What Are Asymmetric Strategies.

Abstract

The 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) evaluated future U.S. strategy and force structure. It paid particular attention to a set of threats referred to as asymmetric challenges or asymmetric means. This documented briefing provides a brief description of the asymmetric strategies that employ these challenges. Today, U.S. forces appear capable of defeating the normally postulated military threats, including those associated with major theater wars. But many of these postulated threats are relatively symmetric in character, directly seeking to combat U.S. strengths. Future adversaries appear more likely to attack U.S. vulnerabilities and to do so using largely asymmetric means, in part because they cannot afford military forces and capabilities comparable to those of the United States.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA360008

Entities

People

  • Bruce W. Bennett
  • Christopher P. Twomey
  • Gregory F. Treverton

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Airborne Warning And Control System
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Cold War
  • Control Systems
  • Defense Systems
  • Department Of Defense
  • Force Structure
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • North Korea
  • Theater Ballistic Missiles
  • United States
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Economics
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Theoretical Analysis.