In honor of Armed Forces Day & #AAPIHeritageMonth, we are proud to highlight Arnel P. David, Filipino American father, coeditor of Warrior Diplomats, and coauthor of Military Strategy in the 21st Century. Arnel P. David is a colonel in the US Army and a PhD student at King’s College London. He has a mix of conventional and special operations assignments with six combat tours of duty in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Pacific. He holds masters’ degrees from the University of Oklahoma and the US Army Command and General Staff College Local Dynamics of War Scholar Program. He is coauthor of Warrior Diplomats: Civil Affairs Forces on the Front Lines and Military Strategy in the 21st Century: People, Connectivity, and Competition. Colonel David is also on the advisory board of the Cambria Rapid Communications in Conflict and Security Series, headed by Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken.
Warrior Diplomats: Civil Affairs Forces on the Front Lines edited by Arnel David, Sean Acosta, and Nicholas Krohley
“I have learned from experience, in numerous military operations, that Civil Affairs forces are critical to success. They are the nation’s only deployable force trained to understand societal issues and to coordinate with civilian agencies in order to ensure seamless cooperation in achieving our strategic objectives. This book has big ideas to employ them more effectively. It is a must read for all commanders.” —General Anthony C. Zinni, US Marine Corps (ret.)
“This is a must-read. Technological innovation is reaching new heights with weapons and systems of war. But technology will not save us if we do not understand humanity, both to prevent wars and to prevail in them. Civil Affairs marines and soldiers are the long-underappreciated people-to-people capability, who will be key to success on any future battlefield.” —Brigadier General Valerie Jackson, Deputy Commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa
“The need to consolidate battlefield gains remains. Despite changes to the character of war and conflict, we will always need practitioners on the ground to make sense of the environment to inform better decisions and to secure victory. Warrior Diplomats is a masterful work combining academic scholarship and accounts from the field.” —Dr. Nadia Schadlow, author of War and the Art of Governance
Military Strategy in the 21st Century: People, Connectivity, and Competition by Charles Cleveland, Benjamin Jensen, Susan Bryant, and Arnel David
“As the authors explain, if we had taken this network analysis approach used for targeting the Taliban and applied it to our understanding of the relationship and dependencies between our partner governments, we would have been in a much better position to react to, and in some cases have been able to predict, many of the issues that became apparent. […] Military Strategy in the 21st Century bridges a gap, taking the conceptual and sometimes impenetrable debate about the direction that Western forces should be heading, into a practical and logical assessment of what that could and probably should look like.” —Wavell Room: Contemporary British Military Thought
“In Military Strategy for the 21st Century: People, Connectivity, and Influence, four authors who have devoted their careers to the security of the United States share their thoughts about the evolving character of war in an increasingly interconnected, networked world—and suggest innovations that will make us safer and more capable. Highly recommended.” —John Nagl, author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife and Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War
“In Military Strategy for the 21st Century, Army veterans and scholars offer a fresh approach to strategic and operational art rooted in increased connectivity and mastery of a new domain of competition—the critical human domain. A unique blend of experience and reflection, highly recommended to anyone interested in being successful in 21st-century conflict.” —F. G. Hoffman, author of Mars Adapting: Learning in War
“This book most certainly drives home the point that conflict is about the humans in competition, not just the weapons used to fight. For those planning and strategizing for the burgeoning great power competition, Military Strategy in the 21st Century would be a worthy read to ensure that hard-fought lessons learned since World War II are not forgotten for the future.” —Strategic Studies Quarterly
*Both books are in the Rapid Communications in Conflict and Security (RCCS) Series (General Editor: Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken; Founding Editor: Dr. Geoffrey R. H. Burn).