Ulisa: Journal of International Studies

Abstract

This article aims to question the concept of full spectrum dominance concept brought to the agenda of the US Department of Defense after the Cold War, according to changing threat perceptions. In this context, in the light of neo-realism theory, defined threats and the concept of full spectrum dominance in the national security and military strategy documents of the USA after the Cold War was analyzed through the qualitative content analysis method. In the unipolar international structure carried out within the scope of the fight against terrorism, which is the number one security threat on the world agenda after the 9/11 terrorist attack against the USA, the global security climate and structure led by the USA has evolved into a completely different structure owing to China's growing economic power and increasing defense expenditures, Russia’s harsh military and hybrid response in Georgia and Ukraine to the NATO's eastward expansion process. Despite the conventional and nuclear superiority of the US Armed Forces, it is among the conclusions that the full spectrum concept was developed to be effective in the fight against non-state terrorist organizations after the Cold War. But the concept fell off the agenda during and after Obama's presidency. At the beginning of the 21st century, it has been understood from the documents examined that the increasing terrorism threat perception in the USA caused conventional and nuclear capabilities to remain in the background, but Russia’s tactical nuclear weapon threat rhetoric in the Ukraine War and challenging power China pushed the threat of terrorism to the third place.