Adapting US Defense Strategy to Great-Power Competition

American defense strategy must shift to face the challenges of the new era of great-power competition. This article outlines the trade-offs involved among competing priorities and regions and proposes five strategic pillars to guide the development of a US military strategy, doctrine, and force structure optimized for the needs of the great-power competition era. Without the strategic planning needed to align the Pentagon’s investments and decisions according to great-power competition requirements, the United States may fail to prevent an avoidable strategic disaster by not preparing properly for China’s likely military quest for regional and, later, global hegemony.