text: Chapter 1
  Figure 1-2. The competition continuum
  1-33. Commanders design operations to secure U.S. objectives and create conditions favorable to U.S.
  interests. These operations gain or maintain a position of advantage during competition. In conflict,
  commanders direct operations to defeat enemy forces. Military power cannot, by itself, guarantee success in
  all situations. It must, however, establish global, regional, and local conditions that allow for the other
  instruments of national power to exert their full influence. In practice, all instruments of national power
  should function together as an interrelated and integrated whole.
  COOPERATION
  1-34. Cooperation is a selective activity to support or advance U.S. interests and objectives. Depending on
  the circumstances, cooperation can take many forms. In some cases, U.S. forces establish open-ended
  relationships with allies or partners involving the commitment of military efforts or resources. Security force
  assistance activities to build partner military capacity over time are one example. In different circumstances,
  U.S. forces may cooperate in a limited fashion with a partner to achieve a specific objective. Often, this
  partner is a competitor elsewhere or in relation to other objectives. The combined efforts of the United States
  and Russia to limit the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is an example of this kind of cooperation.
  1-35. There are few circumstances in which a major military action does not have some ramification for at
  least one of the United States’ global or regional allies. In most campaigns and major operations, success, as
  characterized by a return to a lower level of competition below armed conflict, depends on unified action
  involving efforts by multinational military and civilian partners.
  COMPETITION BELOW ARMED CONFLICT
  1-36. U.S. forces compete at levels below armed conflict to achieve U.S. objectives while preventing
  adversaries from achieving objectives detrimental to U.S. objectives. Competition below armed conflict
  seeks to improve relative strategic or military advantage without causing an escalation to armed conflict. U.S.
  forces achieve the best possible strategic objective within resource or policy constraints. They seek to
  improve U.S. advantages without jeopardizing other U.S. interests.
  ARMED CONFLICT
  1-37. When directed, U.S. forces engage in armed conflict either unilaterally or as part of a multinational
  force. Operations conducted during armed conflict involve the destruction of enemy forces in the pursuit of
  assigned objectives. Armed conflict may occur during limited contingency and even crisis response
  operations, but in this case, the duration is limited and the use of force is focused on protecting designated
  parties and deterring further aggression by belligerents. For these reasons, the scope and scale of armed
  conflict short of war can vary widely depending upon the objectives. For example, foreign internal defense
  and counterinsurgency operations may only involve a handful of Army personnel at one end of the continuum
  or involve multiple echelons of command and tens of thousands of Soldiers at the other end.
  1-38. When conducting operations during armed conflict, U.S. forces must consider what the transition
  period will look like afterwards. Armed conflicts do not end with a stable post-conflict environment. Without
  a plan to consolidate gains after conflict, the disruption and destruction resulting from armed conflict create
  conditions for widespread stability challenges and further violence.
  1-39. General war is armed conflict between major powers in which the total resources of the belligerents
  are employed, and the national survival of a major belligerent is in jeopardy. General war usually involves
  nation-states and coalitions; however, civil wars may reach this level of violence. The competition continuum
  creates a distinction between war and other forms of armed conflict because of the scope and scale of the