Crisis or Opportunity: The Urgent Need for Defense Reform in the 21st Century.

摘要

The United States currently faces an unprecedented debt crisis that requires fresh thinking on National Security. As the nation is forced to address its fiscal challenges, the Department of Defense (DoD) and Congress will face difficult choices if the nation is to maintain effective deterrence, reduce costs, and protect critical capabilities across the enterprise. Failure to make these difficult decisions will place the nation at significant risk and further squander shrinking resources. This crisis presents an opportunity for constructive change. The economy and the budget will drive strategy. If we don't agree to a unifying vision that underpins these decisions, we will be left with an irrelevant, hollow force that is incapable of protecting U.S. vital national security interests. Seizing the opportunity requires strong leadership by the Secretary of Defense and the full support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- otherwise, inertia will reign and service self-interests will prevail over strategy. Prudent reductions in defense spending must be anchored to an underlying set of principles that inform strategy and focus scarce resources. These include adjusting U.S. strategy to account for the resource constraints, maintaining effective deterrence, continuing to flatten the defense enterprise, and reforming DoD business processes.