The following two articles were written during and immediately after the war in Kosovo. The first is an adaptation of an earlier work written after a trip to Asia in 1998. In that essay, the author suggested that foreign militaries were beginning to perceive our fixation on a firepower-centered way of war as an exploitable weakness. In fact, some states, armed with experience gained against us in real war, had already begun to evolve a doctrine to counter our superiority in precision. These potential adversaries concluded that dispersion, deception, patience and a willingness to absorb punishment offered them the means to endure precision strike long enough to outlast a technologically superior foe. The "From Korea to Kosovo" article was written after a visit to Albania in May 1999. There the author developed the central thesis for this essay: In wars of limited liability, success must be gained with a limited expenditure of means. A brief review of recent history tells us that we have been practically learning this lesson in real wars for half a century, beginning with Korea. The imperative to prepare for a full-scale war against the Soviets, however, has effectively impeded our ability to embed this lesson into our warfighting doctrine. Kosovo is a wake-up call. This article concludes with a maneuver warfare concept for this new era of limited liability wars in the Precision Age. This Issue Paper has been developed to provide some insights into the possible course of future limited wars and to suggest how we should fight them.

Cover title. "Date 1999" "Adaptive enemies..." has been accepted for publication by Joint Forces Quarterly, Issue Number 23, Fall 1999, and a modified version of "From Korea to Kosovo..." has been accepted for publication by Armed Forces Journal International.

Adaptive enemies: achieving victory by avoiding defeat. The Chinese civil war -- For China to Korea -- From Korea to Vietnam -- From Vietnam to Afghanistan -- Israel and the Middle East -- Operation Desert Storm -- NATO and Kosovo -- Implications for the future -- Early signals of change -- The information age is neutral -- Defeating the adaptive enemy / From Korea to Kosovo: how America's army has learned to fight limited wars in the precision age. Geostrategy -- Technology -- Domestic politics -- Limited war precedents: Korea to Vietnam -- Post Cold War precedents -- Strategic -- Operational -- Tactical - Finding the balance -- A cautionary conclusion.