Rebeccah L. Heinrichs, Senior Fellow, and John Hyten, Former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the Hudson Institute, stated that Russia and China are "thwarting US strategy" by "developing weapons to target the US homeland." They made this assertion in a commentary published for the Hudson Institute on April 4th.
"But Russia and China seek to supplant this international order by thwarting US strategy," said Henrichs and Hyten. "They are developing weapons to target the US homeland in an effort to strong-arm Washington into pulling back support for its allies and to erode its ability to project power."
According to Heinrichs and Hyten, U.S. foreign policy has traditionally relied on supporting allies against common enemies by "projecting power abroad." To deter Russia and China from their plan to "supplant this international order," they suggest that "Washington should update its missile defence policy."
Heinrichs and Hyten further explained that both Russia and China are working to engage in "coercive" attacks on U.S. allies, with an aim of "frightening but not enraging Washington." They noted that "Moscow is also developing and deploying new armaments such as nuclear long-range torpedoes, nuclear cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles, cyber weapons, and unmanned aerial systems." They speculate that China's strategy could involve a direct military attack on Taiwan. The ultimate goal of Russia and China is to have the U.S. retract its support from allies in order to prevent a global conflict.
The authors propose three key adjustments: revising missile defense policy to cover homeland defense against all threats; identifying and protecting critical infrastructure vulnerable to attack; exploring innovative defense technologies such as space-based and directed energy capabilities. Heinrichs and Hyten assert that "Strengthening US homeland missile defences would be a boon for US strategy: making conflict, even nuclear conflict, less appealing to adversaries; limiting damage should conflict still occur; and safeguarding US leaders’ ability to resist coercion and act in the national interest."
The Hudson Institute is a policy think tank based in Washington D.C., according to its website. Its members cover domestic and foreign policy issues in a bipartisan fashion.
