U.S. Army Gen. Xavier T. Brunson, commander of United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, delivered the keynote address at the U.S. Army War College’s 2026 Strategic Landpower Symposium here May 5, challenging the next generation of strategic leaders to question familiar assumptions and embrace what he called “I-Cubed” leadership.

Speaking to War College students, faculty, and senior military and civilian leaders gathered under this year’s theme, “Peace Through Strength,” Brunson framed the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance as a permanent, land-based projection platform anchoring American power in the Indo-Pacific.

“Tactical excellence is a prerequisite. Strategic clarity is the prize,” Brunson said.

Brunson urged students to set aside the conventional “north-up” view of the world and consider an “east-up” perspective. Rotating the map, he argued, reveals the Pacific not as an empty void to be crossed but as a coherent strategic geometry anchored by U.S. and allied positions in Korea, Japan and the Philippines.

“In Korea, we have that presence. We aren’t projecting power. Our alliance is our power,” Brunson said.

The general contrasted the precision and persistence of land power with the reach of air power. Air power can devastate targets across vast distances, he said, but it cannot occupy ground or hold partnerships.

“The soldier always stays,” Brunson said.

Brunson’s central charge to the class was to become “I-Cubed” leaders: Innovators, Investors and Initiators.

Innovators, he said, challenge the comfortable view and rotate the map when others accept the familiar. Investors build climates where subordinates feel empowered to push back constructively, treating “yes, but” as a hallmark of strategic thinking rather than insubordination. Initiators are leaders who can operate under mission command when communications go quiet and senior guidance is unavailable.

“Geography does not change. Perspective must,” Brunson said.

The Strategic Landpower Symposium is hosted annually by the U.S. Army War College’s Center for Strategic Leadership and convenes military, government, academic and industry leaders to examine the role of land power in achieving national strategic objectives.

Brunson commands the tri-command headquarters of United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, headquartered at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, Republic of Korea. The tri-command oversees the U.S. military commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and combined U.S.-ROK warfighting readiness on the peninsula.