Determining the Military Capabilities Most Needed to Counter China and Russia: A Strategy-Driven Approach.

• Author: Ochmanek, David A.
• Position: FURTHER READING

* RAND Corp. senior analyst and former deputy secretary of defense for strategy David A. Ochmanek starts this 12-page essay with an overlooked truism: "The mission assigned to U.S. forces--namely, to project power rapidly and at scale across great distances to defeat aggression in the adversary's 'neighborhood'--is considerably more difficult than the adversary's forces' mission."

Any new military capabilities must be justified by their contribution to taking on China and Russia in an "away game."

Technologies will have to help "blunt" an attack then "hold" territory --in Russia's case, a swath of Europe--and China, the island of Taiwan.

There is a consensus in the Pentagon that what worked in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan won't work against China or Russia, but not much agreement on how to...