06/01/2012
“Our military will be leaner, but the world must know that the United States is going to maintain our military superiority.” With these words, US President Barack Obama described the effect of the new US Defense Strategic Review entitled “Sustaining US Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense”, which he revealed yesterday at the Pentagon together with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and senior military staff. The new strategy, a joint effort of White House and Department of Defense, is built on three themes for the US: The winding down of a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the financial crisis forcing large Pentagon budget cuts, and the rising threat from Iran and China.
Consequently, the new strategy foresees an end to large counter-insurgency operations and the build-up of smaller and more agile forces across the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. The size of the US Army and Marine Corps will shrink significantly, as will the US military footprint in Europe. Despite this, the document underscores the US’ “enduring interests” in Europe and the importance of NATO. The President emphasised that the US Armed Forces will remain the pre-eminent military force in the world: “As commander in chief, I am determined that we meet the challenges of this moment responsibly and that we emerge even stronger in a manner that preserves American global leadership, maintains our military superiority and keeps faith with our troops, military families and veterans.” With regard to the previous decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the President said: “The tide of war is receding but the question that this strategy answers is what kind of military will we need long after the wars of the last decade are over.” As opposed to the previous approach of fielding a force that could fight and win two major wars at once, the new strategy contains the goal of maintaining a force that can win one major war while still being able to deter an aggressor in a second conflict. Secretary Panetta said: “Make no mistake - we will have the capability to confront and defeat more than one adversary at a time.”
The new strategy will pave the way for more than $450bn in defence cuts over the next 10 years and will inform President Obama’s upcoming federal budget for the fiscal year 2013. However, the President assured the public that the US defence budget would still remain larger than at the end of the Bush administration: “Over the past 10 years, since 9/11, our defence budget grew at an extraordinary pace. Over the next 10 years, the growth in the defence budget will slow but the fact of the matter is this - it will still grow because we have global responsibilities that demand our leadership.” Obama added that all departments of the US government would have to work together to implement the new strategy, especially diplomacy, development, homeland security, and intelligence. In order to combat the full-range of existing threats, the US will continue to invest in capabilities, including counter-terrorism capabilities, combating anti-access technologies, countering weapons of mass destruction and prevailing in all domains, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as investments in cyber-warfare. At the same time, the US’ nuclear arsenal is supposed to shrink.
While NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed “the United States’ enduring commitment to European security, to preserving the strength and solidarity of our Alliance and to upholding our collective defence,” the Obama administration was criticised by congressional decision-makers in Washington D.C for letting the financial situation define the strategy. Representative Buck McKeon, Republican Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said: “This is a lead-from-behind strategy for a left-behind America. The President has packaged our retreat from the world in the guise of a new strategy to mask his divestment of our military and national defence.”