COL (Ret.) Robert Jones
“The most important aspect of our containment strategy is that it serves to contain ourselves,” former President Dwight Eisenhower reportedly observed after he had left office. Perhaps the greatest problem facing the United States in the post-Cold War era is not our waning ability to deter the problematic peacetime activities of others; rather, it is that we have lost sight of the need to deter ourselves. Therefore, any serious look at updating US deterrence going forward must include a serious look at our own missteps. The world is changing rapidly, and we can neither wish nor force it into staying in some form we deem best for us. To truly lead a rulesbased system, the US must first understand the world better for what it actually is and then shape changes in directions favorable to us. To lead, we must also pursue our interests in ways others deem appropriate and see as being in their own interests to follow.
A Simple
Concept Instead of increasing our efforts, what if we refocused our purpose? The world is changing rapidly, and change favors the revisionists. They see opportunity where status quo powers see threat. In increasing our efforts against threats, we risk exhausting the very aspects of our nation that have made us the partner of choice as leader of the rules-based system. It is time to reframe the contest in our favor.
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