Thread Alert... Great article. I will just touch on a sentiment that continues to arise in many of these pieces about Force Design. That being, “what about the other contingencies besides the pacing/existential threat?” https://warontherocks.com/2020/04/the-rest-of-the-story-evaluating-the-u-s-marine-corps-force-design-2030/

I get a weird joy in knowing that our ability to get into “entanglements of choice” gets limited by the National Defense Strategy and subsequent force design is a blessing in disguise. This actually forces us to prioritize and keep the proverbial “main thing the main thing. “

Having a force specifically tailored may curtail one’s ability to respond to every scenario, but it may also avoid slipping into quagmires, perpetuating the military industrial complex, and getting bogged down in a sand box while other great powers watch and rise. End Thread.