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.
Below you will see a Call for Papers. 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!
Call for Papers:
Divergent Options is calling for national security papers assessing situations or discussing options related to prevailing in conflicts below the threshold of war.
For the purposes of this Call for Papers, Conflict is defined as “a serious incompatibility between two or more opinions, principles, or interests” and Below the Threshold of War is defined as “actions taken that do not require Congress (or a similar governmental organization) to declare war or issue a specific statutory authorization to introduce Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.”
To inspire potential writers, we provide the below prompts:
– Assess Country X’s capability gaps that contribute to their ineffectiveness below the threshold of war.
– Assess the psychological and organizational factors that motivate Country X to not invest in capabilities below the threshold of war.
– What options can Country X pursue to fill their capability gaps below the threshold of war?
– Country Y often prevails below the threshold of war, assess the factors that enable them do to this.
– While Country Y prevails below the threshold of war, why does this matter as far as Country X is concerned? Provide an assessment.
– What can Country X do to make Country Y fail below the threshold of war? Provide options.
– If your country is good at war, is it better to not invest in capabilities below the threshold of war and instead, ignore problems until they require a war, so your country can play to its strengths? Provide an assessment.
– If Country Y, who excels below the threshold of war, is suddenly thwarted in its efforts by Country X, will this motivate Country Y to resort to war? Provide an assessment.
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 August 13, 2021.
