, James Burk, Michael Desch, Peter Feaver, Richard Kohn, Williamson Murray, and David Segal—discuss key issues, including: • changes in officer education since the end of the Cold War • shifting conceptions of military expertise in response to evolving operational and strategic requirements • increased military involvement in high-level politics • the domestic and international contexts of U.S. civil-military relations. The first section of the book provides contrasting perspectives of American civil-military relations within the last five decades. The next section addresses Huntington’s conception of societal and functional imperatives and their influence on the civil-military relationship. Following sections examine relationships between military and civilian leaders and describe the norms and practices that should guide those interactions. What is clear from the essays in this volume is that the line between civil and military expertise and responsibility is not that sharply drawn, and perhaps given the increasing complexity of international security issues, it should not be. When forming national security policy, the editors conclude, civilian and military leaders need to maintain a respectful and engaged dialogue. Essential reading for those interested in civil-military relations, U.S. politics, and national security policy.

Conventional wisdom holds that the American military is overwhelmingly conservative and Republican, and extremely political. Our Army paints a more complex picture, demonstrating that while army officers are likely to be more conservative, rank-and-file soldiers hold political views that mirror those of the American public as a whole, and army personnel are less partisan and politically engaged than most civilians. Assumptions about political attitudes in the U.S. Army are based largely on studies focusing on the senior ranks, yet these senior officers comprise only about 6 percent of America's fighting force. Jason Dempsey provides the first random-sample survey that also covers the social and political attitudes held by enlisted men and women in the army. Uniting these findings with those from another unique survey he conducted among cadets at the United States Military Academy on the eve of the 2004 presidential election, Dempsey offers the most detailed look yet at how service members of all ranks approach politics. He shows that many West Point cadets view political conservatism as part of being an officer, raising important questions about how the army indoctrinates officers politically. But Dempsey reveals that the rank-and-file army is not nearly as homogeneous as we think--or as politically active--and that political attitudes across the ranks are undergoing a substantial shift. Our Army adds needed nuance to our understanding of a profession that seems increasingly distant from the average American.

The US military will continue to play the leading role in stabilization and reconstruction missions in hostile environments. Past efforts to achieve an effective integration of interagency capabilities for these missions have been limited at best. There is a critical need for fully integrated interagency efforts at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels that go well beyond past attempts at mere civil-military cooperation or collaboration. This paper focuses on how the military can better integrate civilian personnel and capabilities when it has the lead in stability operations. It also explores how to effectively transition to a civilian leading role in these missions. The paper first provides context by reviewing select lessons from several US operations executed since the end of the Cold War. Next, it assesses recent initiatives and military doctrinal changes that are designed to address these issues. It then explores several new civil-military organizational innovations that address these issues, such as US Africa Command and Provincial Reconstruction Teams. It also highlights the increasing reliance contractors who can fill the gaps in military and government civilian capabilities in these areas. Finally, it concludes with several recommendations for the Department of Defense to improve civil-military integration during stabilization missions.

The Office of Technology Assessment, at the request of the Congress, has conducted a series of assessments of the Nation's ability to provide for its future national security technology and industrial needs. In the most recent report, Assessing the potential for Civil- Military Integration, OTA examined the potential for making greater use of common technologies, processes, labor, equipment, material, and/or facilities to meet both defense and commercial needs. This effort, often termed civil-military integration or CMI, is believed by many observers to be an essential element of a successful U.S. national security strategy. OTA's assessment found that greater CMI is possible, and confirmed the potential for cost savings and increased technology transfer as the result of increased integration. The assessment noted that CMI appears essential if defense is to take advantage of many rapidly developing commercial technologies.