Executive Summar
“As currently postured, the U.S. military is only marginally able to meet the
demands of defending America’s vital national interests.
Oct 30, 2019 22 min read
The United States maintains a military force primarily to protect the homeland
from attack and to protect its interests abroad. There are secondary uses—fo
example, to assist civil authorities in times of emergency or to deter enemies—
ut this force’s primary purpose is to make possible the physical imposition of
will on an enemy when necessary.
Understanding the condition of the United States military with respect to
America’s vital national security interests, any threats to those interests, and the
context within which the U.S. might have to use “hard power” is therefore of
critical importance. Knowing how these three areas—operating environments,
threats, and the posture of the U.S. military—change over time, given that such
changes can have substantial implications for defense policies and investment, is
likewise important.
Each year, The Heritage Foundation’s employs a
standardized, consistent set of criteria, accessible both to government officials
and to the American public, to gauge the U.S. military’s ability to perform its
missions in today’s world. The inaugural 2015 edition established a baseline
assessment on which each annual edition builds, assessing the state of affairs fo
its respective year and measuring how key factors have changed from the
revious year.
Index of U.S. Military Strength
What the Index Assesse
The assesses the ease or difficulty of operating in
key regions based on existing alliances, regional political stability, the presence o
U.S. military forces, and the condition of key infrastructure. Threats are assessed
ased on the behavior and physical capabilities of actors that pose challenges to
Index of U.S. Military Strength
