Darker Shades of Gray: Why Gray Zone Conflicts Will Become More Frequent and Complex
by The Foreign Policy Research Institute
SWJ Blog Post | February 14, 2017 - 12:02pm
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Darker Shades of Gray: Why Gray Zone Conflicts Will Become More Frequent and Complex by Nora Bensahel, Foreign Policy Research Institute
The United States has long fielded the world’s most capable armed forces. It spends more on its military than the next nine nations combined, of which five are U.S. treaty allies. It fields more active-duty military personnel than any country other than China, and its weaponry and technological capabilities are peerless. U.S military superiority has helped deter major power wars, secure the global commons, and maintain the global order for many decades, and it continues to do so today.
Yet, every strength has a corresponding weakness, every advantage a corresponding vulnerability. Perhaps paradoxically, this conventional military dominance means that few adversaries are likely to directly challenge the United States with the use of force, since doing so risks complete military defeat. As Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster has often quipped, “there are two ways to fight the U.S. military – asymmetrically and stupid.” Fighting asymmetrically can mean fighting at the lower end of the conflict spectrum, through terrorism and insurgency. But it also can mean fighting in what has become known as the “gray zone,” which may not involve military forces at all.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/darker-shades-of-gray-why-gray-zone-conflicts-will-become-more-frequent-and-complex
