Grand military strategy deemed unrealistic

The containment strategy that the U.S. used against the Soviet Union in the years following WWII may not be so useful in today's environment.

"We do not have a monolithic threat. We are facing a multitude of challenges...I have difficulty envisioning an overall grand strategy that relates to all these challenges and, most importantly, defines our response," said former Army Vice Chief of Staff General Jack Keane during a hearing with the House Armed Services Committee on consideration for an American grand strategy.

"It's not that we cannot conceive of a grand strategy that encompasses our multifaceted challenges, we can, but it would be so overarching that I think it would lose a sense of realism and practicality."

The hearing comes months before a change in presidential administrations, an event that the committee believes will provide an opportunity to reevaluate the current approach to defense. Keane discussed necessary changes.

"We have to take away some vital lesson...post conflict operations are every bit as important as the conflict itself and we are painfully aware of that. Therefore, we have to have structures in our military and capabilities to deal with that better than what we have now."