The Fulcrum of U. S. Regional Rebalancing: Russian and U.S. Securitization Moves in Contemporary Strategic Shifts

• Main Author: Peterson, James B
• Other Authors: AIR UNIV MAXWELL AFB AL SCHOOL OF ADVANCED AIR AND SPACE STUDIES
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Government and Political Science; Military Operations; Strategy and Tactics; *GEOPOLITICS; *MILITARY STRATEGY; *NATIONAL SECURITY; ARCTIC REGIONS; ARMS CONTROL; BORDER SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE; GUIDED MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEMS; MILITARY DOCTRINE; MILITARY FORCES(FOREIGN); MILITARY FORCES(UNITED STATES); NATO; NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION; POLICIES; RUSSIA; TERRORISM; THESES; REBALANCING; RSCT(REGIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX THEORY); SECURITY POLICY; SECURITIZATION MOVES; SNSRF(OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION); NSS(NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY); MILITARY TRANSFORMATION; Arctic; Fulcrum; Pivot
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA617322; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA617322

In January of 2012, President Barack Obama issued strategic guidance to the Department of Defense. This guidance included extensive rebalancing of US regional focus for security policy. The regions of primary impact in this Rebalance include Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. These regions describe an arc around the Russian Federation making this nation a geopolitical pivot in US rebalancing efforts. Using Regional Security Complex Theory and the concept of securitization moves, this thesis examines security policy documents from both nations to identify potential areas of conflict or cooperation. Through identifying links and connections in the securitization moves of the United States and the Russian Federation across the European, Eurasian, Middle Eastern, and Asian regions essential context emerges for consideration by strategists involved in rebalancing US regional focus.