Program Related Publication Feeds

The “New” US Defense Strategy and the FY2013 US Defense Budget: The Details of What the Department Has Said to Date

ian — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

During the last month, the US Department of Defense has issued a series of announcements, and two white papers summarizing its “new” approach to strategy and the decisions it is making in its FY2013 budget submission to cut the size and cost of US military forces.

The FY2013 Defense Budget Submission: Strategy is Easy (and Usually Vacuous); Money is Hard (And Only Meaningful if Used Wisely)

ian — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

The Obama Administration announced a new strategy early this month, but one in which it failed to provide meaningful details as to changes in deployments, force levels and plans, procurement plans, and spending.

The National Security Implications of a Balanced Budget Amendment

ian — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The passage of the Budget Control Act (BCA) has broad implications for every program and agency that is funded through the Federal budget process, but consequences for the American defense and national security apparatus are both unique and important to analyze.

“Fools, Liars, Political Posturers, and Deficit Reducers”: Budget Cuts and National Security

ian — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400

There is good reason why anyone who care about the current legislation on the budget deficit should care about its near term impact on national security:

Rethinking a Resource-Based Strategy

ian — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The United States faces a wide range of resource pressures in shaping its national security strategy. The Burke Chair has developed a new briefing that provides an overview of both the trends in defense spending, and how they interact with such resource constraints, entitled Shaping a Budget and Resource-Oriented Strategy for US National Security.

The Coming Challenges in Defense Planning, Programming, and Budgeting

ian — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The US faces growing pressure on its defense spending. The US needs to make fundamental changes in the way it develops its strategy, and its long term defense planning, programming and budgeting. The need for these changes is analyzed in two new studies by the Burke Chair. They include:

“Unplanning” for Uncertainty: Reshaping Future Defense Plans

ian — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The Macroeconomics of US Defense Spending

ian — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The US faces growing pressures on its defense spending. The US is still dealing with two ongoing wars and has a very different role in global power projection than its allies. So far, it has not made realistic efforts to project the cost of these wars in its defense budget, and the Afghan war is almost certain to put major new pressure on the defense budget in FY2012 and beyond.

The Growing Challenges in Defense Spending and the Defense Budget: An Overview

mentman — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0400

The US is scarcely alone in facing growing pressure on defense spending. Virtually all of its allies face equal or greater pressure. The US is, however, still dealing with two ongoing wars, and has a very different role in global power projection than its allies.

"Unplanning" for Uncertainty

amausner — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0400

This brief is a part of series prepared by the Burke Chair in Strategy on current issues in defense budgeting and strategy. The full breif can be downloaded at: http://csis.org/files/publication/100805_Unplanning_for_Uncertainty.pdf

Other briefs within this series include:

The Uncertain Cost Of War(s)

ian — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0400

This brief is a part of series prepared by the Burke Chair in Strategy on current issues in defense budgeting and strategy. Other briefs within this series include,

The Macroeconomics of US Defense Spending

amausner — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0400

This brief is a part of series prepared by the Burke Chair in Strategy on current issues in defense budgeting and strategy. Other briefs within this series include,

The Coming Challenges in Defense Planning, Programming and Budgeting

amausner — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0400

This brief is a part of series prepared by the Burke Chair in Strategy on current issues in defense budgeting and strategy. Other briefs within this series include,

The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review

amausner — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400

In 2010, the Obama administration will release its first Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). A strategic framework for the Department of Defense as it confronts current and future challenges, the QDR is intended to serve as a means to develop new policies, capabilities and initiatives. However, these intentions have so far been unrealized.

Resourcing For Defeat

amausner — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The United States is now losing the war in Afghanistan, and is failing to consolidate its victory in Iraq. Reversing this situation requires changes in strategy, but it also requires significant additional resources.

Cleansing the Poisoned Chalice?

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The United States faces a crisis in defense strategy, planning, programming, and budgeting almost as severe as the crisis it faces in its domestic economy. Its system for formulating defense strategy, planning, programming and budget documents has failed both within the Department of Defense and at the interagency level--problems documented in previous reports by the Burke Chair.

U.S. Strategy, Force Plans, and the FY2010 Defense Budget

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates provided the first indications of how he will seek to shift the U.S. defense budget and program in his press briefing of April 6, 2009.

Reforming Defense Decisionmaking

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400

The formal challenge of this conference is to transform the way the Department of Defense does its business.

America's Self-Destroying Air Power

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

An updated Burke Chair report entitled America’s Self-Destroying Air Power: Becoming Your Own Peer Threat examines the impact of a crisis in aircraft procurement on tactical, strategic, and enabling capabilities of U.S. air power. It draws on recent government and other reports to describe the problems in U.S. aircraft procurement and their impact on U.S.

The Future Combat System

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

A new Burke Chair report entitled The Future Combat System: What Future Can the Army Afford? examines the U.S.

Defense Procurement by Paralysis

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The new administration will face a crisis in U.S. national security planning, programming, and budgeting. This crisis has accelerated sharply over the last eight years and requires a broad restructuring of the U.S. national security effort, defense spending, military manpower, procurement, and readiness.

The New Presidency and the Future of American Military Power

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

It is a minor miracle that no federal office building or Washington think tank has ever collapsed under the weight of unread transition studies.

Abandon Ships

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Various responses to this report have added valuable insights to specific issues. This feedback has been integrated into an updated version of the ‘Abandon Ships’ report. Most significantly, a revised Navy shipbuilding cost estimate for Fiscal Year 2009 illustrates the scope of the strategy-reality disconnect (see A Growing Congressional Backlash).

A Poisoned Chalice?

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Both parties have nominated their candidates for the presidential elections in November 2008.

A Poisoned Chalice?

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The crisis in US national security planning, programming, and budgeting is not the fault of any one Administration, and has often been shaped by the mistakes of the US congress and key military com

NATO's Decision on Missile Defense

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

NATO's decision to move forward on missile defense in Europe is a mixed bag at best. It seems clear that missile defenses can work to some degree. No one has doubted t

The Cost of the Iraq War

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Changing Challenges of U.S. Defense Spending

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The attached report is an updated and corrected analysis of US dfense spending. The US ability to outspend its enemies has long been a key advantage of the American way of war. This advantage has increased with time.

The FY2008 National Security Program

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The attached briefing puts the President's FY2008 national security budget request in the broader context of the affordability and practicality of the program over the coming Future Year Defense Program period (FY2008-FY2011) and beyond.

U.S. Strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan

Wed, 02 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Washington, DC, May 2, 2007- President Bush's veto of the efforts of a Democratic Congress to impose benchmarks on the Iraqi government, and deadlines for withdrawal, has ended yet another round in one of the most unpleasant and dishonest partisan political debates in modern US political history.

Salvaging American Defense

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

From grassroots terrorism to the nuclear ambitions of hostile nations, the United States faces increasingly complex threats to its national security, and combating these threats continues to demand a reshaping of the nation's security structure, military forces, and defense expenditures. In this study, Anthony Cordesman offers a detailed analysis of critical challenges affecting U.S.

Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Emerging Challenge

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Key Challenges:

The New Strategy in Iraq

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0400

There are many definitions of “strategy,” some of which are virtually indistinguishable from “tactics.” To use one of the better dictionary definitions, however, “strategy” is “the science and art of employing the political, economic, psychological, and military forces of a nation or group of nations to afford the maximum support to adopted policies in

The Long War: The United States as a Self-Inflicted Wound

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Key Self-Inflicted Wounds

Israeli and U.S. Strikes on Iran

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Israel and the US differ over the timing and level of risk posed by Iran's nuclear efforts. The US sees a mature or serious Iranian nuclear threat as coming well after 2010. Israel claims to see it as coming as early as 2009 -- although much of this may be Israeli hype designed to push the US into diplomatic action, and military action if that fails.

Winning in Afghanistan: The Challenges and the Response

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Key Challenges:

The FY2008 National Security Program

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The President’s FY2008 budget request is one of the most complex in recent years, marking a major transition from a request that largely ignored wartime costs, and focused solely on baseline

The Changing Challenges of U.S. Defense Spending

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Ten Challenges the US Must Now Face

American Strategic and Tactical Failures in Iraq: An Update

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Working Draft for Outside Comment

Winning the Battle of Baghdad: The Challenges U.S. Forces and the Iraqi Government Must Meet

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Working Draft for Outside Comment

The US is taking on new challenges in Baghdad of a kind for which no army can really train. This does not mean it cannot succeed, but it is essentially experimenting with new kinds of peacemaking and warfare, and there are several issues and indicators that will help determine whether it succeeds or fails.

Israel's Uncertain Military Performance and Strategic Goals in Lebanon

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0400

It is difficult to judge Israel's military performance in Lebanon at a distance. Too little data are as yet available, and reporting is necessarily impressionistic. So far, however, it does not seem particularly impressive either in terms of strategy or execution.

The Challenge of Meeting the Needs of Our Active and Reserve Military

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0400

US Defense Planning: The Challenge of Resources

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Working Draft for Review and Comment
William D. Sullivan is a research associate of Burke Chair in Strategy CSIS

Is Defense Transformation Affordable?

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Winning the "Long War" in Iraq: What the US Can and Cannot Do

Wed, 24 May 2006 00:00:00 -0400

The latest report by Tony Cordesman looks at the meaning and implications of what will be a long war in Iraq.

The Five Best Resource Decisions in National Security

Tue, 02 May 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Shaping the Future of Counterinsurgency Warfare: A Strategic Approach

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0500

US and Coalition Casualties in Iraq

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0400

Success or Failure in the Fighting in Iraq?

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400

Iraqi Force Development: Can Iraqi Forces Do the Job?

Mon, 08 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0400