Esper identified the 2018 National Defense Strategy as a shift away from the post-9/11 focus on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency toward competition with China and Russia.
Notes on verification
Multiple independent sources (RAND, Breaking Defense, Brookings, Esper's own speech text) corroborate the claim about the 2018 NDS shift and Esper's articulation of it. [tier=silver indep_score=0.812 clusters=4 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- Secretary of Defense Engagement at RAND Corporation ( ... (seed:military_and_intelligence)
- https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RBA597-1.html (corroboration)
- https://breakingdefense.com/2022/10/the-new-national-defense-strategy-keeps-the-pentagons-focus-locked-on-china/ (corroboration)
- https://www.brookings.edu/events/the-national-defense-strategy-and-great-power-competition-a-conversation-with-mark-t-esper/ (corroboration)
- https://www.andrewerickson.com/2020/09/secdef-espers-china-focused-speech-at-rand-full-text-as-delivered/ (corroboration)