On February 8, the United States and Japan jointly announced changes to the existing bilateral accord for realigning U.S. Marines on Okinawa. While both sides affirmed commitment to relocating a Marine air unit on the island, more significantly, the Obama Administration abandoned longstanding U.S. insistence that Japan fulfill pre-conditional commitments… Read more
Abstract: In passing the FY 2012 defense authorization and appropriations bills, Congress missed an ideal opportunity to reverse the damage that the Obama Administration inflicted on U.S. missile defense programs in 2010. Congress specifically failed to move the U.S. toward a more defensive nuclear… Read more
Last week, six U.S. Senators, including John McCain (R–AZ) and Jon Kyl (R–AZ), endorsed draft legislation that would block the automatic defense cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011for fiscal year (FY) 2013. Under their proposal, those additional cuts to the Pentagon would be offset by targeting spending… Read more
On January 26, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta provided the public with a preview of the defense budget request the Obama Administration will submit February 13. The full details of the fiscal year (FY) 2013 defense budget request will be released next month, but Panetta’s presentation makes it clear that… Read more
Since the end of the Cold War, the Air Force has struggled to maintain standards of excellence when fulfilling one of its most important missions: being prepared to respond to an adversarial nuclear attack. Recently, the Air Force has decided to move away from having one squadron of bombers dedicated… Read more
Iran is rattling sabers. Iraq may be falling apart. In North Korea, one of the world’s most inexperienced and unpredictable leaders has his thumb on the country’s nuclear button. Talks with the Taliban look like an instant replay of the Paris peace negotiations with Hanoi. The Arab Spring has turned… Read more
Following the enactment of the Budget Control Act earlier this year, the budget for the core defense program is already operating under stringent spending caps. At the same time, per capita expenditures for paying military personnel and operating the force are high and growing rapidly. Under these circumstances, funding for… Read more
Abstract: The failure of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“Super Committee”) to come to agreement on reducing the federal deficit raises the real prospect of a total of $1 trillion in … Read more
Among the amendments pending to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 before the Senate is one sponsored by Senator Kelly Ayotte (R–NH) that seeks to move up the date in the law for the Department of Defense (DOD) to produce auditable financial statements. The amendment would move… Read more
Abstract: The military’s health care and retirement systems have serious structural problems. Simply tinkering around the edges will leave military personnel and taxpayers paying more for less service. Instead, as The Heritage Foundation proposes, Congress should transform the military health care and retirement systems… Read more
This month, several individuals detained as "enemy combatants" will make their appeals for freedom to the highest court in the land. Perhaps now, more than any other time in recent memory, the eyes of the world are intensely focused… Read more
A few Members of Congress, motivated by American combat in the Middle East, have called for the reinstatement of a compulsory military draft. The case for coercing young citizens to join the military is supposedly based on social justice?that all should serve?and… Read more
Abstract: An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) over the United States could end modern life in America overnight. Whether caused by an enemy attack (a nuclear device detonated above the atmosphere) or by a natural phenomenon (a geomagnetic storm), an EMP can cause entire regions of… Read more
Revised and Updated on January 12, 2012 Download a PDF version with hyperlinks to House and Senate Appropriations Committee documents: Appropriations Tracker: FY 2012 Designed to inform American policymakers and citizens, the… Read more
Abstract: President Barack Obama’s defense budget request perpetuates a long-standing pattern of underfunding defense needs. Defense spending is already near historic lows, and the Administration’s budget would reduce it to levels unprecedented during wartime. Furthermore, Congress appears poised to repeat the past mistake of… Read more
Abstract: For more than 200 years, the United States has successfully preserved and protected its navigational rights and freedoms by relying on naval operations, diplomatic protests, and customary international law. U.S. membership in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)… Read more
Executive Summary Getting the national homeland security enterprise right is among the most difficult challenges in Washington because the problems in protecting the homeland are rooted in overcentralization, pervasive complacency, and entrenched politics—problems that often cause Washington… Read more
In discussing the Department of Defense’s upcoming budget request, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated “our approach...… Read more
The future is not bright for the U.S. military. Yesterday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave America a glimpse of the...… Read more
Beneath the President’s bully pulpit in the House of Representatives last night must be a very thick carpet under...… Read more
President Obama’s new national defense strategy is a budget-driven exercise masquerading as a strategic plan, writes...… Read more
President Obama visited the Pentagon on Thursday to outline his plan for gutting our nation's military. Obama's vision...… Read more
Yesterday at the Pentagon, President Obama offered up his revisionist view of the past three years of history in order...… Read more
Small businesses that are important to the safety and security of the nation are being gravely threatened by deep...… Read more
The echo chamber of Washington is hard at work. The consensus is growing that the U.S. military will need to aim for a...… Read more
In his straightforward and scathing piece for today’s New York Post, Heritage senior fellow Peter Brookes discussed the...… Read more
While America tries to reduce its debt and get its financial house in order, it should not take a penny more out of...… Read more
Deputy Director, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and Director, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies