War College Papers 2021

It is time to kill the sacred cow of the Centre of Gravity and bring clarity and simplicity to the ADF operational framework.

The swift success of Operation Iraqi Freedom was the result of a balanced symbiosis between operational art and the operational level. Political skewing of that balance led to the protracted disarray of the subsequent stabilisation period.

Despite the shortfalls of mental models to represent the information environment, integration of information warfare concepts into existing frameworks for the planning and conduct of military campaigns enable Western militaries to adapt to the demands of contemporary political warfare.

The escalation of political warfare this century has exposed Western frameworks for planning and conducting military campaigns as well past their use-by date. Time to get over the binary fixation and get up to speed.

Just as military adopt new technologies, they must also continue to adapt to the new means presented by contemporary political warfare.

Adaptability is crucial if Western military theoretical and procedural frameworks are to keep up with the burgeoning challenges of contemporary political warfare.