Defense Management Challenges for the Next American President
Journal Article, Orbis, volume 53, issue 1
January 2009
Author: Ashton B. Carter, Former Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Harvard & Stanford Universities
Belfer Center Programs or Projects: Preventive Defense Project
The next American president will face a daunting list of national security problems, including a serious defense budget crunch. The budget crisis will be deepened by the global financial crisis, a tapering of supplemental funding associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the steady growth of military healthcare and other personnel costs.
After six years of rapid defense budget increases, the Pentagon has lost the practice of matching strategy and resources. The next president will need to manage risk among investments in irregular warfare, counterterrorism, balancing new super powers, countering weapons of mass destruction, and traditional warfare. He will also need to begin to build non-military "soft power" capabilities outside of the Pentagon.
Full text of this article is available in the pdf document below.
- Orbis2_090128.pdf (4.8 MB PDF)
For more information about this publication please contact the PDP Associate Director at 617-495-1412.
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