Great Power Use of Lawfare: Is the Joint Force Prepared?

The joint force is in a period of introspection, realizing, after 2 decades of counterinsurgency operations, that it has lost its monopoly on power. When military professionals and scholars discuss the ways the character of war has changed, they focus most on the blurring of traditional elements of conflict--that is, the gray zone. US adversaries have become increasingly adept over the past quarter- century at achieving their goals in a manner that is deliberately designed to remain below the threshold of conventional military conflict and open interstate war. One such method, the use of lawfare, involves using law as a weapon to achieve a particular objective. The application of law as a means and method of war is not new. However, in today's era of Great Power competition, Russia and China expertly combine lawfare with information operations, while the US Government, possessing substantial capacity, has no overarching lawfare strategy. Here, Schiffman offers a primer on the topic of lawfare, discusses its use by Russia, China, and the US, and finally, reviews ways in which senior leaders must respond with changes to the organization of legal capabilities.