Whitehall Report No. 1

This Whitehall Report is the final report of the ‘Transformation of Military Operations on the Cusps’ project.

In partnership with United States Joint Forces Command, RUSI held a series of events in 2005 that arose from a shared recognition that, with a continued political strategy of projecting stability and promoting democracy overseas, US and allied armed forces, other government agencies and non-governmental agents are likely to operate with increasing frequency ‘on the cusps’ of their traditional areas of activity, institutional capabilities and conceptual and doctrinal constructs. 

This report will:

1. Provide a conceptual analysis of operations on the cusps and the implications of these operations for force transformation, as seen from a variety of departmental, international and non-governmental perspectives;
2. Provide a snapshot of the state of the debate on cusp operations at the end of 2005;
3. Recommend priorities for further study, discussion and reform in 2006 and beyond.