The 2022 NDS aims to “strengthen U.S. deterrence” to defend the status quo against America’s adversaries. But this strategy neglects the limits of deterrence. Instead, U.S. defense strategy should embrace an expanded concept of integrated influence with a broader focus on coercion and persuasion.
The next U.S. National Defense Strategy will be about winning the strategic competition with China (and to a lesser extent, Russia). Much of this will play out short of armed conflict, in the ”gray zone” between peace and war. But trying to “win” gray zone competition is a bad idea.
The release of the next National Defense Strategy, expected in early 2022, will address the continued importance of China as a “pacing threat” even as it recognizes the “increasingly complicated and complex security landscape.” As the renewed potential for great power conflict drives strategy and plans, some have dubbed this a “new Cold War.” Letting this planning construct drive DoD’s investment program without paying attention to other kinds of potential contingencies is a bad idea.
This report assesses the Biden administration’s FY 2022 defense budget request. It outlines the priorities and potential effects of ongoing strategic reviews, tracks current congressional action on FY 2022 defense appropriations, and identifies key issues for FY 2023.
The forthcoming National Defense Strategy will likely call for reductions in day-to-day deployments to focus on China. But if the administration cannot specify the necessary tradeoffs, it must build the force necessary for continued global engagement.
As the Biden administration charts a new strategy for the Department of Defense, it will need to make difficult decisions on force structure and optimization, with real implications for readiness.
The Biden administration will shape its defense plans in the midst of the ongoing Covid-19 threat and historically large federal deficits. Seamus Daniels explores the budget landscape and potential priorities for the new Defense Department leadership.
For years, the U.S. government’s approach to prioritizing national security threats has been ad-hoc. It’s time to restructure and standardize the decisionmaking process to achieve better outcomes.
Russia has been dismissed as a declining by some policymakers and analysts who prefer to focus on competition with China. Yet Russia remains one of the most assertive and powerful states in the international system and ignoring the threat it poses is a strategic error.
The 2018 National Defense Strategy called out the “reemergence of long-term, strategic competition.” While this was a smart shift in focus, the widely used “great power competition” is the wrong term to describe this new priority.