Contemporary Security Policy

David H. Ucko & Thomas A. Marks (2018):

 

College of International Security Affairs, National Defense University, Washington, DC, USA

 

 

The United States entered the 21st century brimming with confidence at its military and strategic prowess. The campaigns of the 1990s had provided opportunities to apply emerging technologies associated with the Revolution in Military Affairs, or RMA—satellites, precision bombs, and information technology—which appeared to give Washington a qualitative edge in contemporary conflict. Under the leadership of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and with the backing of President George W. Bush, the top priority for the U.S. defense establishment at the turn of the century was to transform itself to exploit fully this cutting-edge technology. As Bush (2001) put it in a major address in February 2001: “Influence is measured in information, safety is gained in stealth, and force is projected on the long arc of precision-guided weapons…The best way to keep the peace is to redefine war on our terms.”

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This document was written with the assistance of David Iron and Jonathon Riley

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