At last, after decades grappling with global terrorism, the United States has a new strategy. The 2018
National Defense Strategy (NDS) announced, “inter-state strategic competition . . . is now the primary concern in U.S. national security.” Renewed great power competition has arrived.
Orienting toward great power competition has helped the Department of Defense focus on the challenge posed by peer competitors. It also has created a strategic blind spot. Too often, great power competition is equated with the high-end fight. Insufficient thought goes toward competition below the level of armed conflict preparation of the operational environment, low-intensity operations, hybrid warfare, or operations in the “gray zone.” The Sea Services need a revolution in thinking about “haze-gray zone” hybrid maritime operations. The newly released tri-service maritime strategy is an opportunity to kick-start this recalibration.