In her testimony, Flournoy outlines four “highly disruptive trends” in the global sphere: an increasingly powerful China and increasingly aggressive Russia, profound technological disruption, climate change, and questions to the effectiveness of U.S. global leadership in recent years. To help remedy these issues, Flournoy recommends a two-part effort be undertaken by the Department of Defense. The first part is a near-term effort to strengthen deterrence capabilities, particularly in regard to China, and the second part is a long-term plan to ensure that the U.S. military can deter aggression in the future.

The full testimony and recording of the hearing can be found on the Senate Armed Services Committee website.