The American military at the end of the Cold War was a formidable force, large in size, very well equipped, and quite capable of meeting any conceivable Soviet warfare challenge, nuclear or conventional. Its recovery from Vietnam was total. Thoughts of honing its fast fading counter-insurgency skills or of a search to discover how best to participate in peace-keeping and nation-building ventures were far from its doctrinal priorities.
The conflicts being played out in Iraq and Afghanistan both pit regular armed forces of Coalition nations against irregular insurgent forces. Such conflicts have traditionally required large numbers of ground soldiers. In the twenty-first century though, technology has become more important than the number of boots on the ground because of the West’s low tolerance for casualties in its own armed forces.
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