Defending Without Dominance
Accelerating the Transition to a New U.S. Defense Strategy
Expert InsightsPublished Sep 28, 2023
This Perspective examines the gap between U.S. defense aspirations and the reality of current policy. In this Perspective, the author surveys grand strategy principles that call for a U.S. ability to project power to help deter major war in key regions, defines the U.S. defense strategic approach of the post–Cold War era and its key assumptions, and explains the reasons why these assumptions are no longer valid. The author suggests six leading barriers to reform—reasons why the U.S. Department of Defense’s responses have been unable to generate the degree of change required. The Perspective concludes with a description of principles of a new U.S. defense strategy.
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Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Web-Only
- Year: 2023
- Pages: 48
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/PEA2555-1
- Document Number: PE-A2555-1
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Mazarr, Michael J., Defending Without Dominance: Accelerating the Transition to a New U.S. Defense Strategy, RAND Corporation, PE-A2555-1, September 2023. As of October 10, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2555-1.html
Mazarr, Michael J., Defending Without Dominance: Accelerating the Transition to a New U.S. Defense Strategy. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2023. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2555-1.html.
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This Perspective was sponsored by the Smith Richardson Foundation and conducted within the International Security and Defense Policy Program of the RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD).
This publication is part of the RAND expert insights series. The expert insights series presents perspectives on timely policy issues.
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