1997 Annual Defense Report Table of Contents - Air Force Magazine

Chapter 1
U.S. DEFENSE STRATEGY
Since the founding of the Republic, the U.S. government has always sought to secure for the American
people a set of basic objectives:
• The protection of their lives and personal safety, both at home and abroad.
• The maintenance of the nation's sovereignty, political freedoms, and independence, with its
values, institutions, and territory intact.
• Their material well-being and prosperity.
On the eve of the 21st century, the international environment is more complex and interrelated than at any
other time in history. The number and diversity of nations, organizations, and other actors vying for
influence continue to grow. At the same time, the global economy is increasingly interdependent. Not
only does this offer the United States the promise of greater prosperity, it also ties the security and wellbeing
of Americans to events beyond their borders more than ever before. Today, incidents formerly
considered peripheral to American security -- the spread of ethnic and religious conflict, the breakdown of
law and order, or the disruption of trade in faraway regions -- can pose real threats to the United States.
Likewise, new opportunities have arisen for the United States, in concert with other like-minded nations,
to advance its long-term interests and promote stability in critical regions.
In order to shape the international security environment in ways that protect and advance U.S. interests,
the United States must remain engaged and exert leadership abroad. U.S. leadership can deter aggression,
foster the peaceful resolution of dangerous conflicts, encourage stable and free foreign markets, promote
democracy, and inspire others to create a safer world and to resolve global problems. Without active U.S.
leadership and engagement abroad, threats to U.S. security will worsen and opportunities will narrow.
Threats to the interests of the United States, its allies, and its friends can come from a variety of sources.
Prominent among these are:
• Attempts by regional powers hostile to U.S. interests to gain hegemony in their regions through
aggression or intimidation.
• Internal conflicts among ethnic, national, religious, or tribal groups that threaten innocent lives,
force mass migration, and undermine stability and international order.
• Threats by potential adversaries to acquire or use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons and
their means of delivery.
• Threats to democracy and reform in the former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, and
elsewhere.
• Terrorism.
• Subversion and lawlessness that undermine friendly governments.
• Threats to U.S. prosperity and economic growth.
• Global environmental degradation.
• Illegal drug trade.
• International crime.
Many of these threats are global in scale and cannot be adequately addressed unilaterally, either by the
United States or any other single nation state. Thus, the United States will need to secure the cooperation
of a number of nations, groups, and international organizations to protect Americans from such threats.
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