“This assessment of the strategic forces balance employs the methodology Andrew W. Marshall developed during his tenure as the director of the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment (ONA), a position he held for over 40 years following its founding in 1973. But while Marshall offered a definition of net assessment, he persistently refused requests to provide a definitive structure for how to craft one. This is easily understandable when one realizes that there are different kinds of net assessments: regional, functional, and technical. Moreover, by refusing to provide a cookie-cutter process for net assessments, Marshall left the door open to improve upon the methodology.”
Hudson Institute
February 2025
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