Asymmetries and their Potential for Enduring Advantage

Abstract

The 2022 National Defense Strategy calls for a renewed focus on identifying and leveraging asymmetries to better direct investments in ways that will yield enduring military advantage. The pursuit of asymmetric advantage, however, is not new and has been part of military strategy for centuries. This paper—a preview of a more comprehensive forthcoming paper from Metrea Strategic Insights—uses examples from nature and military history to develop a framework for assessing the potential of an asymmetry to provide enduring military advantage. The framework consists of five key factors: how immutable the source of the asymmetry is, how difficult it is to copy or counter, at what level of effect the asymmetry is anchored and how applicable it is across the spectrum of operations, the degree to which it builds on other underlying asymmetries, and how well it scales. The paper applies the framework to assess three example areas of competition that are often touted as potential asymmetries: ubiquitous ISR, hypersonic weapons, and commercial innovation. The paper finds that asymmetries vary significantly in their ability to endure, the degree to which they maximize leverage, and their potential to scale effects exponentially. The framework presented can help inform which asymmetries are best aligned with defense strategy and how defense resources can be most effectively and efficiently applied.