United States
Australia
United Kingdom
Europe
New Zealand
Canada
JOINT BASE ANACOSTIA-BOLLING — The Defense Intelligence Agency has released Analyzing Will to Fight, a framework intended to help the intelligence community assess combatants’ “will to fight” across the spectrum of conflict. The unclassified guidance, issued Sept. 30, 2026, outlines how analysts can incorporate leadership, military culture and innovation into broader assessments of military capability.
DIA positions the document within its core mission of capabilities analysis, which asks: “What mission(s) can the force accomplish in a given set of circumstances?” The 2026 edition is the second iteration of the agency’s unclassified analytic guidance on the topic. According to the agency, the framework enables analysts to determine deliberately whether will to fight is a principal driver of an actor’s ability to achieve objectives, alongside other military capability factors.
The guidance stresses adherence to Intelligence Community Directive 203 Analytic Standards, emphasizing well-reasoned arguments supported by observable evidence. It is designed to apply from peacetime through armed conflict and to support both snapshot assessments and forward-looking analysis.
Although crafted for intelligence community use, Analyzing Will to Fight is part of DIA’s ongoing series of unclassified, foundational overviews intended to give the public a deeper understanding of key challenges and functional threats to U.S. national security.
