How the U.S. military reloaded for big power warfare

Once obsessed with counterinsurgency, the Pentagon now has China and Russia in its sights

U.S. Army
(Image credit: U.S. Army Sgt.1st Class Adora Gonzalez, 25th ID, Public Affairs/Flickr)

For more than a decade after 9/11, the United States has been involved in a series of wars that pitted the might of the U.S. military against terrorists and guerrilla movements. Examples include the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, North Africa, Somalia, Pakistan and the Philippines.

The military, which traditionally trains for high intensity war against other nation states, was drawn into fighting so-called "low intensity conflict." Unprepared to fight ragtag bands of insurgents in back alleys, jungles, and mountain passes, the services adapted.

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Kyle Mizokami is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Daily Beast, TheAtlantic.com, The Diplomat, and The National Interest. He lives in San Francisco.