{"id":22637,"date":"1996-11-07T00:47:16","date_gmt":"1996-11-07T05:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/?p=22637"},"modified":"2021-10-26T12:31:05","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T16:31:05","slug":"the-development-of-americas-post-cold-war-military-posture-a-critical-appraisal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/the-development-of-americas-post-cold-war-military-posture-a-critical-appraisal\/","title":{"rendered":"The Development of America\u2019s post-Cold War Military Posture: A Critical Appraisal"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Carl Conetta, 07 November 1996.
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This article outlines the factors influencing and distorting military planning (with special attention to the 1992-1996 period.)<\/p>\n

\"\"In the early years of the post-Cold War era, the US defense establishment set out to formulate a new military posture. This was supposed to reflect the new strategic environment and pursue the opportunities afforded by advances in information technology. The result, however, was a \u201cnew\u201d posture closely resembling the old, writ somewhat smaller. It was to be progressively bolstered by cutting-edge technology inputs. However, while remarkably expensive, these inputs would only partially fulfill their promise, while exhibiting varying degrees of reliability and sustainability. Soon the USA would be spending as much and more inflation-adjusted dollars on its armed forces as during the Cold War. Also driving requirements and budgets upward would be the adoption of new strategic goals, roles, and missions exceeding those of the Cold War period.<\/p>\n

Over subsequent decades, the tension between purported military requirements and resources constraints would grow acute, while the armed forces found themselves over-extended worldwide and mired in seemingly endless wars, despite their presumed (and costly) advantages. How did US defense policy come to this point? The Development of America\u2019s post-Cold War Military Posture<\/em> shows how dysfunctional planning assumptions and processes can easily lead to dysfunctional policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carl Conetta, 07 November 1996. \u27aa HTML \u27aa PDF This article outlines the factors influencing and distorting military planning (with special attention to the 1992-1996 period.) In the early years of the post-Cold War era,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10167552604075290_133638503385018":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[26,13,3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense-reviews","category-military-strategic-studies","category-publications","category-us-defense-policy"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Development of America\u2019s post-Cold War Military Posture: A Critical Appraisal – Project on Defense Alternatives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/the-development-of-americas-post-cold-war-military-posture-a-critical-appraisal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Development of America\u2019s post-Cold War Military Posture: A Critical Appraisal – Project on Defense Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Carl Conetta, 07 November 1996. \u27aa HTML \u27aa PDF This article outlines the factors influencing and distorting military planning (with special attention to the 1992-1996 period.) In the early years of the post-Cold War era,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/the-development-of-americas-post-cold-war-military-posture-a-critical-appraisal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Project on Defense Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Project-on-Defense-Alternatives\/133638503385018\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1996-11-07T05:47:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-26T16:31:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/wp-content\/uploads\/1996\/11\/1280px-US_Joint_Chiefs_of_Staff_Jul_1983-e1498616676619-250x163.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carl Conetta\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@defensealt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@defensealt\" \/>\n<meta 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