The global environment is constantly changing, morphing into an increasingly complex international relations arena, which is hard for state and non-state actors to navigate. The age of using direct power is over as current challenges require governments to leverage more sophisticated strategies. One of them might lie in taking advantage of joint operations, which present an important opportunity for the nation’s military. The United States can reap a variety of benefits from forging collaborations with state actors as well as numerous non-state international agents.
Nowadays, securing partnerships and alliances is one of the primary priorities for the U.S. military. The U.S. National Defense Strategy identifies developing new and strengthening existing partnerships as one of the three main vectors of the military’s agenda for the upcoming decade (Mattis, 2018). It is possible to forge joint operations by “deepening interoperability, expanding deterrent networks, and executing (..) security and awareness operations” in the global commons (U.S. Department of Defense, 2020, para. 5). It is essential for the United States to attract new partners by assessing whether a state or a non-state actor expresses a shared commitment to values the United States holds in high regard.
Indeed, the U.S. military’s partners and allies are nothing short of crucial for the current and future success of the nation in safeguarding its domestic borders and the international community as a whole. They are capable of providing the nation with a distinct comparative advantage. The network of partners and allies, which is created as a result of continuous joint operations and collaborative efforts, ensures that the United States does not carry the burden of protecting and stabilizing global commons on its own. America and its various allies “share intelligence, train, and exercise together, and operate compatible weapon systems” (Wormuth, 2020, p. 1). Thus, joint operations are a gateway for the development of combined capabilities.
References
Mattis, J. (2018). Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the United States of America. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Defense. Web.
U.S. Department of Defense. (2020). Military alliances, partnerships strengthened through defense strategy execution. Web.
Wormuth, C. (2020). The role of allies and partners in U.S. military strategy and operations. RAND Corporation. Web.