National security strategies must develop quickly because of increasing reliance on technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G/6G wireless networking, and satellite communications (satcom). Growing use of electronic technology in daily lives, for example, is altering the global hierarchy of world powers from a unipolar world with the U.S. as the single leading global power to a multipolar world with several significant military powers.
Speaking at the National Defense University's commencement ceremony in Washington, D.C. on 6/9/23, U. S. Army General Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, “Now, it is increasingly clear that we are really in a multipolar international environment with at least three great powers: the United States, China and Russia. And three is much more complicated than two and certainly much more complicated than one.”
He explained that, in addition, many countries are developing significant weaponry and technology to rise in status as either regional or even global forces.
Milley encouraged the graduates to look forward with hope and optimism, “You are entering a world in which you are going to reach senior responsibility; that is, a world of much more complex international relations. And you will be its leader.”
The National Defense University provides graduate-level education aimed at preparing mid- and senior-level military officers and government officials for national security challenges, including the use of emerging technologies such as battlefield drones (see image above) and AI-driven adversaries.
He noted, “In today's extraordinarily dynamic world, your success and the success of your troops and the survival of your nation will depend on how well we, all of us collectively, take advantage of these technologies and how we optimize them for use in the military.”