The U.S. Armed Forces and their Development in the First Decades of the 21st Century

Abstract

After the Cold War the US armed forces had fought two longstanding wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which fight partially transformed the world class conventional force into a counterinsurgency/counter terrorist force. However, by the late 2000s old and new powers have risen, the most important are China and Russia, which have great resources and advanced conventional armed forces which pose a serious challenge for the US military, which is trained against mainly undeveloped guerilla forces in the period following 9/11. Now the Pentagon is working to restore and upgrade the prewar conventional capabilities of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to face the new times and new enemies.