https://www.heritage.org/military-strength/executive-summary

Executive Summary
“As currently postured, the U.S. military is only marginally able to meet the demands of defending America’s vital national interests.”
Nov 17, 2020 27 min read

The United States maintains a military force primarily to protect the homeland from attack and to protect its interests abroad. There are secondary uses—for example, to assist civil authorities in times of emergency or to deter enemies—but this force’s primary purpose is to make it possible for the U.S. to physically impose its will on an enemy when necessary.
It is therefore critical that the condition of the United States military with respect to America’s vital national security interests, threats to those interests, and the context within which the U.S. might have to use “hard power” be understood. Because such changes can have substantial implications for defense policies and investment, knowing how these three areas change over time is likewise important.

https://www.heritage.org/military-strength
Download 2021-
The 2021 Index of U.S. Military Strength is also available in a print friendly PDF format.
Use the links below to download the entire book, main sections, or individual chapters.
Nov 17, 2020 4 min read

THE 2020 INDEX OF U.S. MILITARY STRENGTH
- Assessing the Global Operating Environment
- Europe
- Middle East
- Asia
- Conclusion: Scoring the Global Operating Environment
THREATS TO U.S. VITAL INTERESTS
- Assessing Threats to U.S. Vital Interests
- China
- Russia
- Iran
- North Korea
- Afghanistan/Pakistan
- Non-State Actors
- Conclusion: Global Threat Level
- An Assessment of U.S. Military Power
- U.S. Army
- U.S. Navy
- U.S. Air Force
- U.S. Marine Corps
- U.S. Nuclear Weapons Capability
- U.S. Space Force
- Ballistic Missile Defense
- Conclusion: U.S. Military Power
- Joint Force Experimentation for Great-Power Competition
- Building Resilience: Mobilizing the Defense Industrial Base in an Era of Great-Power Competition
- Strategic Mobility: The Essential Enabler of Military Operations in Great-Power Competition
- The Intelligence Posture America Needs in an Age of Great-Power Competition
- U.S. Alliances: Crucial Enablers in Great-Power Competition
ABOUT THE 2020 INDEX

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