Warfighter Support: An Assessment of DOD Documents Used in Previous Efforts to Rebalance to the Pacific
Abstract
In 2011, President Obama announced that the United States would turn its attention to the Asia-Pacific region and make the U.S. presence there a top priority. Rebalancing to the Pacific became strategic guidance that informed military planning. By the end of 2015, DOD published strategy documents that included references to the rebalance to the Pacific or related concepts. In February 2018, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs stated that while DOD continues to prioritize the Asia-Pacific region, there balance to the Pacific is no longer U.S. policy. DOD has published the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which establishes an objective of maintaining a favorable regional balance in the Pacific region, among other regions. Prior to the change in policy, House Report 114-102 included a provision for GAO to review matters related to the U.S. rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region. GAO evaluated the extent to which DOD developed strategy documents to guide the rebalance to the Pacific that included desired elements of an effective national strategy. GAO analyzed six DOD strategy documents that officials identified as providing guidance for the rebalance to the Pacific to determine whether, as a set, they included desired elements associated with an effective national strategy. DOD had no comments on this report.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1157299
Entities
People
- Cary Russell
- Guy Lofaro
- Michael Shaughnessy
- Patricia Donahue
- Paulina Reaves
- Pedro Almoguera
- Richard Powelson
- Stephen Woods
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office