The next Secretary of Defense will face a myriad of major challenges, including the war in Ukraine, the turmoil in the Middle East, and the growing military threat from China. There are also issues closer to home. They include the possibility of deploying the U.S. military to the southwest border to address immigration issues and revitalizing the U.S. military industrial base to counter global adversaries.
ukraine
President-elect Donald J. Trump has said little about how to resolve the conflict. However, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance outlined a plan that would allow Russian forces to hold onto Ukrainian territory they had captured.
Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said last week that his president would try to broker a deal with Russia within his first 100 days in office. Critics fear that a hasty deal will lock in Russia's territorial gains in Ukraine, which amount to about 20% of the country.
One of the biggest unknowns for Ukraine is whether the Trump administration and Europe will provide any security measures to deter Russia from seizing further territory.
“Russia's military victory in Ukraine is somewhat similar to the debacle in Afghanistan in the first year of the Biden administration,” said Seth G. Jones, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. Deaf,” he said.
middle east
What will happen to the 2,000 US troops supporting the fight against Islamic State in northeastern Syria?
In late 2018, Trump ordered the U.S. military to abandon its mission, and Jim Mattis resigned as secretary of defense in protest. A subsequent compromise reversed that decision, leaving a smaller U.S. force in a smaller corner of that region of Syria.
Unrest in Syria after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime last month and the rise of an Islamist coalition led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, and an Islamic State-inspired attack in New Orleans on New Year's Day , the likelihood of immediate unit changes is low. , but the long-term future is uncertain.
Meanwhile, negotiators from both President Biden and Trump are working together to reach an agreement by Inauguration Day for a Gaza ceasefire that would also free some of the remaining hostages.
But if that effort fails, the next defense secretary could play a role in trying to influence Israeli air operations and ground attacks against remaining Hamas fighters in Gaza.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, a retired four-star Army general, said that unless Israel does more to protect civilians, it could face a “strategic defeat” that would undermine its security. I warned you repeatedly.
