From the Mind to the Feet: Assessing the Perception-to-Intentto- Action Dynamic is an interagency, multidisciplinary collection of 12 essays addressing operational and academic perspectives on the elusive concept of an adversary's "intent"-its indicators and relation to behavior. It is primarily intended for the operational and policy community in the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the Department of Homeland Security, and other US government agencies. The authors are from the intelligence community, the military services, US government agencies, federally funded research and development centers, academia, and the private sector. The purpose of From the Mind to the Feet is to open a much deeper dialogue about gauging intent than currently exists either in operational or academic arenas. It is intended to serve military and civilian defense leaders, deterrence and policy planners, and practitioners with a review of the basic concepts and state-of-the-art understanding of intent. It is organized into two sections: operational and academic perspectives on intent. Air University Press.

The 12 essays in this volume examine the concept of intent in defense, security, and foreign-policy contexts. They provide operational and academic perspectives on measuring the intent of adversaries, including nation-states and nonstate actors, and understanding the relationship of intent to behavior. The essays apply the insights and methods of multiple disciplines-anthropology, psychology, political science, neuroscience, and others-to the study of intent, for which there is currently no coherent body of research. As Lt Gen Robert Elder, USAF, retired, notes, we are good at estimating an adversary's capabilities but not as good at estimating his intent. To influence an adversary's behavior, we must understand the perception-to-intent-to-action dynamic that underlies his behavior. This collection of essays, which emerged from a Department of Defense Strategic Multilayer Assessment, provides perspectives for doing so. The authors represent multiple agencies and fields of study; some are academics, and some are military subject-matter experts. Their expertise includes decision and behavioral analysis, social psychology, warfare and military strategy, political behavior, applications of neuroscience to behavioral studies, foreign policy, and antiterrorism.