This past year I had the opportunity to serve as a member of the “Future War” panel of the Defense Science Board 2007 Summer Study. I have distilled my contribution to the final report in this piece for the Foreign Policy Research Insitute (FPRI). In it, I try to lay out some of the challenges that US defense planners will face in the future, including the continuing war against Islamic extremism, nuclear weapons proliferation, the rise of China, and a possibly resurgent–and hostile–Russia. I’m not looking for trouble, but it is alway prudent to consider all the possibilities and examine the risks. As a former Army chief of staff once observed, hope is not a very good strategy.

For those Anchor Rising readers who follow security affairs, you might be interested to know that I am the new editor of FPRI’s quarterly journal, Orbis.