Editorial: How Powerful Is the US Military?

US Marines come ashore during an exercise (File Photo)

By Franz-Stefan Gady

A new report assesses the military strengths of the United States, yet falls short in one crucial aspect.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington D.C.-based think tank, has recently published an index of U.S. military strengths. The report, subtitled “Assessing America’s Ability to Provide for the Common Defense,” predictably decries the current alleged degradation of the U.S. military – despite the world’s largest defense budget – and notes that the United States will have difficulties fighting two regional wars simultaneously (the so-called Major Regional Contingency strategy).

“Overall, the Index concludes that the current U.S. military force is adequate to meeting the demands of a single major regional conflict while also attending to various presence and engagement activities. Clearly, this is what the military is doing now and has done for the past two decades, but it would be very hard-pressed to do more and certainly would be ill-equipped to handle two, near-simultaneous major regional contingencies,” the paper, edited by Dakota L. Wood, states. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat