TOPIC SPONSOR: AF Futures
What is the relationship between interoperability, interdependence, and integration in combined operations with allies and partners? Analyze the relationship between interoperability, interdependence, and integration in combined operations with allies and partners.
- Biles, Maj. Megan, "Mirror, Mirror On the Wall: The Ends, Ways & Means of Partner & Ally Integration," SAASS thesis, 2023, 87 pgs.
- Larson, Stephen M., "Integrated by Necessity: Understanding the United States-Japan Defense Relationship," SAASS thesis, 2025, 102 pgs.
- Larson answers this by evaluating the historical evolution of the United States military and Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) defense relationship. He argues that increased interoperability and integration serve as a critical "force multiplier" for two otherwise limited forces. Through his longitudinal analysis of the US-Japan alliance, Larson demonstrates that as physical force sizes are reduced—such as the reduction of US forces in Japan during the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) and the downsizing of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force—the two nations became increasingly interdependent. He concludes that this mutual reliance fundamentally alters the relationship between interoperability and integration, transforming combined military integration from a strategic choice into an absolute operational necessity.
- Rizvi, Capt. Natasha, "Improving AM&E in the Security Cooperation Field," AUAR SOS, 2020, 10 pgs.