The Expeditionary Imperative

John Nagl on The Expeditionary Imperative at The Wilson Quarterly

America’s national security structure is designed to confront the challenges of the last century rather than our ­own…

We can and must do better. As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has noted, the national security community continues to devote the vast majority of its resources to preparing for conventional ­state-­on-­state conflicts, but “the most likely catastrophic threats to our ­homeland—­for example, an American city poisoned or reduced to rubble by a terrorist ­attack—­are more likely to emanate from failing states than from aggressor states.” For that reason, Gates has been a vocal advocate of increasing the resources devoted to accomplishing U.S. objectives abroad without relying on military power. In what he describes as a “man bites dog” moment in political Washington, he has argued outspokenly for reinforcements for his comrades in arms in other departments, including Justice, Agriculture, and ­Commerce…

Much more at The Wilson Quarterly.