Variable Analysis
Independent Variable One: Defense Strategies
Different articles on defense strategy and capabilities measure some common variables that comprise major themes of the topic. One of these variables includes the defense strategies and their effectiveness. Boot (2003) presents the new styles of defense which were employed by the US military to defend its territory against their enemies. This is a strategic variable and is similar to the strategies that were employed by Europe in the past to strengthen the military defense of the US as elaborated by Deni (2016). The study by Lin, Wang, & Huang (2013) also suggests the role of effective strategies in defense which forms part of the study variables. Important strategies outlined in the study include having a clear understanding of the goal of an enemy, budgeting, and an understanding of the attacker’s proficiency as the major strategies outlined by Lin, Wang, & Huang (2013).
Dependent Variable One: Outcomes of the Defense Strategies
The outcome of the new defense strategies by the US was positive. For instance, reduction of the number of military fighters was to half enabled the US government to achieve an effective organization of its military which led to the defeat of the Iranian military. The strategy employed the principle of military ratio to achieve its defensive victory (Boot, 2003). In the same way, the strategies employed by Europe in the strengthening of the US military contributed greatly to the success of America’s defense against USSR during the cold war. The role of strategy as a common variable in the studies by Boot (2003) and Deni (2016) is of great significance in determining how strategies can be used institute appropriate military defense.
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Independent Variable Two: Defense Policies
Another variable shared by the articles presented is the effectiveness of policies that govern the military defense. In the article presented by Cepik & Licks (2016) on the defense policy on in Brazil and the article by Flowers & Zeadally (2014) based on the US policy on active cyber defense strategy, there are attempts to explore the variable on how policies contribute to the effectiveness of military defense. Both articles recognize that the role of government policies is paramount in determining the success particular defense strategies.
Dependent Variable Two: Outcomes of Defense Policies
The outcome of the second variable that details the role of policies in enhancing the effectiveness of military defense in the studies by Cepik & Licks (2016) and Flowers & Zeadally (2014) was also positive. The defense policies by Cepik & Bertol (2016) clearly stipulates the goals on which military defense should be based in order to organize a successful defensive attack. These goals are sustainability of both regional and international multi-lateral security commitments, dissuading aggression to defend the national population, national territory resources and national interests and the third one is attending to additional missions provided by the military forces constitution (Cepik & Licks, 2016). These goals coincide with the core principles outlined by the US policy on cyber attacks which include security, disruption, flexibility and mass.
Qualitative Nature of the Studies
All the above studies tend to be qualitative in nature. This is because they involve extensive narrative data that focuses on a few samples in which the above described variables are clearly described in detail. Mostly, the studies can be described as case studies. For each of the above studies, the details provided are based on the in-depth examination of important variables within the specific countries. There is no comparison between the variable of defense strategies and defense policies across different countries, which is usually the case in qualitative studies. Description of these variables in a country-specific manner shows that the articles are based on case studies.
There is also an attempt to make in-depth analysis of the participants and their contexts. For instance, in the description of the new American way of war, there is a detailed description of the contexts in which the strategies were being launched such as the place, time and events that precede launching of the strategies (Boot, 2003).
As an additional feature of qualitative studies, the authors are subjective in making their judgment about their findings and stating their conclusions. Their attitudes and opinions are reflected in the studies
Although the studies are diverse, they are good to be used as representatives. This is because they focus on strategies and policies that were adopted in different countries which have remained consistent despite the differences in geographical, demographic, economic and other factors. Additionally, the diversity in the studies offers an understanding of the truths that underlie major variables under investigation.
Apart from independent and dependent variables in the articles, there is need to incorporate other intervening variables such as the kind of alliances that were formed by countries to facilitate the adoption of strategies and policies discussed above. This is because formation of alliances aid in the strengthening of a country’s military capacity, thus increasing chances of effective defense. Without intervening variables, it is difficult to accurately determine the effectiveness of independent and dependent variables.
Validity and Generalization of the Studies
The studies that measure the effectiveness of the defense strategy and capabilities are valid. This is because the representative data can easily be applied and generalized to other similar phenomena. There is a concept of construct validity since the measures proposed are similar to the proposed measures. There is evidence of both internal validity and external validity since the analysis given is perfectly justifiable and it informs our understanding of external contexts that are not part of the studies. The analysis can also therefore be generalized to other contexts.
Conclusion
There are two major independent variables common among the articles used in this study. These variables include the strategies and policies used to achieve effective defense strategy and capabilities. Each of these variables has dependent variables that are both based on the outcomes of instituting independent variables. However, there are no intervening variables in the studies. The studies are qualitative in nature since they involve extensive description of information that is country –specific, which qualifies them to be considered as case studies. Generally, the studies are valid and generalizable. They can effectively be used to represent similar phenomena outside their specific contexts.
References
Boot, M. (2003). The new American way of war. Foreign Affairs , 1(1), 41-58.
Cepik, M., & Licks Bertol, F. (2016). Defense policy in Brazil: bridging the gap between ends and means?. Defence Studies , 16 (3), 229-247.
Deni, J. R. (2016). Still the One?The Role of Europe in American Defense Strategy. Orbis , 60 (1), 36-51.
Flowers, A., &Zeadally, S. (2014). US policy on active cyber defense. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management , 11 (2), 289-308.
Lin, F. Y. S., Wang, Y. S., & Huang, M. Y. (2013). Effective proactive and reactive defense strategies against malicious attacks in a virtualized honeynet. Journal of Applied Mathematics , 1(1), 2013 .
