Issue Briefs
Russia: Pentagon’s Indo-Pacific Strategy Spoiler? (From RealClearDefence)
Daniel Goure
May 15th, 2021
While the U.S. military likes to talk about being in an era of great power competition, it acts like there is only one real challenger: China. The armed forces are moving to reorganize and re-equip themselves to meet the specific dictates of potential future crises and conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region. Each is seeking to stake a claim on future resources and the prominence of their roles in countering the advance of China. Unfortunately, in its rush to make China the more imminent threat, the Pentagon is downplaying the threat from Russia, the actual most likely adversary, at least in the near term. Yes, Russia is a power in secular decline, but its military power has improved significantly over the past 15 years. As a result, Moscow is poised to spoil the Pentagon’s desire to shift its focus to the Indo-Pacific. I have written a commentary for RealClearDefence here.
The views and opinions expressed in this issue brief are those of the author.
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Daniel Gouré, Ph.D., is a vice president at the public-policy research think tank Lexington Institute. Goure has a background in the public sector and U.S. federal government, most recently serving as a member of the 2001 Department of Defense Transition Team. |