Regional Special Operations Headquarters: Franchising the NATO Model as a Hedge in Lean Times.

摘要

For better and worse, 2011 was a banner year for US domestic and foreign policy in the fight against violent extremists. The United States saw the end of Osama bin Laden and North Korean's Kim Jong Il. Spring came to flower in parts of the Middle East leading to the collapse of dictatorial regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. The United States observed the tenth anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 while Congress debated the scope and size of cuts to discretionary spending in the wake of the largest budget deficit in history. The last combat troops crossed the Iraqi border with Kuwait signaling the end of an eight year campaign. And, while these changes in many respects are promising, our nation still faces, in the words of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, 'a complex and growing array of security challenges across the globe.' Coupled with these complex and irregular threats is our rising national debt that, in itself, creates a significant impact on our nation's ability to defend itself. The current fiscal reality will necessitate tackling these challenges with a military that is smaller in size and reorganized to capitalize on regional partnerships to share the security burden.