Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Speaks at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Handover Ceremony in Pearl Harbor
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in his first major policy address Friday (April 30) that U.S. defense needs a “new vision” and that possible future conflicts bear little resemblance to the “old wars.
“The next major war, we’re going to fight very differently than we have in the past,” Austin said during a visit to the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii.
“We can’t predict the future,” Austin said, “so what we need is the right blend of technology, operational concepts and capabilities – all of which will intertwine in a way that is so reliable, so flexible and so powerful that it will deter any adversary from taking it lightly.”
How can the U.S. maintain dominance?
Austin delivered this message at the inauguration of new U.S. Indo-Pacific commander John Aquilino. He called on Washington to take advantage of technological advances to address emerging cyber and space threats as well as larger wars.
He specifically mentioned quantum computing, artificial intelligence and edge computing – methods of computing that speed response times by processing and sharing data as it is collected.
Austin delivered this message at the inauguration of the new U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Aquilino
Responding to concerns about the rapid military modernization and aggressive rise of the Chinese Communist Party, Austin warned that the U.S. military cannot be satisfied with the confidence of having the most powerful armed forces in the world – “not while our potential adversaries are deliberately trying to undermine our superiority.”
The Pentagon chief did not name the Chinese Communist Party here. However, in a separate speech, outgoing U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Philip Davidson reiterated his assertion that the Chinese Communist Party is using “sinister” actions to challenge U.S. dominance in the region.
Davidson repeatedly and bluntly expressed his concern that Beijing might try to take Taiwan by force within the next few years.
Defense analysts say that in recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has accelerated the construction of sophisticated weapons and has become more assertive in the sovereignty dispute over the South China Sea.
The United States, on the other hand, has been focused on fighting extremist groups such as al-Qaida in Afghanistan and the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria for two decades.
Diplomacy a priority
In his Friday speech, Austin also highlighted President Joe Biden’s commitment to the U.S. foreign policy priority of diplomacy.
Austin said the U.S. military should provide diplomats with leverage they can use to prevent conflict. He said, “The U.S. military is not on its own, but is there to support U.S. diplomatic efforts and advance a foreign policy that leverages comprehensive national power.”
He added that Washington will continue to convince potential enemies that “the costs and risks of aggression will outweigh any conceivable benefits.”
At this point, the U.S. and NATO began an unconditional withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Critics say the withdrawal will not help dissipate the internal conflict and terrorist threat in Afghanistan.
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