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May 1, 2026
Intelligence Collection in Great Power Competition

How can new conceptual frameworks and units of measure be developed to more effectively translate intangible intelligence capabilities, like analytic production, into the Global Force Management process, especially when leveraging AI to navigate the complexities of the information environment?
May 1, 2026
JADO Command Philosophy, Distributed Headquarters, and Mission-Type Orders

How must the United States Air Force and Joint Force adapt Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) architectures and develop multi-domain mission-type orders to enable resilient, distributed headquarters and decentralized execution in highly contested, communications-denied environments?
May 1, 2026
Managing the Security Cooperation Enterprise/Coordination and Efficiency across a Decentralized and Distributed Enterprise

How can the vast and fragmented security cooperation enterprise overcome its structural complexities to achieve strategic alignment, process efficiency, and accountability by closing knowledge gaps regarding its actors, incentives, and pathways for institutional change?
May 1, 2026
Total Force and Homeland Defense

How must the military identify and mitigate vulnerabilities across defense and civilian critical infrastructure, employ Joint Force capabilities for resilience and recovery, and evaluate whether to redesign reserve components into purpose-built homeland defense forces without degrading overall total
May 1, 2026
Accelerating and Modernizing Acquisition: Emerging Technologies, Authorities, and the Defense Innovation Base

How can the Joint Force accelerate defense acquisition and reduce costs by reforming authorities, improving public-private partnerships, and leveraging emerging technologies like AI and blockchain to streamline workflows and better incentivize the commercial tech industry?
May 1, 2026
Understanding the Will to Resist and Measuring Resilience and Resistance

How can the military and Special Operations Forces effectively define, quantify, and measure a population's psychological "will to resist" using doctrinal analytical frameworks like PMESII-PT to better inform, shape, and predict future Support to Resistance and Resilience operations?
May 1, 2026
SOF Components and Joint Special Operations Command

How should the SOF service components and JSOC optimize their structures, training, and unique capabilities to effectively execute strategic competition and integrated deterrence missions, while also identifying and developing necessary new technologies and joint force integration best practices?
May 1, 2026
Special Operations Command Central: Geostrategic Shifts from Peak Oil, Emerging Sea Lanes, and the Changing Calculus of VEOs

How can we better understand and anticipate shifts in the Middle East's regional balance of power by analyzing the complex interplay of diplomatic alliances, economic developments, global energy transitions, and their potential to alter the risk-reward calculus for both state and non-state
May 1, 2026
Special Operations Command Europe: Postwar Ukraine

How must the Ukrainian military and its specialized forces transition from a total-war footing to a sustainable peacetime defense posture while retaining critical asymmetric capabilities, optimizing reserve forces, and preparing for integration into the NATO alliance?
May 1, 2026
Dependence of United States Air Force on its Allies and Partners

How must the United States Air Force assess its operational dependence on allies and partners, and how are these critical dependencies actively integrated and managed during joint concept development and experimentation?