Effects-based operations: A grand challenge for the analytical community

Effects-based operations (EBO) are defined for this monograph as operations conceived and planned in a systems framework that considers the full range of direct, indirect, and cascading effects – effects that may, with different degrees of probability, be achieved by the application of military, diplomatic, psychological, and economic instruments. The monograph suggests principles for sharpening discussions of EBO, for increasing the rigor of those discussions, and for building the key ideas of EBO into analysis for defense planning, experimentation, and operations planning. It then illustrates the principles with explicit models. Finally, it sketches a possible research program to enrich the base for studying and practising EBO.