Summary: The U.S. currently lacks the military capability to defend South Korea, Taiwan, and other allies simultaneously. To ensure security in Northeast Asia, the U.S. needs to increase its military investments and enhance allied cooperation.

-This includes augmenting both conventional and nuclear forces and developing a clear strategy to deter adversaries.

-The U.S. has shifted from building forces capable of defending two theaters simultaneously, relying instead on strategic ambiguity.

-However, growing threats from adversaries like China and North Korea necessitate a return to more robust military preparations and enhanced alliances.

-South Korea, in particular, needs to bolster its military capabilities, including improved reserve training and air force dispersal strategies.

The United States right now lacks the military capabilities needed to defend South Korea, Taiwan, and other allies all at the same time. Defending its allies and partners in Northeast Asia will require greater U.S. military investment and greater allied cooperation.

The United States should significantly augment both the quantity and quality of its conventional and nuclear forces, both at home and in the region. It must also enhance its commitments and strategies for dealing with foreign challenges, convincing adversary leaders that they will not find U.S. and allied gaps to exploit.

In recent decades, the United States has abandoned building military forces, supplies, and logistics capable of defending even two theaters simultaneously – doing so is viewed as just too expensive. Washington bet on strategic ambiguity to deter adversaries while maintaining significant but limited military capabilities. In the post-Cold War era, where no major adversary posed a serious threat to the United States, that approach worked well enough, and it allowed the U.S. to moderate its military expenditures.

But times have changed. Declared adversaries of the United States are pursuing substantial military capability enhancements. Meanwhile, the United States is struggling to maintain existing military capabilities in bulk. For example, the United States deferred nuclear force modernization for several decades despite adversary modernization programs. The planned U.S. modernization program reduces the number of U.S.........

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