two-theatre war

two-theatre war, a defense-planning model used to estimate the size and composition of U.S. forces necessary for optimal military readiness at any given time. The two-theatre war model held that the United States should be capable of simultaneously fighting two major conflicts in different parts of the world.

During the administrations of U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy (1961–63) and Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–69), the U.S. Department of Defense used a two-and-one-half strategy—the ability to fight two major wars and one limited conflict simultaneously. In the 1960s this strategy gave the United States the ability to confront a Soviet attack in Europe, a Chinese attack somewhere in Asia, and a minor conflict in Cuba.

Fiscal constraints and the Vietnam War led to a one-and-one-half concept during the 1970s. Later that decade and in the 1980s, Pres. Jimmy Carter used the measure of multitheatre war, with the Soviet Union in Europe and the Persian Gulf, and the administration of Pres. Ronald Reagan maintained U.S. forces sized on the basis of an all-out global war with the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies (an idea known as the Illustrative Planning Scenario). The administration of Pres. George H.W. Bush used a base-force concept—the minimum force capable of executing a full range of defense strategies—rather than planning for specific scenarios.

The two-theatre war model was adopted in 1993 by the administration of Pres. Bill Clinton. It was part of a readiness strategy that would enable the United States to concurrently fight a large offensive ground war in the Persian Gulf (most likely against Iraq) and another war on the Korean peninsula (against North Korea).

Critics of the two-major-theatre war criterion cited the problem of planning as if one were “fighting the last war.” They stressed the changing nature of threats to U.S. national security—such as terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction among smaller states, and an emerging China. This line of criticism eventually led to a greater emphasis on lighter, more flexible, and more mobile rapid-response forces.

The administration of Pres. George W. Bush laid out a slightly modified two-theatre war concept. The requirement for the United States to be able to simultaneously fight a war in two critical areas was maintained, and U.S. forces were expected to be able to win decisively in one of those conflicts. A decisive victory was defined as including the potential for territorial occupation and regime change if necessary. Defense of the homeland, forward deterrence in four critical regions of the world (Europe, Northeast Asia, the East Asian littoral, and the Middle East and Southwest Asia), and planning for smaller-scale contingency operations formed part of the strategic model. The administration of Pres. Barack Obama moved toward more flexible forces while retaining in its strategy the two-theatre war model. However, some analysts believed that the two-theatre war strategy, though still officially upheld by the Pentagon, was effectively relinquished in the 2000s in favour of a more realistic assessment and a leaner military.