A Biden presidency is expected to strike a relatively steady course at the Pentagon, seeking to restore stability in military decision-making while reemphasizing alliances and pressing ahead with efforts to respond to China’s rise.
But the incoming administration is also likely to face challenges similar to those the Trump administration encountered, as new Defense Department leaders try to wind down counterinsurgent operations and make difficult trade-offs to shift toward Asia.
President-elect Joe Biden and his team “will have the advantage of a new start with some political capital,” said Mark Cancian, a former Marine and White House budget official who is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
But Cancian cautioned that a Biden Pentagon will need to identify a handful of core objectives, or it “will lack the momentum to overcome inertia and partisan opposition.”