Strategic appraisal 19971997

This publication brings together the views of several experts in both the process and substance of defense planning. It argues that an ambitious U.S. national strategy of global leadership will be needed to protect and advance U.S. interests and identifies a range of possible future missions for which we need to prepare. Essays in the volume explore key issues that will arise as the United States fashions its military forces for the coming decades. These include: the roles of military power in U.S. national security strategy; new approaches to planning and evaluating future military force postures; the nature of future military challenges, both in defeating large-scale aggression and meeting smaller-scale threats; which operational capabilities should receive the highest priority; what...