The many defense reviews of the post-Cold-War era, beginning with the first Bush administration’s “Base Force” plan, have couched themselves in the language of “capabilities” rather than threats. It’s been as if security strategy in the 21st century was all about us, self-referential. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff back then, Gen. Colin Powell, summarized the Base Force as a “sign that says, ‘Superpower lives here.’” And so much of the enthusiasm for defense “transformation” captured the idea that the U.S. armed forces — “proved” to be the most dominant on the planet if not in human history by the “rapid, decisive” operations of the 1990s — could become so superior that no enemy would dare risk a confrontation. “Don’t even think about it!” was the message we hoped to transmit.

http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2005/12/1241321