The difficulty military strategists face in scanning the horizon for threats they can plan against is in strong evidence in the newest report of the National Defense Panel, which was charged with examining security challenges from 2010 to 2020. The biggest buzzword in looking for potential threats is WMD, weapons of mass destruction. These are nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. These weapons are increasingly susceptible to miniaturization, meaning they could be smuggled into the United States, and the missiles to deliver them are becoming readily available. As an example, the panel cites the 1995 use, by a bizarre cult, of sarin gas in a Tokyo subway.
Some military objectives are obvious, such as logistics capability.
Whether the weapons are rocks or ray guns, they have to be gotten to where they are needed in quantity and in time. One of America's greatest global military advantages is that it can move people farther and faster than any other major power. In the absence of a traditional, definable military threat, there will be the temptation to use the armed forces in law enforcement roles, for example, to counter drug smuggling or illegal immigration or the perceived threat of terrorism. However, Congress decided shortly after the Civil War that using the military for domestic law enforcement was a bad idea, and it remains a bad idea to this day. Also in the absence of a definable threat, Congress will continue to make military policy in ways that reflect domestic political considerations.