W. Scott Pinkstaff and John Nagl
While the character of war constantly changes, its nature does not. Violence, uncertainty and the human cost of war remain constant. However, who we expect to fight, where we expect to fight, and the pace of war at which we expect to fight have changed dramatically.
For the last 20 years, America fought wars of choice in Iraq and Afghanistan. We enjoyed air supremacy, uncontested logistics and secure bases. Most of all, we had time to conduct war at the pace we wanted to fight. That era is over.
After decades of counterinsurgency against terrorist groups in the Middle East, great power competition has reemerged as our primary threat and the principal driver of American strategy. Russia’s war in Ukraine exposed old assumptions. China has been deliberately building its military forces while we were focused on counterinsurgency. The uncomfortable reality is this: The United States no longer has the luxury of fighting slow wars with guaranteed dominance.
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