Through the Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden administrations, the USA made countering the rise of China within the Indo-Pacific and, to a lesser extent, checking Russian revanchism in Europe core priorities of its nationwide safety technique. Traditionally, nonetheless, great-power competitors and battle have taken place exterior the theaters of core concern to the competing powers. This report — the abstract of a four-volume collection — explores the place and the way the USA, China, and Russia could also be competing for affect in these secondary theaters (Africa, the Center East, and Latin America); the place and why competitors may flip into battle; what type that battle may take; and what implications the findings have for the U.S. authorities at massive, the joint pressure, and the Division of the Air Power. This analysis was accomplished in September 2021, earlier than the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The report has not been subsequently revised.
The analysis reported right here was commissioned by Headquarters Air Power A5S and carried out inside the Technique and Doctrine Program of RAND Undertaking AIR FORCE.
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