ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

In the face of growing threats around the world, the U.S. military must remain ready for a range of challenges, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said.

“We’re going to have to deal with a rising China, we have to deal with Russia, we will have North Korea, we have Iran, we have terrorists, we have climate change, we have COVID, we have wildfires, we have a lot of challenges,” Milley said. “As a great power, we have to be able to do all of those simultaneously.”

The U.S. Army has an advantage over China when it comes to empowering its soldiers to make decisions, but the two countries face the same challenges recruiting young people for military service, according to the author of a new paper.

In an essay published by the Association of the U.S. Army as part of its Land Warfare Paper series, author Larry Wortzel notes that China’s People’s Liberation Army and the U.S. Army have a common focus on new technologies, data fusion and developing systems designed to compensate for a smaller military.

China’s growing aggression is forcing the U.S. to think more seriously about deterrence and competition in the Indo-Pacific region, a panel of experts said during a webinar hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army.

The U.S. faces “unprecedented challenges” to its interests, particularly from China and Russia, said retired Gen. Robert Brown, AUSA executive vice president and a former commander of U.S. Army Pacific, who moderated the June 23 Thought Leaders discussion.

A new unclassified global threat assessment from the U.S. intelligence community has the same old rivals: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. 

In looming competition with China, one of the biggest risks to the U.S. is getting involved in unnecessary skirmishes, an internationally recognized geopolitical strategist said during an Army-sponsored Mad Scientist webinar. 

George Friedman, founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures and former CEO of Stratfor, described China as “terrified” the U.S. would economically hurt it by blocking its ports in a conflict. For this reason, China wants to face the U.S., but not in any open conflict, because “they cannot afford to lose,” Friedman said. 

The Chinese army can “orchestrate mobilization” at a speed and scale that should make the U.S. hesitate, according to a new paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army.

“Since World War II, China has mobilized on a large scale several times—and the United States has not,” author and retired Army Col. Larry Wortzel writes.

In his paper, “Military Mobilization in Communist China,” Wortzel highlights five military campaigns between 1955 and 1979 to demonstrate China’s mobilization strength and its efforts to improve. 

A bipartisan House Armed Services Committee task force that spent a year focused on the challenging strategic environment facing the U.S. sees a window of opportunity for progress.

Speaking at the Hudson Institute, task force leaders Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana said DoD faces a pivotal period as it confronts current and evolving threats that require new concepts in warfighting and new technologies at a time when money to pay for the improvements could be scarce.