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Background:
Divergent Options is a non-politically aligned non-revenue generating national security website that, in 1,000 words or less, provides unbiased, dispassionate, candid articles that assess a national security situation, present multiple options to address the situation, and articulate the risk and gain of each option. Please note that while we assess a national security situation and may provide options, we never recommend a specific option.
Call for Papers:
Divergent Options is calling for national security papers assessing situations or discussing options related to countries choosing to pivot their focus away from one issue and towards another. We are also interested in national security papers assessing situations or discussing options related to new threats that countries may be facing.
Please limit your article to 1,000 words and write using our Options Paper or Assessment Paper templates which are designed for ease of use by both writers and readers alike.
Please send your article to submissions@divergentoptions.org by February 8, 2019.
If you are not interested in writing on this topic, we always welcome individual articles on virtually any national security situation an author is passionate about. Please do not let our call for papers cause you to hesitate to send us your idea. We look forward to hearing from you!
To inspire potential writers we offer the following writing prompts:
– Did U.S. President Barack Obama’s “Pivot to the Pacific” or “Rebalancing Towards Asia” succeed? Provide an assessment.
– What options does the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have as the U.S. pivots away from Syria?
– As the U.S. pivots away from Afghanistan, what options exist for the Afghan Government? What options exist for the Afghan Taliban?
– What threats are posed by the continued evolution of hypersonic technology? Provide an assessment.
– Artificial intelligence is rising. What threat does it pose? Provide an assessment.
– Assess the next threat that countries effected by the Arab Spring will face.
– Assess China’s efforts globally. Do they represent a pivot? If so, what are they pivoting toward and what is the impact? When did this pivot begin?
– What are the next threats to emerge in Central America or South America? Provide an assessment.
– Does any country need to pivot towards addressing organized crime? Provide an assessment.
– Will U.S. President Donald Trump’s pivot away from Syria and Afghanistan succeed? Provide an assessment.
– As Britain pivots away from the European Union, what options does it have to maintain its status in the world?
– Is Russia pivoting away from Soviet-era tactics and towards something else? Provide an assessment.
– What country is pivoting towards cyber warfare above all others? Provide an assessment.
– Assess the U.S. pivot away from the Global War on Terrorism. While this may happen, will it make more terrorists pivot towards the U.S.?
Our partners at the The Conflict Studies and Analysis Project at the The Global Initiative for Civil Stabilisation offer the following prompts:
– Assess the potential use / misuse of Artificial Intelligence in future war crimes /crimes against humanity investigations.
– What options exist to reduce Chinese dominance of cellular, internet, and other network infrastructure in poorer countries?
– Assess the use of loans by China to curtail the sovereignty of African States. This assessment can also be done within the context of U.S.-China Competition.