America "strategically overloaded"?

SGGP November 25, 2023 07:00

At a time when the US military’s strategic resources are under heavy pressure due to the war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and the Hamas armed forces has erupted. In addition to the US military’s commitment to the Asia- Pacific region, there is a suspicion that the US is “strategically overloaded”.

Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford

The US Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, has arrived in the eastern Mediterranean, increasing the delivery of equipment and ammunition to Israel. US President Joe Biden has also pledged more military aid to Israel. However, analysts say the possibility of the US military taking direct military action is very small.

Professor Douglas Streusand, US Marine Corps Command and General Staff College, commented that although Hamas has a large stockpile of rockets, Israel is still capable of dealing with Hamas, so it is very unlikely that the US will take military action here.

Professor Aaron Danis, from the American Institute for World Politics , also acknowledged that the current situation does not require the US military to deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Although the US military has an attack force and mobility capabilities that no other country has, Washington's strategic objectives are scattered around the world. After the Cold War, the US military strived to maintain the ability to win against unexpected situations in important areas. But over time, this standard has been questioned.

The Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, released a report saying that the US Military Strength Index for 2023 shows that the US cannot undertake more missions and does not have the capacity to handle conflicts in two important regions at the same time.

Professor Brands, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University (USA), once predicted in 2022 that the US would not only face continued tensions in the Pacific but also a serious security crisis in the Middle East. These could allude to a deep-rooted problem that has been accumulating for many years: strategic overload.

However, some analysts say the US military still has plenty of experience dealing with real-world problems.

According to expert Dennis Snower, Germany's Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the dispatch of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group to the Mediterranean is taking advantage of existing resources already deployed in the Mediterranean and will not reduce capacity elsewhere.

US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair is confident that even if more troops are needed in the Gulf, the US can still provide them in the short term. Some adjustments to the US strategy towards the Indo-Pacific region will not affect the US's ability to deploy troops in the Middle East.

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