The strategic environment has changed from competitive to contested, becoming increasingly combative and presenting challenges unlike any the United States and its Allies and Partners have ever faced, according to Gen. Anthony Cotton, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command. Despite these new hurdles, “The fundamental tenants of strategic deterrence are still valid,” Cotton said. “The mission to deter strategic attacks is as important as ever, as is our mandate to prevail in conflict when directed.”
Gen. Cotton delivered these comments during welcoming remarks at the 15th annual U.S. Strategic Command Deterrence Symposium. Held August 13-14 in Omaha, Nebraska, this year’s gathering drew a record crowd of more than 800 people representing U.S. and allied forces, academia, industry, and security experts from 15 nations. Panel discussions and breakout sessions centered around the theme “Strategic Deterrence Amidst Global Transformation.”
“Although the strategic environment is changing, the objectives of deterrence remain the same,” Gen. Cotton said. “Make no mistake. The components of our nuclear triad have always been, and will continue to be, the backbone of our nation’s deterrent force. That is where deterrence starts.”
During his keynote address, Gen. Charles Brown, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed Gen. Cotton’s sentiments to deny adversaries.
“Our adversaries are looking for ways to design around deterrence approaches that were used against them. These tectonic changes require adaptation in our strategic thought, operational art and processes,” Gen. Brown said. “This challenge calls for a comprehensive approach to deterrence to expand across multiple realms, incorporating individual forces. Addressing all the domains — land, maritime, air, space and cyber. We need a deterrence strategy that fits today’s world. A more complex world of interconnected threats, which means our strategies need to be networked, dynamic, adaptable and integrated.”
The People’s Republic of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are taking unprecedented actions that challenge international norms and advance authoritarianism, Gen. Cotton said. Furthermore, these regimes are interconnected, and they’re all contributing to the war in Ukraine, he added. “Daunting as this environment may be, I do have confidence in our future,” Gen. Cotton said.
The U.S. and its Allies and Partners remain key to ensuring security and prosperity throughout the 21st century, he added. “Together, our deterrent force is as formidable as ever,” he said.
Instead of a bipolar world, the U.S. and its allied forces are facing multiple adversaries and malign actors that create an increasingly complex environment. To face it, the U.S. and its Allies and Partners must remain disciplined in their approach to deterrence and expand their perspectives, Gen. Brown said.
“What is old is new again. What is new is further complicated by emerging domains and technology,” Gen. Brown said. “We need a deterrence strategy to be integrated by design to deal with these modern challenges. I would argue we need to be faster at developing and applying a framework. We need to act with urgency now, before we find ourselves needing to innovate in the midst of a major conflict.”