Backgrounder posted May 3, 2013 by Michaela Dodge
Beyond BRAC: Global Defense Infrastructure for the 21st Century
The budget cuts instituted under the Budget Control Act of 2011 are compelling the Administration and Congress to decrease the Department of Defense’s resources. These cuts dramatically undermine the country’s ability to protect its vital interests.[1] The cuts also increase pressures to conduct more base realignments and closures (BRACs). As these pressures increase, it…
Issue Brief posted April 18, 2013 by Baker Spring, Brian Slattery
Impact of Obama's Budget Proposal on Defense
President Obama’s overall budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2014 and beyond is all but certain to result in the continued application of sequestration to the defense account, which will lead to defense spending levels that are too low to permit the military to protect U.S. vital national interests. They will necessarily result in a force that either is too small, lacks…
Issue Brief posted January 24, 2013 by Luke Coffey
Hagel, Kerry, and Brennan Senate Confirmation Hearings: U.S. Policy on Arctic Security
In the coming weeks, the United States Senate will begin the confirmation process for three key Administration positions: Senator John Kerry (D–MA) for Secretary of State, former Senator Chuck Hagel (R–NE) for Secretary of Defense, and White House chief counterterrorism advisor John Brennan for director of the CIA. All three have been prominent backers of President…
Issue Brief posted January 9, 2013 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D., Luke Coffey, Theodore R. Bromund, Ph.D.
Hagel, Kerry, and Brennan Senate Confirmation Hearings: U.S. Policy on Europe
In the coming weeks, the United States Senate will begin the confirmation process for three key Administration positions: Senator John Kerry (D–MA) for Secretary of State, former Senator Chuck Hagel (R–NE) for Secretary of Defense, and White House Chief Counterterrorism Advisor John Brennan for Director of the CIA. All three have been prominent backers of President…
Issue Brief posted November 30, 2012 by Michaela Dodge
National Security: Independent Quadrennial Defense Review Panel Needed
In 2013, senior officials at the Pentagon will broadly examine U.S. national defense strategy, force posture, and weapons modernization in a congressionally mandated process called the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The QDR establishes a defense planning program that will direct the Department of Defense’s budget and determine how many vehicles, tanks, ships, aircraft,…
Special Report posted October 12, 2012 by Robert P Haffa Jr., Ph.D
Full-Spectrum Air Power: Building the Air Force America Needs
Executive Summary
Much of what is written today about the capabilities required by the military services is offered within the context of fiscal restraint, national budget austerity, and cuts in the defense budget to ensure that the armed services pay their “fair” share of deficit reduction. This study argues for building an Air Force to support a joint force…
Backgrounder posted August 7, 2012 by Bruce Klingner, Dean Cheng
U.S. Asian Policy: America's Security Commitment to Asia Needs More Forces
Abstract: Since the 19th century, Asia has been—and will continue to be—a region of vital importance to the United States. And yet, even as the threats to stability in Asia multiply, there has not been a commensurate increase of U.S. capabilities. While the Obama Administration believes its “Asia Pivot” will animate U.S. policy toward Asia, the U.S. military lacks the…
Issue Brief posted July 19, 2012 by Steven P. Bucci, Ph.D., Alison Acosta Fraser
Fix Defense Sequestration—Without Tax Increases
The U.S. political leadership is facing a big moment. Two issues confront them in particular: looming cuts from sequestration and the looming tax hikes from Taxmageddon. Both are poised to take effect on New Year’s Day 2013. If Congress and the President do not step up now and prevent these two budget time bombs from detonating, there will be grave consequences for the…
Issue Brief posted June 7, 2012 by Luke Coffey
Removing Brigade Combat Teams from Europe Undermines U.S. Interests
Recently, the House of Representatives passed an amendment that calls for the removal of all four U.S. Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) currently based in Europe. The sponsors of the amendment, Representatives Mike Coffman (R–CO) and Jared Polis (D–CO), argue that the U.S. should not be subsidizing the defense of its European partners at a time when many European nations…
America at Risk Memo posted May 30, 2012 by Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D.
Protecting the American Dream
We live in an exceptional country. Our Founding Fathers laid the framework upon which Americans have risen to greatness through principles of liberty, the rule of law, and self-determination.
However, there are some in the world who threaten America’s exceptionalism. Oppressive regimes still rule some nations. Rogue states openly declare aggression against the…
Issue Brief posted May 22, 2012 by Baker Spring
Centralizing Management of the Military Health System
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a paper last month urging the Department of Defense (DOD) to centralize the management of the Military Health System (MHS).[1] GAO has long held the view that the management structure for supervising the MHS is too de-centralized to impose the discipline necessary to make the system efficient.
Generally speaking,…
Issue Brief posted May 15, 2012 by Steven P. Bucci, Ph.D., Baker Spring
Congress Should Invest in Seapower over Bureaucracy
The U.S. House of Representatives showed strong support for national security when it voted through a reconciliation process to override the sequestration cuts scheduled for defense in January 2013. By following the House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) lead in raising the top-line budget for defense over the President’s fiscal year 2013 request, Congress can sustain…
America at Risk Memo posted May 7, 2012 by Steven P. Bucci, Ph.D.
A New Decade of National Security: How Ready Is America?
As America faces its first full decade post-9/11, how ready is she to protect her place in the world? The tragedy of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the events that were precipitated by them—Iraq, Afghanistan, worldwide terrorist campaigns, the Arab Spring, and the continuing reordering in the Middle East, along with the world’s economic fragility—have…
Backgrounder posted May 3, 2012 by Baker Spring
President Obama’s Missile Defense Program Falls Behind the Threat
Abstract: President Barack Obama has proposed a woefully inadequate budget for missile defense for FY 2013, neglecting his duty to defend the United States against foreign military threats. This is consistent with the President’s overall neglect of missile defense and his willingness to subordinate missile defense to his policies for arms control and nuclear disarmament.…
America at Risk Memo posted May 1, 2012 by Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
The Price of Liberty: Providing for the Common Defense
Throughout history, as in many other parts of the world today, political rule was the privilege of the strongest or the most powerful. Property was the possession of kings, barons, and lords. Each was born to his or her destiny, and almost all were subject to someone else.
America is different because it is uniquely dedicated to the universal principles of human…