Welcome to the Age of Strategic Triage
"The history of great powers is rife with examples of states that tried to do it all, everywhere, and frittered away their dominance by failing to retain a balance between resources and obligations."
Knowing how to reassess, reevaluate, and redefine aims is a difficult task involving unpalatable tradeoffs. In the end, however, strategic triage allows the United States to use its power more wisely. This hardnosed approach helps U.S. leaders husband resources to protect vital national security interests and exploit new opportunities.
Marc Genest and James Holmes are professors of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College. Genest was the founding director of the College’s Center for Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups. The views voiced here are theirs alone.
Image: A member of the U.S. Ceremonial Guard Drill Team during training. Flickr/U.S. Department of Defense.