Given the combination of COVID-19, economic turbulence and an election year, Americans can be forgiven if international security has been pushed out of mind. Congress, fortunately, has not been so distracted: The House Armed Services Committee recently passed a $740 billion annual defense authorization bill.
The measure addressed several hot-button issues specifically — a raise for the troops, Confederate symbols on bases, limiting the president's ability to pull out troops from Europe and Afghanistan. But the longer-term questions are murkier: What are the key areas in which the United States must invest to prepare for deterrence and combat operations in the 21st century?