Vice President, Arnold Kanter Chair, and Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center Barry Pavel writes for the New York Times, proposing two broad strategic propositions that can help guide effective US national security planning in response to threats from both nation-states and nonstate actors:
Significant potential threats to U.S. interests today include nation-state challenges such as those posed by China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, and those posed by nonstate actors such as Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, ISIS, and the many individuals and groups worldwide who are directed or inspired by such extremist groups. The U.S. does not need to, nor can it, prepare for all of the worst-case scenarios that might emerge from this entire lineup simultaneously.
Nonetheless, two broad strategic propositions can help guide effective U.S. national security planning.