Defense Planning Paradigms and the Global Commons

Over the last several years, examination of U.S. national security interests within the context of the global commons has emerged as a major policy issue in the defense community. At the highest levels of the Department of Defense (DOD), there is now an awareness that the U.S. military will be confronted by a host of challenges "to stability throughout the global commons." Furthermore, the Nation can "expect to be increasingly challenged in securing and maintaining access to the global commons and must also be prepared for operations in unfamiliar conditions and environments." In response, the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Report has now assigned "assured access" to the commons as a top priority for U.S. military forces. As defined by DOD, the global commons comprise the geographic and virtual realms of "space, international waters and airspace, and cyberspace." They are a subset of the broader maritime, aerospace, and cyber domains, deriving their existence from the notion of areas that are accessible to all but owned by none. The commons are seen as the essential conduits of U.S. national power in a rapidly globalizing and increasingly interconnected world. The heritage of the commons' strategic importance can be traced back at least as far as Alfred Thayer Mahan, who highlighted the relationship between maritime power and the ability to maintain the sea lines of communications with economic expansion and the impact on overall national power. Attainment of U.S. strategic, economic, informational, and military objectives is contingent upon assured access to, and freedom of action within, the commons. Accordingly, global commons access must remain at the forefront of U.S. national security imperatives.

Published in Joint Force Quarterly (JFQ), v60 p61-66, 1st quarter 2011.