cknight
Mitt Romney says U.S. Navy is smallest since 1917, Air Force is smallest since 1947
(HTML version) Tampa Bay Times PolitiFact, 18 Janaury 2012. Charles Knight: “If Mr. Romney wants a truly stark example of diminished military capability, he should compare today’s horse cavalry to that in 1917, or even 1941 when there were still 15 active horse-cavalry regiments in the Army. ‘Today there has been total disarmament of horse cavalry,’ he might say, ‘leaving our nation defenseless in this regard.’ His chosen comparisons are almost as absurd.”
Strategic Adjustment to Sustain the Force: A Survey of Current Proposals
by Charles Knight, PDA Briefing Memo #51, 25 October 2011. A survey of five proposals by independent experts for adjusting US global strategy to the new fiscal realities in ways that enhance security while avoiding ‘hollowing’ of the forces. ➪ PDF
Pentagon Resists Deficit Reduction: Rollback in Planned Budget Falls Far Short of Deficit Reduction Goals – Puts Fiscal Reform at Risk
➪ read or print PDF PDA Briefing Memo #46, 30 January 2011. Examines Defense Secretary Gates’ offer to cut $78 billion from defense plans over five years and compares it to fiscal reform proposals that seek much greater savings. Does the Pentagon need a yearly baseline budget above $500 billion? Or do we spend so much because our defense strategy is impractical? Two tables summarize Gates’ plan and compare different spending scenarios.
The QDR’s Catastrophic Report
(HTML version) by Charles Knight and Larry Korb, Foreign Policy, 05 August 2010. “As the Sustainable Defense Task Force sought to demonstrate, failing to make reasonable reductions in military spending in this time of complex fiscal pressures will end up being far more of a threat to U.S. interests than any external enemy.”
What Price for Defense?
(HTML version) William Hartung. The Nation, 28 June 2010.
Thou Shall Not Covet Thy General’s Dollars
(HTML version) Emily Badger. Miller-McCune, 24 June 2010.
Left-Right Defense Wonk Coalition Looks to Cut $960 Billion from Bloated Pentagon Budget
(HTML version) Spencer Ackerman. The Washington Independent, 11 June 2010.
Bipartisan Group Urges Cuts in Defense Spending
(HTML version) Fiscal Times, 12 June 2010.
Task Force sees Pentagon Cuts Key to US Budget Fix
(HTML version) Andrea Shalal-Esa. Reuters, 11 June 2010.
The Dynamics of Defense Budget Growth, 1998-2011
by Carl Conetta, May 2010. ➪ PDF
Prepared for “Economics and Security: Resourcing National Priorities,” a workshop sponsored by the William B. Ruger Chair of National Security Economics, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, May 2010. This article also is a chapter in Richmond M. Lloyd, ed, Economics and Security: Resourcing National Priorities (Newport RI: Naval War College, 2010).
- A related PDA publication of interest: An Undisciplined Defense: Understanding the $2 Trillion Surge in US Defense Spending, 18 January 2010, with 21 charts & tables.
In Lean Times, Military Spending Still Gets a Pass
(HTML version) Mark Thompson. Time Magazine, 24 February 2010.
Get Serious About Reform: Budget Challenges Will Force Hard Choices
(PDF version) by Carl Conetta and Charles Knight, Defense News, 21 February 2010. For a decade, Congress and the White House have been permissive when it comes to defense spending. This has undercut any impetus for reform and prioritization. Options for structural reform and revised strategic priorities are long overdue.
The President’s Dilemma: Debt, Deficits, and Defense Spending
➪ see full PDF report by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Memo #45, 18 January 2010. The nation faces Reagan-level deficit spending and greatly increased debt. Can the president’s program of high defense spending and increased non-defense spending survive?
Assessing the 2010 QDR: essential questions
➪ PowerPoint PDA Briefing Memo 45, January 2010. Poses questions that must be asked in assessing the Quadrennial Defense Review.
Rethink Afghanistan
(video) a film by the Brave New Foundation, featuring several interview segments with Carl Conetta, 2009.
Report of the Task Force on a Unified Security Budget for the United States, FY 2010
by Lawrence Korb and Miriam Pemberton, Foreign Policy in Focus, 1 September 2009. The proposal re-balances defense, homeland security, and international affairs expenditures. PDA is a member of the report’s task force.
Dust-up between the NYT and the White House masks willful ignorance
(HTML version) by Charles Knight, Oped News, 13 December 2008. The recent dust-up between the New York Times and the White House over whether “faulty intelligence” caused the Bush government to invade Iraq only serves to perpetuate a misleading narrative which seeks to shift the blame for a disastrous American war.
Re-Envisioning Defense: An Agenda for US Policy Debate & Transition
➪ see full PDF ➪ see full HTML (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
by Carl Conetta, PDA Briefing Report #22, 01 December 2008. ➪ PDF ➪ HTML ➪ HTML summary
The US has been using its armed forces beyond the limit of their utility. The result is not just diminishing returns, but negative ones.
The US has been using its armed forces beyond the limit of their utility. The result is not just diminishing returns, but negative ones.
Yes, We Really Must Talk With Iran
(HTML version) by Charles Knight and Chris Toensing, CommonDreams.org, 28 October 2008. If American troops are ever to come home from Iraq and Iraqis are to have a decent chance at peace and prosperity, the United States must open up a new chapter in its Middle Eastern diplomacy.
Iraq War Withdrawal and Exit Plans
(HTML version) PDA Resource Compilation, updated 20 October 2008. Major plans by analysts and experts, positions of U.S. political leaders, and selected commentaries on exiting Iraq.
The Evolving India-U.S. Strategic Relationship
(HTML version) a PDA compilation edited by Bipasha Ray, updated 20 October 2008. Collection of links to articles, analyses, commentaries, official reports, congressional testimonies and lectures exploring the evolving strategic relationship between the U.S. and India.
Like a Mirage in the Desert: Full Withdrawal May Recede into the Time Horizon
by Charles Knight, Presentation at the United States Institute of Peace panel on “The Future of the U.S. Military Presence in Iraq” (as prepared), 25 July 2008 . HTML
Iraq Withdrawal (an interview of Charles Knight)
(audio) Charles Knight. Interview on CounterSpin, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. 18 July 2008.
An intelligence vacuum in Washington
(HTML version) Ritt Goldstein. Asia Times, 16 July 2008.
Where Do We Go From Here?
(HTML version) Editorial. The New York Times, 07 July 2008.
A Blueprint for Withdrawal
(HTML version) Ali Gharib. Inter Press Service, 25 June 2008.
Quickly, Carefully, and Generously: The Necessary Steps for a Responsible Withdrawal from Iraq
(printable PDF version) (HTML version) (summary) by Task Force for a Responsible Withdrawal from Iraq. A Commonwealth Institute publication, 01 June 2008. Twenty-five initiatives the US can and should take to reduce violence and regional instability as the US leaves Iraq. Preface by U.S. Representative James P. McGovern (MA – 03).
Confronting Iran: Critical perspectives on the current crisis, its origins, and implications
(HTML version) a PDA compilation, updated 10 May 2008. Addresses the nuclear crisis and other aspects of the US-Iran conflict as well as strategic issues.