Introduction The United States military is the strongest military that the world has ever seen. However if it is to continue to remain a dominant power it must remain in key positions throughout the world. The United States military is used for more than just fighting the nations wars, it is also used as a diplomatic tool, a deterrent, and to assist in stabilizing the world economy. The effects of reducing U.S. troop presence around the world will have repercussions in more aspects than simply military strength.
Deterrence
Force Projection is the ability of a nation to apply all or some of its elements of national power (political, economic, informational, or military) to rapidly and effectively deploy and sustain forces in and
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The requirements of force projection include rapid deployment of combat power to finish conflicts in a timely manner. Therefore it is logical that the closer a unit is to the contested area then the shorter amount of time it would take to mobilize that unit and quell any uprising.
All interaction, positive as well as negative, requires opportunity as well as motive. An important part of the former is geographical opportunity, which is usually proxied by some measure of the distance between the interacting parties. (Bauhung & Gleditsch)
Great distances between home bases and operational areas reduce opportunities for timely employment of military responses in emergencies. Lengthy lines of supply and communication increase requirements for long haul transportation and, if vulnerable to enemy interdiction, make users divert combat forces to protect them. (Collins, 1988: 14-15)
This statement further identifies the risk of the United States becoming an isolationist country. There are key factors that are fundamental in a country’s ability to project power. The first is a country’s power within its own borders, the second is the rate at which that power diminishes over distance. In the past the United States has reduced the diminishing rate by having satellite locations, thus not allowing the power projection to be reduced.
Diplomacy The Army
The military has been instrumental in the protection and development of U.S interests around the world. From the Revolutionary War, which established the United States as a nation, through the World Wars, which set up the U.S as one of the world super powers, to its current war on terror, the military has helped and protected U.S. interests around the world. During all these wars American soldiers have proudly served their country. Because of these wars America is famous throughout the world for military power and its protection of freedom in the world. Today the U.S is an international symbol of wealth and power; it has the largest Gross Domestic Product in the world as well as the strongest military. Yet even America falls prey to a
After major conflicts, the government downsizes its military numbers significantly, losing the best-qualified leaders to lead the future’s military. This drastic method of downsizing the military after major conflicts harms our troops and could harm the future of our great nation. If the nation really needs to downsize its military, then it should be done in a very careful manner and to pay extra attention to not losing the best qualified leaders it currently has.
How other countries view America’s position in the world varies not only based on America’s actions within the international arena, or foreign policy, but also how Americans view the actions of their leaders and policy makers. For both internal and external views, America’s “standing” revolves around two primary elements – how well the US government does what it says it is going to do and how well it stands up to threats against it. While these are not the only elements considered, America’s credibility and pride are viewed as key to how well it will respond to interactions both within and outside its borders. A country’s world view, or standing, can vary over time and be impacted by a number of things such as where a country is located,
America may be a relatively young nation, turning 240 years old this year, but in its short existence, it has had a powerful influence over world affairs, for better or worse. George Washington once said, “It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.” However, since his presidency, the United States’ position in the world has steered from a steely isolationist stance to one open and hungry for involvement in the matters of other countries. America craved land and power to bolster itself and utilized foreign policy to do so, shifting towards an imperialist position. However, this change in foreign policy resulted
In the chapter “Foreign Policy” in the book, “The Politics of Power” by Ira Katznelson, Mark Kesselman, and Alan Draper, describes in detail of the events leading to America’s great level of dominance. Throughout the chapter, a few key points were made. The main three points that were observed in this chapter consisted of America’s influence and global expansion, the transition into the globalization era, and environmental problems. From the beginning of the exploration era, to the globalization ear, foreign policy never escaped existence. The use of foreign policy continued into the beginning of World War II, after the war, and through present day. Between each date in history, foreign policy increasingly has played a major role in the turning tides within each event. The importance of foreign policy instructed the world into what it is today and has continued to do so. The relationship pertaining to the United States and its foreign policies have aimlessly been altered through good and bad times. At its birth, America’s international involvement began. Through time, its foreign policy has gained great interest and provided immense dominant reputation. Within the ordinance of America’s global dominance, speculation estimates that no nation truly is dominant as other problems counter true dominance. These problems consist of global warming, human rights, and ecological crisis. These problems will challenge nations in the future to answer the question: “What nation is truly
While a commander’s staff conducts planning at any level, whether it is strategic, operational, or tactical, the importance of identifying both theirs and the adversary’s center of gravity (COG) is a critical part of the planning process. Three factors should be carefully analyzed in order to gain a full understanding of the COG; they are critical capabilities, critical requirements and critical vulnerabilities (U.S. Office of the CJCS 11 August 2011, III-24). Although a COG can be attacked directly, the indirect approach which seeks to destroy or neutralize the COG by attacking an adversary’s critical vulnerabilities can be a more efficient use of available resources. The United States Marine Corps’ Warfighting publication MCDP 1 draws a direct correlation between a COG and its critical vulnerability by stating, “we should focus our efforts against a critical vulnerability, a vulnerability that, if exploited, will do the most significant damage to the enemy 's ability to resist us” (United States Marine Corps 1997, 47). The Marine Corps favors the indirect approach to defeating an adversary’s COG because the functions assigned to them by the Department of Defense (DoD) require expeditionary operations and expeditionary forces typically are limited in size, assets, and resources driving them to target an adversary’s critical vulnerabilities.
During this type of warfare, the enemy may have already infiltrated, destroyed, or damaged a foreign nation’s government, essential services or infrastructure vital to the indigenous populace for survival and governance. Aviation elements accomplish the transport and swift insertion of personnel, supplies, and materials to assist our forces and to help maintain or rebuild infrastructure. These activities achieve the overarching effects of building trust and confidence within the local populace to foster support for our efforts. Additionally, air assets bring tremendous combat power to the irregular warfare fight. An assortment of ordnance i.e.; precision guided munitions, rapid insertion and extraction methods, and troop and equipment transport enable our forces to quickly strike, maneuver and gain the advantage in an irregular warfare engagement. The Aviation Combat Element also allows both the Ground and Logistic Combat elements to rapidly deploy anywhere in the world. More specifically the Marine Expeditionary Unit provides a mobile sea based warfighting unit capable of deploying on short notice. The Aviation Combat Element has the ability to move those combat forces from ship to shore with an over horizon capability. The ability to quickly move forces around the battlespace provides opportunities for United States forces to influence the population by conducting meetings with local leaders and proving our commitment to the people of the affected country. This capability not only enhances but solidifies the Marine Corps ability to utilize maneuver warfare principles while engaging in an irregular
Landpower is defined as the ability to gain, sustain, and exploit control over land, resources, and people. The United States Army is so successful because they insert troops into the conflicting nations and don’t pull them out until they decide that the nation is stable and able to operate on its own. The roles of the Army are prevent, shape, and win. The Army prevents conflict in a nation by having a force that is trustworthy and made up of combat ready forces that can act swiftly when the time comes. The Army also has to stand ready to help defend other nation’s forces if they were to come in conflict at any time. The Army also has to shape the partnering nations by helping to train them so they can defend themselves. The last role is to win, and do so successfully against any opposing force. This can sometimes be the most difficult because it is face to face with the opponents and uses lethal means. The Army mission comes from the congress and laws governing the Armed Forces. The Army is a part of the Armed Forces as well as a profession. Not only does the Army carry out the missions given to them by the Commander in Chief but everyone has a job they have to do in order for the rest of the mission to flow smoothly. The Army relies on trust between soldiers and also the trust between soldiers and their leaders. The mission cannot be completed if there is not trust between everyone working together as a team. Other forms of trust include that between
As a one of the world’s top maritime power, United States declared it’s “National Military Strategy”. Two essential principles of NMS is forward presence and crisis response. Based on the NMS, Navy and Marine Corps
Let’s get one thing straight, military force is an attack by armed forces (army, navy, air force, marines) of a country against another. The military is trying to either stop a nuclear war from happening or save many lives or even both. The country that the military is attacking could be trying to create nuclear weapons
As Coalition Forces prepare to transition from major combat operations to stability operations within the Philippines, the 3/4 ABCT must determine which cities within the Pangasinan province, its assigned area of operations (AO), to prioritize stability tasks. Specifically, the cities of Bayambang, Dagupan, Lingayen, Malasiqui, San Carlos, and Urdaneta are of particular interest. After careful analysis of each city’s Sewer, Water, Electricity, Academics, Transportation, Medical, and Security (SWEAT-MS) disposition, the recommend priority of effort should go first to Malasiqui, then Urdaneta and Bayambang. Remaining 3-4 ABCT resources should prioritize efforts toward San Carlos, Lingayen, and Dagupan.
Stability operations are an important function of the military arm of national power after a period of conflict. Stability operations by definition assist in supporting the host nation government by establishing civil security, civil control, supporting the host nation government (HN), restoring essential services, and assisting in infrastructure and economic improvements. In order for stability operations to be effective, there must be a complete and thorough analysis of the lines of effort (LOE), identification of risks and mitigation techniques with the intention of advance the desired end state.
Although defensive in nature, the deployment of a TMD system may catalyze threats to international peace and security by upsetting a regional balance of military forces, undercutting other states ' deterrent capabilities, or by protecting forces that can be used for offensive purposes. TMD deployment may therefore spur an unstable
The development of a nation’s foreign policy strategy must be built with consideration of various components. Since there is no established world “leader”, multiple spheres of power and influence develop. One of the most inevitable factors affecting forging policy is location. The development of influence based simply on geographic location has not gone unnoticed from nations participating in global relations. In a consistently turbulent world, nations are constantly realizing their relevance on the world stage. Nations will often realize this relevance and continue to develop it for their benefit and political gain. The intersections of economic, social, political, and geographic connections result in strategy being developed solely on the location of a nation. When it comes to the importance of strategic location in relation to foreign policy, it is imperative that a nation implements strategic location when developing their foreign policy approach.
In spite of our achievements in many fields of endeavour, we still have a strong sense of psychological dependence on things external particularly North American, Europe, and some of the bigger countries of Latin America. We still (as good ex-colonials) see big countries in the hemisphere and in Europe as being some sense better (intrinsincally and not just economically) than out individual countries and the other West Indian countries and we sometimes carry this perception into the field of international relations.