Strategic Landscape 2050: Preparing the U.S. Military for New Era Dynamics

Barring major policy failures the U.S. military will enjoy unrivaled capabilities in the coming decades. However a series of megatrends will undermine the U.S. position as the most influential actor while enabling its rivals to move up the ranks fast. The U.S. military should stand ready to harness these dynamics to retain its edge in a recalibrated global operational threat environment and strategic landscape. Otherwise protecting U.S. interests in a continuously evolving world will be a fruitless enterprise one that will hasten the perceived U.S. decline as the greatest military power the world has ever known. This monograph helps explore and prepare for the possible and the probable in a transformed world of 2050. Relying on forecasting scenarios and wild cards it envisions the evolution of the megatrends and an emerging operational threat environment and strategic landscape for the U.S. military.