Atlantic Council Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes for UPI on the future of US security strategy:
Every American president, probably dating back to George Washington, has been criticized for having no strategy or the wrong strategy. President Barack Obama is no exception. Of course, having a single overarching and existential threat such as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union made strategizing much easier.
In World War II, the strategy was clear. Win first in Europe and then in the Pacific by mobilizing America’s arsenal of democracy to force the Axis enemies to surrender unconditionally. The strategy of containment and deterrence produced the bloodless Cold War victory with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. Unfortunately, the 21st century has not offered a single or principal adversary around which one strategy could be crafted.