RESET: IMPLEMENTING A DYNAMIC MIXED-MOTIVES FRAMEWORK FOR STRATEGIC COMPETITION

Abstract

This capstone explores how the U.S. military can better understand and execute an effective role in strategic competition. Specifically, this report analyzes how specialized irregular warfare (IW) activities may play a role in this shift by framing such activities within a dynamic mixed-motives (DMM) (maintaining favorable equilibrium) framework. Structuring competitive activities within this framework is necessary to accommodate the current strategic landscape of an economically interdependent peer competitor with which there is a need for coexistence. Failure to develop strategies based on a DMM framework creates unnecessary risks of escalation and will forego many potential gains for the nation. Alternatively, DMM strategies could enable the U.S. to maintain an equilibrium while optimizing gains and preventing conflict. An opportunity exists for implementing DMM strategies through the development of an analytical framework and process that synchronizes military planners (the customer) and the resourcing organization (the provider) for conducting specialized IW activities. Beyond simply advocating for the DMM framework, this report offers the Requirements Selection and Enabling Tool (ReSET) as a mechanism to be used by the customers and provider to ease the planning of these activities. ReSET is a lean and intuitive application that provides all users with the knowledge necessary to plan within any logical framework in order to optimize IW efforts across the globe.