Home and Forward Commands Should Replace the Geographic Combatant Commands
Wilson VornDick
July 12, 2017
Russian warplanes buzz American forces in the Baltic and Bering Seas, while Russia’s combined forces fight on the front lines alongside the Assad regime in Syria and its special operations forces infiltrate Libya. Simultaneously, China is launching One Belt One Road, expanding “terriclaims” in the South China Sea, and planning military posts in Pakistan and Djibouti. Meanwhile, North Korea, Iran, and violent extremist organizations like the self-proclaimed Islamic State continue to antagonize and threaten American interests. None of these activities are easily confined to one specific country or region.
Yet non-traditional threats, such as climate change, human trafficking, piracy, illicit drugs, and infectious diseases, continue to challenge military planners and policymakers. Globalization now allows localized crises and conflicts to immediately spill beyond their porous regional boundaries and flow directly into the global commons. Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, has acknowledged that any future conflict would have “transregional” and “multifunctional” implications and require “global integration.”
https://warontherocks.com/2017/07/home-and-forward-commands-should-replace-the-geographic-combatant-commands/
