Office of Net Assessment closure: a turning point for American strategy?

chiny24.com 3 months ago

On 14 March 2025, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, announced the decision to liquidate the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), which has since 1973 played an crucial function in the U.S. defence strategy as an interior think tank of the Pentagon. The office, founded for Richard Nixon's presidency by then Secretary of defence Melvin Laird, aimed to analyse and forecast America's future military capabilities in the context of rivalry with another powers, in peculiar China and Russia.

SHE was a unique think tank in her approach to long-term analyses and strategical assessments, which frequently meant examining future trends in military technologies and global politics. His work focused on providing comprehensive analyses that supported political and military decisions. The office gained designation thanks to the work of prominent strategist Andrew Marshall, who led ONA for 4 decades, from 1973 to 2015.

Hegseth's decision to close ONA met with strong criticism. Rush Doshi, erstwhile manager at the National safety Council, described this step as a “big mistake,” noting that SHE had developed invaluable analyses, having a crucial impact on American defence policy. erstwhile nipponese diplomat Kunihiko Miyake warned that closing the office would reduce the ability to prospective strategical reasoning in the US, which could consequence in a weakening of the United States' global position.

On the another hand, Senator Chuck Grassley, who had long criticized ONA for wasting public funds, accepted this decision with relief, arguing that the office had not focused adequate on its core tasks. Grassley called for the disclosure of detailed information on the projects funded by ONA, indicating any of the topics he considered inappropriate for the office's mission.

The closure of ONA is an crucial minute in the U.S. defence strategy, pointing to the hazard of short-sightedness in decisions that may in the long word affect US defence capabilities against increasing challenges from rival powers, in peculiar China.