Theoretical Perspectives Relevant to Threats from China

Theoretical Perspectives Relevant to Threats from China

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Midterm Essay (JA-5510)

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Introduction

The United States (U.S.) faces an increasingly challenging security environment, particularly from the power competition adversaries. As a result of technological developments in traditional and newer domains, China's military capabilities have undergone tremendous improvements. As informed by McCabe (2020, 19-20), while China's air force capabilities were obsolete a quarter of a century ago, the country can now be described as a modernized superpower with a massive military modernization program. Having extensively studied the American way of war, the Chinese have concentrated their systems and strategy to target its vulnerabilities (McCabe 2020, 20). While China cannot match the U.S. in terms of war experience, military spending, technology, and international partnerships, its continued growth and military modernization pose an emerging threat to the superiority of the U.S. military. As Moore (2019, 10) wrote, although the possibility of a kinetic war with a great power adversary is minimal, its possibility occupies the minds of policymakers. In the face of potential threats from China, the inputs of major airpower theorists can be employed to augment U.S. military strategy. The theoretical perspectives of Boyd, Warden, and Mitchel are discussed as relevant to meeting the current and projected security threats posed by China.

Boyd’s Theory of Strategic Paralysis

John Boyd’s theory of strategic paralysis will be integral in informing the approach of the U.S. military to the threats posed by China. According to Fadok (1995, 14), Boyd's theory advocates for warfare that is psychological and temporal in orientation as opposed to one that is physical and spatial. In this case, the goal is to undermine the enemy’s spirit and will through creating dangerous operational and strategic situations (Fadok 1995, 14). This will require the U.S. military to act faster than China's PLA to render them powerless in regards to mentally coping with rapidly unfolding events of war. In essence, the military seeks to develop and perpetuate a devastating state of affairs for the enemy while at the same time incapacitating the enemy’s ability to adapt to such a difficult environment (Fadok 1995, 14). Boyd’s theory is also characterized by four qualities necessary for successful operations: harmony, initiative, variety, and rapidity (Fadok 1995, 14-15). As per the theorist, an initiative at lower command levels allows for acting and reacting quickly, consequently minimizing friendly friction. Nonetheless, it is important that the decentralized command be guided by a centralized command to enable operational and strategic harmony. Planning attacks with various actions executed rapidly allows for the maximization of the enemy's friction (Fadok 1995, 15). With this strategy, the military can overwhelm the enemy and overload their capacity to identify and address the most threatening events.

A major feature of Boyd’s theory is the OODA loop which stands for observation, orientation, decision, and action (Fadok 1995, 16). In this case, for the