the United States did not make effective use of influence operations. In the case of the twenty-year war in Afghanistan, American influence operations (such as they were) had almost no bearing on the outcome. Indeed, as U.S. forces were withdrawn and the collapse of the Afghan republic appeared imminent in early 2021, attempts at mobilizing support

The Soviet Union is gone, but with Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, the Leninist view of war remains. In the People’s Republic of China, this view is augmented by collective memory of a century of humiliation at the hands of Western imperialists. Warfare may vary in its form depending upon circumstances, but struggle is permanent In military

China has one unique aspect to its doctrine. This is the ancient admonition of Sun Tzu that enemy states should be taken intact, not ruined, by conquering without fighting.[10] The Chinese preference is to heed Master Sun’s advice and use psychological and political pressures rather than arms to bring down an enemy. Does this change our definitio