WASHINGTON—Today, The Heritage Foundation released a special report titled: “The Prioritization Imperative: A Strategy to Defend America’s Interests in a More Dangerous World.” The report offers a defense strategy for a new U.S. administration in 2025. Under this strategy, the United States would prioritize defending the U.S. homeland and denying China’s imperial ambitions, while empowering allies and partners to lead efforts to defend against lesser threats. In this way, the United States can protect Americans’ most vital interests and strengthen U.S. alliances and partnerships around the world.

Heritage’s Senior Policy Advisor in the Allison Center for National Security and co-author of the report Alex Velez-Green stated:

“The U.S. military is no longer capable of winning multiple major wars at a time. It's not even clear we’ll be able to deter—or if necessary, win—a single war against our most powerful rival, China.

“We’re in this position because policymakers have failed to husband America’s finite resources and focus the U.S. military on the things that are most important for American interests. That must change if we’re going to defend the American homeland, deter China, and avoid a third world war—and this report shows how.”

Heritage’s Research Fellow for Nuclear Deterrence and Missile Defense and co-author of the report Robert Peters added:

“America’s military isn’t resourced to be everywhere at once. Yet, that’s exactly what America’s leaders have asked of it for decades—and the results speak for themselves. Europe and the Middle East are at war. The Indo-Pacific may not be far behind. And if the United States commits forces in any of these regions, there’s a real chance of escalation across theaters—all under the nuclear shadow.

“Until the U.S. military is resourced and postured to do so, the United States must resist the temptation to be everywhere at once. Instead, America’s defense strategy must focus on principle U.S. national interests—defending the U.S. homeland and deterring China from invading its neighbors, while strengthening burden-sharing with allies and partners against other threats.

“Fortunately, there is a way out of this dangerous situation—but it will require us to be clear-eyed about the current limits of American power and prioritize accordingly—until the security environment stabilizes and until the United States fields a force that credibly deter our most dangerous adversaries. This report shows exactly how we can do that in a way that leaves not only Americans but also our allies and partners better off.”

Below are some of the report’s major findings: 

• America’s military has a vital role to play in defending the U.S. homeland—but it must also prevent a foreign rival from dominating any of the world’s key regions. Today, the only rival with a realistic chance of doing so is China in the Indo-Pacific—so, denying China’s imperial ambitions must also be a priority.
   
• The U.S. military currently is only sized to win a single major war at a time. As a result, to deter or defeat Chinese aggression, the United States will need to withhold or swing U.S. forces from other theaters—even if Russia, Iran, or North Korea initiate hostilities first.
   
• To avoid a third world war, Washington must empower allies and partners in those theaters to lead efforts to defend against Russia, Iran, and North Korea with critical but more limited U.S. support. This ensures our collective ability to maintain deterrence in those theaters even if U.S. forces are withheld for or drawn into a conflict against China.
   
• Prioritization is never easy—but there is no better option in the current environment. Neither increased U.S. defense spending, emerging technologies, sequencing, nor bluffing are likely to allow the United States to reliably defend the U.S. homeland and deter China in the years ahead—so we must concentrate U.S. forces where they are needed most to defend America’s interests, while empowering U.S. allies and partners.
   
• If the United States adopts a strategy along the lines described in this paper, then it will not only be able to reverse the erosion of America’s homeland defenses and prevent China from achieving hegemony in the Indo-Pacific. It will also be able to revitalize U.S. alliances and partnerships, and in the process, set conditions for lasting peace around the world.