News

Washington, D.C. March 9, 2010

The deadline for submission to Defense Concepts has been extended to March 16, 2010. Defense Concepts has been indexed in the International Relations and Security Network and the Russian and Eurasian Security Network. It has received attention from the Stanley Foundation, Defense Industry Daily, the Energy Conversation, the DoD Energy Blog, the Arabic Translation and Intercultural Dialogue Association, the Small Wars Journal, the Association of Old Crows, and numerous other research institutions and foundations.

Defense Concepts includes informative, provocative and comprehensive essays and reports on all aspects of contemporary security issues. Some of articles featured address traditional topics, like military strategy or diplomatic history, but offer innovative perspectives. Others tackle issues of growing importance, such as the environmental and demographic challenges associated with climate change and or the emergence of global terrorist networks, that have not been as salient in the media in previous years.

Palm Beach Gardens, FL, February 26, 2010

The Center for Advanced Defense Studies is co-sponsoring the upcoming International Law Enforcement/Military Symposium to be held on Friday February 26, 2010 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Two CADS associates are among the five guest speakers who will address post-deployment issues for law enforcement organizations at the event. Dr. Newton Howard, the founder and Chairman of the Board and Dr. Mathieu Guidere, Senior Fellow will discuss ongoing efforts to protect the health and well-being of those returning from combat. Other speakers include Dr. Louis M. French from the Walter Read Army Medical Center, Dr. John Violanti from the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at the State University of New York at Buffalo and Barbara O’Reilly who serves as Chief of Deployment Cycle Support and the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program for the Minnesota National Guard.

Washington, DC, January 2010

The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (CADS) is pleased to announce the publication of the Winter issue of Defense Concepts, our academic journal, featuring insightful writing on the most significant international trends and events of our times. Through this publication, CADS disseminates research in the fields of information science, cognitive studies, military science, counterterrorism, and other topics pertaining to global security to our partners in academia, government and industry. As an interdisciplinary publication that incorporates articles by authors with diverse backgrounds and experiences, Defense Concepts provides scholars, scientists, executives, and government officials with a forum for a serious discussion of questions of international interest. The articles featured in this journal include analyses of continuously evolving threats, assessments of government policies and programs, and reflections on national strategy. These interpretations contribute to lively debate regarding global security and reflect CADS’ commitment to Innovation for Peace.

Cambridge, MA, December 10, 2009

Dr. Newton Howard, Chairman of the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, is leading a project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Artificial Intelligence. This work flows directly from work done at the Center in the field of Cognitive Informatics as part the Intention Awareness initiative since 2000. In conjunction with the Centre de Recherche en Informatique at the University of Paris 1- Sorbonne, Dr. Howard’s program at CADS resulted in better modeling of intentionality in complex systems, with applications in intent-oriented process design and adaptive rationality. This work continues to be an essential part of the Center’s approach to the global challenge of persistent conflict and clashes of perspective.

With an initial $5 million seed and a five-year timetable, the Mind Machine Project , or MMP, is a loosely bound collaboration of about two dozen professors, researchers, students and postdocs. Neil Gershenfeld, one of the leaders of MMP and director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms , notes that the project will revisit 30 years of fundamental assumptions that may have limited the ability of the field of Artificial Intelligence to achieve its early promise.

Washington, DC, November 19, 2009

Chris Mason, Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (CADS), was published in the November-December issue of Military Review. His article, “ Refighting the Last War: Afghanistan and the Vietnam Template ”, presents an analysis of the parallels between the two wars and suggests a revaluation of United States operations in Afghanistan. Mason describes the critical pitfalls of the United States military in the Vietnam War and points to the similarities between our tactics then and in Afghanistan now. Establishing “legitimacy of governance” as the fundamental catalyst to any measurable change, Mason shows that forcing a democratic system on a people with no tradition of western-style democracy is unlikely to yield productive results.

Drawing on historical precedents from the Soviet and British campaigns in Afghanistan as well as the United States experience in Vietnam, Mason discredits the possibility that Afghanistan can be won through a war of attrition. Instead, he advises a bottom up approach that replaces conventional United States troops with small, locally based district teams who could assist with immediate development needs and work within tribal power structures. This method would offset the need to deploy large contingents of soldiers, restore legitimacy to local leaders and prevent unnecessary loss of life- hallmark of a haphazard and outdated United States war model.