In remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Saturday, United States Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel described the global posture of the United States:

Today our military has nearly 400,000 personnel stationed or forward-deployed in nearly 100 countries around the world, from Afghanistan to the Philippines to Guatemala. This continued forward presence has helped anchor America’s global leadership for decades, with its unmatched technological and operation edge.

That superiority has never been guaranteed, and today it is being increasingly challenged. Technologies and weapons that were once the exclusive province of advanced nations have become available to a broad range of militaries and non-state actors, from dangerously provocative North Korea to terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and Hezbollah – all clear threats to the United States and its allies.

Over the summer, while assessing the threat that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) posed, Hagel noted that Syria was “part of the problem” of the threats facing the Middle East. During Operation Protective Edge, Hagel further insisted that Hamas must be disarmed for there to be peace.

Hezbollah, Syria and Hamas are all clients of Iran.

[Photo: Defense.gov / WikiCommons ]