Flexible Strategies for an Uncertain Future
The new strategic environment requires new US military strategies which emphasize civil-military relations and security in environments characterized by ambiguous threats, instability and uncertainty.
These strategies will be constrained by limited resources and a public intolerance for extended and indecisive military operations. Outside the US these strategies must be implemented by flexible coalitions in a dynamic community of nations more interdependent than ever before. Inside the US the military must work closely with domestic civil authorities.There will be few pure military operations in the forseeable future: most will be inter-agency, civil-military, and coalition (combined). The need for flexible strategies and capabilities was noted by the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell, who predicted a '... change from a focus on global war-fighting to a focus on regional contingencies', and that '... our new armed forces will be capabilities-oriented as well as threat-oriented'.6
Two types of strategies reminiscent of the Cold War are required for the new strategic environment: containment - defensive strategies to prevent the spread of violence, and engagement - offensive strategies to address hostile forces or conditions. The military capabilities needed to implement these strategies include combat and non-combat operations ranging from strikes and raids to nation assistance activities that promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law. These capabilities are considered operations other than war.