(HTML version) by Charles Knight, Huffington Post, 07 May 2013. Advocates for U.S. military intervention in Syria are presently confounded by wide and deep opposition from the American public to additional military interventions abroad. When strong majorities hold opinions opposing military intervention in Syria there is something other than isolationism going on. Indeed, a majority of Americans are far ahead of Washington in learning the hard lessons of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
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Time to Reset Defense: Guidance for a More Effective and Affordable US Defense Posture
(video: presentations and discussion) (brief summary) a leadership conference sponsored by the Project on Defense Alternatives, held at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 26 March 2013. Panel 1: Dr. Gordon Adams, Stimson Center; Carl Conetta, Project on Defense Alternatives; Dr. Gregory Foster, National Defense University; Amy Belasco, Congressional Research Service, discussion interlocutor. Panel 2: Benjamin Friedman, Cato Institute; Melvin Goodman, Center for International Policy; Col. Douglas Macgregor (ret.), Burke-Macgregor Group; Sandra Erwin, National Defense Industrial Association, discussion interlocutor.
Striking a New Deal for Defense
(HTML version) by Carl Conetta and Charles Knight, Government Executive, 13 February 2013. Whether or not the sequester goes into effect — or lasts only a couple of months — the Pentagon’s budget is surely coming down another notch or two. That’s simply the reality of the current economic and strategic circumstance. It’s time for defense leaders to plan accordingly. The surest way to make smaller Pentagon budgets work is to cut end strength and structure — fewer troops, brigades, ships and aircraft. In the near term this might be managed by reducing the number of soldiers and the size of units routinely stationed or rotated abroad.
Reasonable Defense: A Sustainable Approach to Securing the Nation
(printable PDF version) (summary) (appendix of tables and charts) by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Report #21, 14 November 2012. Argues for a new balance among the various instruments of national power reflecting today’s strategic conditions. Taking a realistic view of security needs, the report advocates a military 20% smaller than today’s. It advances a “discriminate defense” strategy that would focus the military on cost-effective missions and save $550 billion more than official plans over the next decade. Main report includes 9 tables. Appendix has 18 additional tables and charts addressing personnel, force structure, and budgets.
A Smarter Way to Trim the Pentagon Budget
(HTML version) by Charles Knight, Time Battleland, 24 August 2012. The Reasonable Defense plan demonstrates how carefully conceived changes to the Pentagon budget can be consistent with economic recovery and also provide ample military capacity to protect America and our core commitments abroad.
Defense Budget Resources 2012
(HTML version) Project on Defense Alternatives Resource Compilation, 14 August 2012. A one-page compilation of PDA charts, articles, and reports on every aspect of the Pentagon spending controversy. Why do we spend so much? Is it necessary? What does it mean for debt, deficits, and the economy? How might we “reset defense” to ensure security, solvency, and economic revitalization?
Defense Sense: Options for National Defense Savings in Fiscal Year 2013
(printable PDF version) (summary of recommendations) 15 May 2012. Cato Institute and Project on Defense Alternatives. The report outlines 18 recommendations for safely reducing the Fiscal Year 2013 defense budget by $17 – 20 billion. Two charts, one table.
Four Decades of US Defense Spending
(graph) PDA Data Summary, 25 January 2012. One page review and assessment of the change in US defense spending over 40 years. One graph.
Strategic Adjustment to Sustain the Force: A Survey of Current Proposals
(printable PDF version) by Charles Knight, PDA Briefing Memo #51, 25 October 2011. A survey of five proposals by independent experts for adjusting US global strategy to new fiscal realities in ways that enhance security while avoiding ‘hollowing’ of the forces.
Going for Broke: The Budgetary Consequences of Current US Defense Strategy
(printable PDF version) PDA Briefing Memo #52, by Carl Conetta, 25 October 2011. The Pentagon’s adoption of more ambitious goals, strategy, and missions after the Cold War has led to today’s unsustainable defense budgets. Two tables.
The Pentagon’s New Mission Set: A Sustainable Choice?
(printable PDF version) by Carl Conetta, 01 August 2011. An updated and expanded excerpt from the Report of the Task Force on a Unified Security Budget (USB) for the United States, August 2011.
“Are We Ready to Cut Defense Spending? What the Polls Say.”
(HTML version) by Carl Conetta and Charles Knight, Huffington Post, 08 February 2011. Although neither the White House nor Congress seem eager to apply the deficit-reduction axe to the Pentagon’s record-level budgets, the American public appears ready.
Experts Letter on Defense Spending to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
(printable PDF version) (HTML version) PDA and Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy, 18 November 2010. Joint declaration by 48 top scholars and practitioners of national security policy: “We can achieve safe savings in defense if we are willing to rethink how we produce military power and how, why, and where we put it to use.”
Debt, Deficits, and Defense: A Way Forward
(printable PDF version) (summary) Report of the Sustainable Defense Task Force, 11 June 2010. The report presents options for reducing DoD’s budget — in sum saving nearly $1 trillion over the next decade.
An Undisciplined Defense: Understanding the $2 Trillion Surge in US Defense Spending
(printable PDF version) (summary) by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Report #20, 18 January 2010. Analyzes the steep rise in defense spending since 1998. 21 charts and tables.
Re-Envisioning Defense: An Agenda for US Policy Debate & Transition
(printable PDF version) (HTML version) (summary) PDA Briefing Memo #44, 01 December 2008. Summarizes problem areas in recent US defense policy as well as several broad topics of debate that touch on them all.
Forceful Engagement: Rethinking the Role of Military Power in US Global Policy
(printable PDF version) (HTML version) (summary) by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Report #22, 01 December 2008. The US has been using its armed forces beyond the limit of their utility. The result is not just diminishing returns, but negative ones.
Dissuading China and Fighting the ‘Long War’
(printable PDF version) by Carl Conetta, World Policy Journal, 01 July 2006. The 2006 US Defense Review advanced two new strategic vectors for the US armed forces – one targets a putative “global Islamic insurgency”; the other puts America on a collison course with China.
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