State Partnership Program: Enduring in Post Conflict, Fiscally Constrained Environment.

摘要

The United States is burdened with far more debt now than ever before. The nation s challenging economic situations will demand significant reductions in discretionary spending and a reprioritization of global strategic objectives. The passing of the Budget Control Act of 2011 and post war economic renovation and fiscal responsibility to the nation seized DoD s attention; Defense spending is not without its limits. This challenging fiscal conundrum will entail significant reductions in the base defense budget as we transition between war and what comes after. The National Security Strategy has emphasized the importance of strengthening security cooperation with other countries through building partner capacity. The State Partnership Program (SPP) is one of several competing efforts in the area of partnership building and security cooperation, but the only one that has the capability to integrate military and civilian capabilities providing a variety of low-cost, high value returns in the counterinsurgency environment. DoD must prioritize cost reductions by reducing or eliminating missions and programs, which while beneficial, are not value-added enough to be retained in the defense budget. Will the SPP be such a program.