, Columnist
Pentagon’s New Plan to Fight China and Russia in the Gray Zone
The U.S. military has to walk a tricky line: preparing for war with other great powers while making peacetime efforts to ensure that war never happens.
Photographer: Francisco J. Diaz Jr./U.S. Marine Corps via Getty Images
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When it comes to relations among the great powers, conflict and competition are not the same thing. Conflict is what happens when states use violence to achieve political goals — in other words, war. Competition is the jostling and coercion that occur short of armed conflict — the art of maneuvering for geopolitical advantage amid a tense peace.
Not since the end of the Cold War has that distinction been as salient for the U.S. Department of Defense.