The Temporal Dimension of Defending Forward: to organize and innovate to achieve US Cyber Command’s new vision
By Alan Mears, Joe Mariani
| March 23, 2020
The 2018 DoD Defense Strategy seeks to deter and defeat adversaries through a policy of forward engagement.[1] The Strategy and the related USCYBERCOM Vision mark a significant change in how the US intends to contest the emerging complexity of cyberspace in an environment where the rules will be more restrictive for the US and its allies than those of adversaries. Recognizing an ingrained military culture of geographically driven maneuver warfare, it will be important that USCYBERCOM considers the temporal as well as the spatial elements required to defend forward. A combination of timely, better and more coherent-decision making across a pan-government and industry ecosystem must exploit rather than attempt to control chaos; the effective adoption and application of decisive innovative capabilities will be a related essential element of this strategy. Through a UK lens, this paper considers the temporal implications of a strategy of Defending Forward.
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