The Joint Force in a Contested and Disordered World

The Joint Force must be prepared to assist in developing the capacity of partner nations that are
most likely to be threatened by external states so that U.S. forces do not have to respond to every
crisis. If and when conflict eventually occurs between a partner nation and external threat, the
United States is not likely to initially deploy a large ground force. In these situations, the Joint
Force will be called upon to bolster the government of a failing state by working with and through
host nation security forces to contain and eventually defeat insurgent or separatist movements.
Facilitating the local capacity to legitimately govern and be resilient in the face of external and
internal shocks will require long-term, clearly understood commitments.
Summary
This section described six individual Contexts of Future Conflict. Each context illustrates a
particular aspect of conflict in 2035, the nature of potential adversaries, and the likely military
competitive space. Looking across the contexts strongly suggests the United States will engage in
multiple, simultaneous, and usually trans-regional conflicts involving a broad range of actors.
Many adversaries will selectively contest and support international rules and norms while also
encouraging or disrupting social, economic and political order based on the scope of their strategic
interests and cultural perspectives. Moreover these adversaries are likely to field advanced
weaponry leading to potentially increased deterrent, coercive, and warfighting effect.
Together, these large and globally connected problem sets featuring more capable adversaries will
place difficult demands on the United States. The Joint Force will be challenged to both protect
the global order as currently configured and to resist or discourage the spread and intensification
of political and social disorder around the globe. Furthermore, protection of open and broadly
favorable international norms and support for a stable political order will be highly dependent on
popular perceptions, attitudes, and broad acceptance of their legitimacy. Across all contexts, the
ability to engage with ideas and to link the application of physical military power to international
legitimacy and good governance will determine the effectiveness and sustainability of Joint Force
operations.
Individual contexts are not sufficient to fully understand the missions the Joint Force will need to
conduct in the future. For this reason, the next section of JOE 2035 describes the full range of
likely missions by linking each context to four enduring U.S. strategic goals and four associated
high-level military tasks. The intersection of each Context of Future Conflict with the pairing of
strategic goal and supporting military task results in a discrete mission that describes what the Joint
Force may need to do given a specific situation. In reality, the future will not present itself in such
an orderly way. Conflict will remain, as in Clausewitz’s time, “uncertain, variable, and
intertwined,” and attributes of more than one context may be in play at any given time. However,
as a set, the linkage of contexts to strategic goals and military tasks provides a comprehensive view
of the range of Joint Force missions and how they are likely to evolve through 2035.
39