May 2009

In 1999, I posited a future—the Axis 2001 scenario—in which a set of loosely coordinated adversaries sought to exploit America’s misfortune. Although some of the scenario’s events differ from the current setting, the challenge of an economically weakened, overstretched United States now exists, and—much like the scenario—our adversaries seem eager to exploit the opportunities this offers.
      When I first posted the scenario, I asked RTJ readers to suggest strategies to deal with the challenge. I ask again today: How can an economically weakened and arguably overstretched United States best counter multiple adversaries? If you’ve got an idea or strategy, post a comment.

Sandia National Labs’ Information Design Assurance Red Team (IDART) recently redesigned its Web site. The new site features some useful resources, including information on the IDART methodology, the Red Teaming for Program Manager’s (RT4PM) course, red teaming metrics, and red teaming threat matrices. Whether you want to hire Sandia to red team for you or not, the site is worth bookmarking as a valuable source of information.

New Red Team Journal contributing editor Ned Moran debunks the hype attending China’s Kylin operating system on his course blog. We are pleased Ned has joined the RTJ team and look forward to the insight and expertise he will bring, particularly in the area of cyber security.

Red Team Journal advisory board member Dr. Randy Borum recently posted a new entry on his blog addressing violent extremist ideologies. Dr. Borum will be posting regularly on the site, and we encourage RTJ readers to visit often.

My frequent collaborator and Red Team Journal contributor John P. Sullivan has a new article with James Wirtz in Homeland Security Affairs Journal on the growth of metropolitan police networks:

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, police forces across the globe have developed new domestic and international counter-terrorism strategies, while international police agencies have likewise stepped up their efforts to combat terrorism. Because of the nature of the threat, many of these activities require greater international cooperation, leading police organizations to act more independently in relation to the dictates of the national governments of their respective states. As a result of this bureaucratic autonomy, local police forces are developing and sharing expert ‘systems of knowledge’ with fellow professionals across national boundaries.

      Granted, as Alice Hills argues, cultural and institutional gaps can frustrate attempts to spread “systems of knowledge” among global police forces. But I do believe, as Sullivan and Wirtz point out, that there is such a thing as a transnational ethos of law enforcement that can aid in the construction of global policing networks. One last point: while globalization and technology as well as forward-thinking policy has aided the rise of network policing, there is an interesting parallel to an earlier age of policing. In a chapter of Countering Terrorism and WMD, Lindsay Clutterbuck compares Al Qaeda to the anarchists who terrorized Europe and America one hundred years ago. Response was at first fragmented, but a transnational network of Western police soon sprung up to counter the anarchist threat. One of Clutterbuck’s most interesting observations was the role played by American and British liason officers who set up shop in respective foreign capitols to network with other constables and gather leads.
      Network forms of organization makes this kind of collaboration much easier and more effective than it was in the industrial age–and it’s still the best chance we have of countering transnational gangs and terrorism.

The one-day Alidade Institute seminar “New Methods in Analytical Red Teaming” is rescheduled for June 10 in Washington, DC. At the seminar, I will discuss specific ways of improving the process of red teaming using a simplified form of hypergame analysis. More information is available at the Alidade site. If you have questions regarding the seminar content, you can contact me directly at editor at redteamjournal dot com.

Are you still debating whether a career in red teaming is right for you? The May Popular Mechanics article “Ten Careers for Right Now” features a short discussion of red teaming as a potential career. We are pleased to note that Mark Mateski, Red Team Journal‘s managing editor, is cited in the article, which is now available online at the Popular Mechanics site.

Last month The New York Times published an op-ed by B.R. Myers about the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il that tacitly addresses the limits of red teaming. In the essay, Myers discusses why observers have misinterpreted the dictator and how security analysts often incorrectly link events to thoughts that in actuality are groundless. [click to continue ...]

The Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) recently released a collection of the writings of Cold War strategists Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter. Both Wohlstetters were tremendously influential in the development of security studies as a serious intellectual and practical pursuit. Albert pioneered new methods of policy analysis and challenged establishment beliefs about deterrence and nuclear strategy, and Roberta wrote a pioneering study called Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision that persuasively explained the intelligence failure that led to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Nuclear Heuristics: Selected Writings of Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter should be of use to anyone seeking to understand the development of modern strategic studies and its relation to current threats.