Four Battlegrounds
Paul Scharre's Four Battlegrounds provides a timely examination of the global race for artificial intelligence dominance. Scharre illustrates the transformative impact of AI on warfare and global security, arguing that understanding these dynamics is essential for ensuring national security in the 21st century. As the Air Force continues to rebuild to remain the most lethal and ready force in the world, a thorough understanding of emerging AI capabilities will be essential for Airmen at every level.

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, by Paul Kennedy, first published in 1987, examines the political and economic trajectories of the Great Powers from 1500 to 1980, analyzing the factors behind their ascendancy and eventual decline. The book also offers projections on the future roles of China, Japan, the European Economic Community (EEC), the Soviet Union, and the United States leading up to the end of the 20th century.

Why Air Forces Fail: The Anatomy of Defeat

Why Air Forces Fail examines the complex, often deep-seated, reasons for the catastrophic failures of the air forces of various nations. Higham and Harris divide the air forces into three categories of forces that never had a chance to win, such as Poland and France; forces that started out victorious but were ultimately defeated, such as Germany and Japan; and finally, those that were defeated in their early efforts yet rose to victory, such as the air forces of Britain and the United States. In all cases, the failures stemmed from deep, usually prewar factors that were shaped by the political, economic, military, and social circumstances in the countries.

Made to Stick
In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the human scale principle, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating curiosity gaps.

Leading Change

Describes the key qualities managers must have to make their companies stronger in a changing market, and discusses the most common mistakes managers make in trying to change their companie

Defender of the Republic

The extraordinary career of George Catlett Marshall, America’s most distinguished soldier and statesman since George Washington, whose selfless leadership and moral character influenced the course of two world wars and helped define the American century.

Generations

Professor of psychology and "reigning expert on generational change" (Lisa Wade, PhD, author of American Hookup), Jean Twenge does a deep dive into a treasure trove of long-running, government-funded surveys and databases to answer these questions. With her clear-eyed and insightful voice, Twenge explores what the Silents and Boomers want out of the rest of their lives; how Gen X-ers are facing middle age; the ideals of Millennials as parents and in the workplace; and how Gen Z has been changed by COVID, among other fascinating topics.

Masters of the Air

Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler's doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes you on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people. 

Chinese Lessons from the Pacific War

Senior Fellow Toshi Yoshihara surveys Chinese histories of the Pacific War to discern lessons that mainland analysts have drawn from the ocean-spanning struggle. He examines the extensive Chinese-language literature on the great battles at Midway, Guadalcanal, and Okinawa and pinpoints the operational insights that Chinese strategists have gleaned from them. The selected campaigns involved warfighting that will feature prominently in a future Sino-American conflict: carrier air warfare, contested amphibious landings, expeditionary logistics, and electronic warfare.

One Mission

In Team of Teams, retired four-star General Stanley McChrystal and former Navy SEAL Chris Fussell made the case for a new organizational model combining the agility, adaptability, and cohesion of a small team with the power and resources of a giant organization. Now, in One Mission, Fussell channels all his experiences, both military and corpo-rate, into powerful strategies for unifying isolated and distrustful teams. This practical guide will help leaders in any field implement the Team of Teams approach to tear down their silos improve collaboration, and avoid turf wars. By committing to one higher mission, organizations develop an overall capability that far exceeds the sum of their parts.

Analogies at War

From World War I to Operation Desert Storm, American policymakers have repeatedly invoked the "lessons of history" as they contemplated taking their nation to war. Do these historical analogies actually shape policy, or are they primarily tools of political justifica-tion? Yuen Foong Khong argues that leaders use analogies not merely to justify policies but also to perform specific cognitive and information-processing tasks essential to political decision-making. Khong identifies what these tasks are and shows how they can be used to explain the U.S. decision to intervene in Vietnam. Relying on interviews with senior officials and on recently declassified doc-uments, the author demonstrates with a precision not attained by previous studies that the three most important analogies of the Vietnam era - Korea, Munich, and Dien Bien Phu - can account for America's Vietnam choices. A special contribution is the author's use of cognitive social psychology to support his argument about how humans analogize and to explain why policymakers often use analogies poorly.

Exploring the Implications of Precise Mass
The Net Assessment’s Exploring the Implications of Precise Mass podcast tackles the challenge of force design in an age of constrained resources. By exploring the need to balance high-end systems with more affordable options, the podcast offers insights for how we will need to think about shaping the future force. This examination is key for challenging assumptions, fostering innovation, and making informed decisions in a rapidly changing threat environment. 

The Foundation of Exceptional Leadership
The Foundation of Exceptional Leadership lies in leading the person in the mirror because it emphasizes the critical role of self-awareness and personal integrity as the starting point for effective leadership; essentially, before you can lead others, you must first lead yourself by managing your character, values, and behaviors to ensure authenticity and consistency in your actions.

Conflict Occurs When Debate Fails

Debate is a form of conflict that is played out through words, arguments, civility, and the capability to exchange ideas with people we disagree with. But what happens when debate fails — and what leads leaders and countries to fall into conflict?

Unveiling the Motivation Vacuum in the Workplace

If a leader does not provide employees with a primary motivation, something else will fill that gap.  In this At the Table episode, Patrick Lencioni and the team discuss alignment around clarity and the difference between micro and macro motivations.

China’s Approach to AI

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, we are joined by Mr. Gregory C. Allen to discuss artificial intelligence (AI), China’s thinking on AI technology, and U.S.-China competition in this realm. Mr. Allen explains that over the last decade, the approach to AI technology has greatly shifted with a new emphasis on machine learning. He describes the steps of the AI value chain and how different stages are more computationally intensive than others. He assesses that China has responded to U.S. export controls on certain advanced computing chips to China through several measures, including foreign technology acquisition and restriction evasion. However, Mr. Allen points out that chip making equipment is central to AI technology, and China does not yet possess this capability. Lastly, he reveals that the Chinese military views AI capabilities as foundational to China’s economic and military power.

Master of Change: Episode #542: How To Excel When Everything Is Changing (Including You)

Brad Stulberg researches, writes, and coaches on mental health, well-being, and sustainable excellence. He is the bestselling author of The Practice of Groundedness and Master of Change. He regularly contributes to the New York Times and his work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and the Atlantic, among other outlets. He is on the faculty at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.

Deepening China-Russia Partnership

The Center for a New American Security's Deepening China-Russia Partnership provides in-depth analysis of their growing collaboration and its impact on East Asia. The report explores the growing military, economic, and diplomatic alignment between the two authoritarian powers, highlighting the implications for regional flashpoints like Taiwan and the South China Sea. Understanding the motivations and consequences of this authoritarian partnership will aid Airmen as we continue to develop effective strategies that safeguard US interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

Understanding the Military AI Ecosystem of Ukraine
Understanding the Military AI Ecosystem of Ukraine, the first in a series on military artificial intelligence (AI) development and its role in the war, examines two key aspects of AI adoption in Ukraine’s military. It explores the factors shaping military AI development since the conflict with Russia began in 2014 and highlights the government institutions and initiatives driving AI integration, offering an overview of their major efforts to enhance Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

Embracing Gen AI at Work
This article describes the three kinds of “fusion skills” you need to get the best results from gen AI. Intelligent interrogation involves instructing large language models to perform in ways that generate better outcomes—by, say, breaking processes down into steps or visualizing multiple potential paths to a solution.

Evolution not Revolution: Drone Warfare in Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine

This report is part of a larger project exploring how drones are affecting great-power competition and a potential future war between the United States and China. It focuses on lessons learned from drone operations in Ukraine.