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Τhe character of war is undergoing a seismic transformation driven by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), autonomy, and quantum-enabled capabilities. Meanwhile, the United States Department of War (DOW) faces a well-documented crisis of speed and innovation in its acquisition system. Decades of peacetime optimization and bureaucratic layering have yielded a process that is “too slow to be competitive and is only incrementally innovative.”

Warfighting communities provide officers with the necessary skills to operate weapon systems and cultivate their experience to lead in combat, but once junior officers are promoted to higher ranks, they often lack the abilities required of senior national security professionals. Joint professional military education (JPME) plays a deliberate and pivotal role in an officer’s operational and strategic growth.

Τhe decisive ground of tomorrow’s wars will not be a hilltop, a seaport, or outer space; it will be within the human mind. Victory will belong to forces that can rapidly discern truth from deception. Adversaries across the world weaponize information to fracture alliances and erode unit cohesion.

Αrtificial intelligence (AI) technologies have reached a tipping point after decades of development.

Secretary Hegseth has rightly tasked the nation’s military to refocus on its core and most essential function—fighting and winning our nation’s wars.

Effective July 1, 2026, the National Intelligence College (NIC) officially joins the National Defense University (NDU) as the university's sixth college.

At 32 years and now 119 issues, Joint Force Quarterly has had over 40 people involved in making the magic happen. As great as JFQ has become, two significant events will undoubtably change how this journal is produced and delivered. Primarily because of changes in the media environment at large and the budgetary pressures across government, National Defense University (NDU) Press will be significantly reducing the available print copies of JFQ beginning with the next edition, JFQ 120, due after the New Year. And after 25 years of brilliant service, longtime Executive Editor Dr. Jeffrey Smotherman has retired.

The military and economic dominance of the United States in the post-Soviet era compelled adversaries to shift their strategies away from largescale conventional warfare. Instead, they have increasingly focused on contesting American decisionmaking through cognitive warfare, leveraging psychological, informational, and technological domains to erode strategic advantage. Unlike traditional warfare, cognitive warfare shapes how individuals and organizations perceive reality, evaluate choices, and act on information.