The Future of Land Warfare

Using a series of three—yet to materialize—possible scenarios of ground warfare, Dr. Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution makes the case for maintaining the army’s current stature. Using an analysis that stretches as far back as America itself, O’Hanlon finds a pattern of overconfidence in military policy in which the government tends to be underprepared for contemporary conflicts every twenty-or-so years. Instead of diverting public funds to programs that could possibly prevent conflict through diplomatic, humanitarian, and economic means, O’Hanlon staunchly advocates the US state to be “modestly ready” for ground conflict by way of its engorged military budget. With highlighted threats coming from the Korean Peninsula, South Asia, and Syria, it will be interesting to see if any of the speaker’s predictions come to fruition.