Reflections on Net Assessment

by Andrew W. Marshall, Jeffrey S. McKitrick (Editor), Robert G. Angevine (Editor)

Overview

Andrew W. Marshall founded the discipline and the office of net assessment. As Director, Net Assessment, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1973 to 2015, Marshall advised eight successive presidents and thirteen secretaries of defense. He developed new analytic perspectives and techniques for analyzing long-term strategic competition and for understanding potential shifts in the future security environment. Under Marshall's direction, the Office of Net Assessment accurately diagnosed the weakness of the Soviet Union years before its collapse, highlighted the potential implications of precision weaponry, pandemic disease, and environmental change, and anticipated China's emergence as a strategic rival to the United States. Before joining the government, Marshall worked for the RAND Corporation, where he formulated his initial thoughts on strategic competition while focusing on nuclear strategy and the Soviet Union.

Reflections on Net Assessment captures Marshall's thoughts on the creation and evolution of net assessment (the practice and the office) in his own words. The book is an edited version of a series of twelve interviews of Marshall conducted from 1993 to 1999 covering the years from 1950 to 1994. It is a first-hand account of the development of not only net assessment, but also of American strategic thought and the U.S. defense establishment. The intent is to get the thoughts of the father of net assessment into the hands of current and future practitioners and strategists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780578384221
Publisher:	Institute for Defense Analyses
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Pages:	332
Sales rank:	118,732
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey S. McKitrick is a Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses. He served as a Military Assistant to the Director, Net Assessment, from 1985 to 1989, as Military Advisor to the Vice President from 1989 to 1992, and as Special Assistant to the Vice President from 1992 to 1993.

Robert G. Angevine is a Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses. He has worked as a contractor for the Office of Net Assessment for more than 25 years, and has written extensively on military history and strategy.

Editorial Reviews

Andy Marshall was one of the 20th century's most important strategic thinkers. This
wonderful book provides a unique window into his way of looking at things.

Author of Good Strategy/Bad Strategy - Richard Rumelt

Reflections on Net Assessment offers readers priceless insights into the mind of
Andrew Marshall, one of America's foremost strategic thinkers of the past century.
Senior security policymakers can heed Marshall's words—or learn the hard way.

Author of The Last Warrior: Andrew Marshall and the Shaping of Modern American Defense Strategy - Andrew Krepinevich

Readers will gain more than they realize from this work of very good editors. Readers will gain an understanding of the ways potential opponents thought, how Marshall thought about the potential opponents' abilities, and the too-often inadequate U.S. understanding of what was going on between the major powers. Lastly, readers will note that Marshall, whose preparation for the interviews was to develop his thoughts on handwritten notes, was clearly in charge.

20th Secretary of the Air Force - James G. Roche

This is a must read for those trying to understand how one person could have such a profound impact on the most important national security decisions of our time. Andrew Marshall had a reputation for being one of the quiet influencers in the halls of the Pentagon...this manuscript gives us a look into his thinking in his own voice. This book breaks the silence that was characteristic of Andrew Marshall's tenure in the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment.

10th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Paul J. Selva

As a mentor to his contemporaries, Andrew Marshall endorsed asking good questions to complex issues over finding brilliant answers to simple questions. After exposure to the breadth and caliber of his thought through these fascinating interviews, readers will be left asking better questions—and drawing upon Marshall in their attempts to answer them.

56th Secretary of State - Henry Kissinger