The U.S. military has grown increasingly weaker over the years and is considered at risk of not being able to respond to threats to the country’s national interests, according to new rankings of the military’s strength.The Heritage Foundation’s 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength found that the military is “weak” and “at growing risk of not being able to meet the demands of defending America’s vital national interests” — marking the first time in the index’s nine-year history that the country has been rated so low.
“It is rated as weak relative to the force needed to defend national interests on a global stage against actual challenges in the world as it is rather than as we wish it were,” the index said. “This is the logical consequence of years of sustained use, underfunding, poorly defined priorities, wildly shifting security policies, exceedingly poor discipline in program execution, and a profound lack of seriousness across the national security establishment even as threats to U.S. interests have surged.”
The Heritage Foundation measured the military’s overall ability to secure victories in two major conflicts at once in different areas of the world. However, it concluded the military force is at risk of being unable to “meet the demands of a single major regional conflict” and would be “ill-equipped to handle two nearly simultaneous” conflicts.
The Heritage Foundation listed each of the military branches for individual rankings based on capability, capacity, and readiness, according to the report. The Marine Corps fared the best, receiving an overall “strong” rating — an improvement from its “marginal” rating in 2021.
The Air Force fell to the bottom of the list, receiving an overall “very weak” rating due to struggles with pilot production and retention, leaving “little doubt that it would struggle in war with a peer competitor.” The Navy and Space Force were rated as “weak,” and the Army was considered “marginal.”
The report also analyzed the country’s nuclear capabilities compared to other countries, rating U.S. nuclear weapons as “strong” but trending toward “marginal” or even “weak.”
“No matter how much America desires that the world be a simpler, less threatening place that is more inclined to beneficial economic interactions than violence-laden friction, the patterns of history show that competing powers consistently emerge and that the U.S. must be able to defend its interests in more than one region at a time," the report said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/heritage-foundation-ranks-us-military-as-weak-for-first-time/ar-AA136fH3 ....
Interesting commentary here. What does it mean?
I remember following the news as far back as 2012. Around 10 years ago it was known that the united states was losing the war in afghanistan. They were losing territory and steadily being pushed back by the taliban. The united states might have controlled 25% of afghanistan while the taliban controlled the remaining 75%. If I remember correctly, this was the situation near to a decade ago. Circumstances steadily deteriorated until americans finally retreated in a disorderly manner. Everyone was taken by surprise, as if they had not realized america was on the losing side of the war for 10 years.
Now it seems that we finally have official commentary on the topic. Think tanks like heritage foundation are beginning to acknowledge the US military isn't the unstoppable unbeatable force many of us had come to believe it to be. It seems as if a shift of some type is taking place.
Perhaps the illusion of american global supremacy is fading.
As an american I would not mind. When people think they're the best, it becomes a powerful excuse to be unmotivated and lazy.
What does this mean and will there be a real backlash or repurcussions due to it?
