Analysis / Strategy

By Other Means – Part II: U.S. Priorities in the Gray Zone

— Melissa Dalton, Kathleen Hicks, Megan Donahoe, Lindsey Sheppard, Alice Hunt Friend, Michael Matlaga, Joseph P. Federici, Matthew Conklin, Joseph Kiernan

Geopolitical competition is increasingly playing out in the space beyond diplomacy and short of conventional war, sometimes referred to as the gray zone. The nature of this compe­tition is forcing the United States to confront the liabilities of its strengths. This report assesses current U.S. government actions to deter, campaign through, and respond to competitors’ gray zone tactics. Using the campaign planning framework established in By Other Means Part I, the report provides recommendations aimed at ameliorating U.S. liabilities and building on its asymmetries to improve U.S. national security in the presence of rivals’ gray zone approaches.

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Download the Executive Summary

For more CSIS analysis on gray zone approaches, visit the project web page here.

CSIS Reports are produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s). 

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Melissa Dalton, Kathleen Hicks, Megan Donahoe, Lindsey Sheppard, Alice Hunt Friend, Michael Matlaga, Joseph P. Federici, Matthew Conklin and Joseph Kiernan, "By Other Means – Part II: U.S. Priorities in the Gray Zone," Center for Strategic and International Studies, August 13, 2019, last modified August 13, 2019, https://defense360.csis.org/by-other-means-part-ii-u-s-priorities-in-the-gray-zone/.

Melissa Dalton is a senior fellow and deputy director of the CSIS International Security Program (ISP) and director of the Cooperative Defense Project (CDP). Her CDP research focuses on reinforcing the principled foundations of U.S. defense policy and military operations. She also frequently conducts research and writes on security cooperation with allies and partners and U.S. defense policy in the Middle East. Prior to CSIS, she served in a number of positions at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2007 to 2014. She most recently was a senior adviser for force planning, where she contributed to the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review and DoD’s planning guidance.

Kathleen Hicks is a senior vice president, the Henry A. Kissinger chair, and director of the International Security Program at CSIS. Prior to joining CSIS, she served as principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy and deputy under secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and forces. She focuses on U.S. national security and foreign policy, geopolitical trends, and defense matters.

Megan Donahoe was a research assistant with the International Security Program at CSIS, where she supports a variety of projects pertaining to geopolitics, U.S. security and defense matters, and gray zone competition. She holds a master’s degree in Eastern European history and a bachelor’s degree in international relations, with specializations in international security and Europe and Russia, both from Stanford University.

Lindsey Sheppard is an associate fellow with the International Security Program at CSIS, where she supports various projects in emerging technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, and in security applications, ranging from strategic to tactical. Ms. Sheppard contributes expertise in modeling and simulation, system architecture, electronic warfare, and radar from five years of experience in defense research and development. Before joining CSIS, she was a member of the technical staff at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory and the Georgia Tech Research Institute, during which time she served as the systems engineering lead on multiyear efforts building simulation capabilities to evaluate technology and deployment solutions to support military operations. She holds an MS and a BS in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Alice Hunt Friend is a senior fellow in the International Security Program at CSIS. From 2012 to 2014, she was the principal director for African affairs in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, where she focused primarily on North and West African counterterrorism policy. She joined the Department of Defense in 2009 as special assistant to the under secretary of defense for policy.

Michael Matlaga was a research associate with the International Security Program at CSIS, where he specialized in NATO and European defense policy issues. He received his master’s degree in security policy studies from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and his bachelor’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Joseph P. Federici is an associate director and associate fellow with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he works on a variety of projects pertaining to geopolitics, national security, and defense matters. Mr. Federici also assists in coordinating the CSIS Military Fellows program. He holds a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law and a B.A. in history and political science from Rutgers University. Most recently, he graduated, with distinction, from Georgetown University with an M.S. in foreign service.

Matthew Conklin was a research intern with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he provides research assistance on projects relating to national security and defense issues. He holds a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in history from Wichita State University. Following his internship at CSIS, Mr. Conklin will return to the University of Chicago to pursue a PhD in political science with a concentration in international relations.

Joseph Kiernan was a research intern with the International Security Program at CSIS.

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