Inclusion and Diversity Policy as Great Power Competition

Why are inclusion and diversity important? If asked, most people would probably say that everyone deserves a fair shot regardless of their background, how they look, or what they believe. The U.S. Navy’s Inclusion and Diversity Goal and Objectives document mentions warfighting performance and reaching peak potential as reasons for pursuing it. Others, including the Naval Institute’s Board of Directors, say that inclusion and diversity are important because without them, the Sea Services would be ineffective at fighting. Each of these arguments is valid, but they do not quite paint the whole picture. Why should the military, and the Sea Services in particular, make it a priority to foster inclusion and diversity onboard the nation’s ships and in its barracks? Inclusion and diversity, it turns out, have an immense bearing on great power competition.