Measuring Military Power

Measuring Military Power PDF

Author: Joshua M. Epstein

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 1400853966

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Joshua M. Epstein argues that prevailing assumptions about the East- West balance of power rest on erroneous measures of military strength. He develops a method for analyzing military capabilities and applies that general procedure to the Soviet tactical air threat to NATO. Originally published in 1984. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Creating Military Power

Creating Military Power PDF

Author: Risa Brooks

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2007-04-09

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780804768092

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Creating Military Power examines how societies, cultures, political structures, and the global environment affect countries' military organizations. Unlike most analyses of countries' military power, which focus on material and basic resources—such as the size of populations, technological and industrial base, and GNP—this volume takes a more expansive view. The study's overarching argument is that states' global environments and the particularities of their cultures, social structures, and political institutions often affect how they organize and prepare for war, and ultimately impact their effectiveness in battle. The creation of military power is only partially dependent on states' basic material and human assets. Wealth, technology, and human capital certainly matter for a country's ability to create military power, but equally important are the ways a state uses those resources, and this often depends on the political and social environment in which military activity takes place.

Armies of Sand

Armies of Sand PDF

Author: Kenneth Michael Pollack

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 697

ISBN-13: 0190906960

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Armies of Sand asks, 'why have Arab militaries fought so poorly in the modern era?' It examines the performance of over two-dozen Arab militaries from 1948 to 2017, and compares them to a half-dozen non-Arab militaries, to conclude that politics, economics, and culture all contributed to the past weakness of Arab armies.

Measuring National Power in the Postindustrial Age

Measuring National Power in the Postindustrial Age PDF

Author: Ashley J. Tellis

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9780833043603

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The arrival of postindustrial society has transformed the traditional bases of national power, and thus the methods used to measure the relative power of nations should be reassessed as well. Appreciating the true basis of national power requires not merely a meticulous detailing of visible military assets but also a scrutiny of larger capabilities embodied in such variables as the aptitude for innovation, the soundness of social institutions, and the quality of the knowledge base--all of which may bear upon a country's capacity to produce the one element still fundamental to international politics: effective military power. The authors reconfigure the notion of national power to accommodate a wider understanding of capability, advancing a conceptual framework that measures three distinct areas--national resources, national performance, and military capability--to help the intelligence community develop a better evaluation of a country's national power. The analysis elaborates the rationale for assessing each of these areas and offers ideas on how to measure them in tangible ways. An analyst's handbook, RAND/MR-1110/1-A, is also available.

The U.S.-China Military Scorecard

The U.S.-China Military Scorecard PDF

Author: Eric Heginbotham

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2015-09-14

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 0833082272

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A RAND study analyzed Chinese and U.S. military capabilities in two scenarios (Taiwan and the Spratly Islands) from 1996 to 2017, finding that trends in most, but not all, areas run strongly against the United States. While U.S. aggregate power remains greater than China’s, distance and geography affect outcomes. China is capable of challenging U.S. military dominance on its immediate periphery—and its reach is likely to grow in the years ahead.

Military Power

Military Power PDF

Author: Stephen Biddle

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2010-12-16

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1400837820

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In war, do mass and materiel matter most? Will states with the largest, best equipped, information-technology-rich militaries invariably win? The prevailing answer today among both scholars and policymakers is yes. But this is to overlook force employment, or the doctrine and tactics by which materiel is actually used. In a landmark reconception of battle and war, this book provides a systematic account of how force employment interacts with materiel to produce real combat outcomes. Stephen Biddle argues that force employment is central to modern war, becoming increasingly important since 1900 as the key to surviving ever more lethal weaponry. Technological change produces opposite effects depending on how forces are employed; to focus only on materiel is thus to risk major error--with serious consequences for both policy and scholarship. In clear, fluent prose, Biddle provides a systematic account of force employment's role and shows how this account holds up under rigorous, multimethod testing. The results challenge a wide variety of standard views, from current expectations for a revolution in military affairs to mainstream scholarship in international relations and orthodox interpretations of modern military history. Military Power will have a resounding impact on both scholarship in the field and on policy debates over the future of warfare, the size of the military, and the makeup of the defense budget.

Measuring Military Capabilities

Measuring Military Capabilities PDF

Author: Richard J. Dunn (III)

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 10

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

U.S. military strength is essential to a stable international security environment. Today's environment of international uncertainty and emerging threats demands an effective U.S. national security policy, one that achieves Churchill's "elements of persistence and conviction which can alone give security" and avoids the horrendous price of the "weakness of the virtuous." The effective rebuilding of U.S. military capabilities demands establishment of long-term goals and milestones to meet them, and the ability to measure progress toward these goals is essential to management of the rebuilding process.

Body Composition and Physical Performance

Body Composition and Physical Performance PDF

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1992-02-01

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 030904586X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book surveys the entire field of body composition as it relates to performance. It includes a clear definition of terminology and a discussion of the various methods for measuring body composition. The authored papers represent a state-of-the-art review of this controversial field and address questions such as: What is a better measure of body compositionâ€"body fat or lean body mass? Does being overweight for one's height really affect performance? The book also addresses the issue of physical appearance as it relates to body fatness and performance. It includes an in-depth discussion of many of the topics of interest to those involved in sports medicine and exercise physiology.

Unrivaled

Unrivaled PDF

Author: Michael Beckley

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2018-09-15

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 1501724800

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The United States has been the world's dominant power for more than a century. Now many analysts believe that other countries are rising and the United States is in decline. Is the unipolar moment over? Is America finished as a superpower? In this book, Michael Beckley argues that the United States has unique advantages over other nations that, if used wisely, will allow it to remain the world's sole superpower throughout this century. We are not living in a transitional, post-Cold War era. Instead, we are in the midst of what he calls the unipolar era—a period as singular and important as any epoch in modern history. This era, Beckley contends, will endure because the US has a much larger economic and military lead over its closest rival, China, than most people think and the best prospects of any nation to amass wealth and power in the decades ahead. Deeply researched and brilliantly argued, this book covers hundreds of years of great power politics and develops new methods for measuring power and predicting the rise and fall of nations. By documenting long-term trends in the global balance of power and explaining their implications for world politics, the book provides guidance for policymakers, businesspeople, and scholars alike.