How Coronavirus Could Hurt U.S. Military Readiness
So far the effects of COVID-19 on the military have been modest, but if current trends continue, the effect on military readiness will be devastating.
Content Type: Analysis
Read the most recent analysis from CSIS experts on defense-related issues.
Actual Obligation Rates versus Comptroller Projected Obligation Rates
Seamus Daniels and Todd Harrison assess budget execution for DoD acquisition accounts. This report compares obligation rate projections released by the DoD Comptroller with traditional DoD budget execution benchmarks and the actual obligation rates for acquisition accounts.
What to Look for in the FY 2021 Defense Budget Request
The Trump administration is expected to release its FY 2021 defense budget request on February 10, 2020, the final budget submitted in the BCA era. In this brief, experts from the CSIS International Security Program outline major issues to watch in the FY 2021 defense budget.
Analysis of the FY 2020 Defense Budget and Its Implications for FY 2021 and Beyond
The Trump administration characterized its FY 2020 defense budget request as a “masterpiece.” The CSIS Defense Budget Analysis program provides its assessment of the budget, its implications for future defense spending, and FY 2020 appropriations.
Getting to Less? The Minimal Exposure Strategy
In this brief, the authors discuss a strategy that they have labeled the Minimal Exposure Strategy. The strategy’s core premise is that the United States is largely secure from military threats due to continental U.S. geography and the deterrent quality of its nuclear and other strategic capabilities.
Getting to Less? The Progressive Values Strategy
In this brief, the authors explore a defense approach they have labeled the Progressive Values Strategy. The strategy is grounded in a view that the military instrument is not well suited to meeting many of the security challenges facing the United States. It focuses on achieving a level of military sufficiency that deters adventurism by others—as well as itself.
Getting to Less? The Innovation Superiority Strategy
In this brief, the authors discuss a strategy they have labeled the Innovation Superiority Strategy. The strategy is guided by a focus on achieving enduring American military advantage in the U.S.-China security competition.
Getting to Less? Exploring the Press for Less in America’s Defense Commitments
This CSIS Brief is the first in a series that explores the contours and implications of strategies that might reduce the U.S. military’s mission space through greater constraints on its ends, ways, or means.
U.S. Military Forces in FY 2020: The Struggle to Align Forces with Strategy
Annually, CSIS senior adviser Mark Cancian publishes a report on U.S. military forces—their composition, new initiatives, long-term trends, and challenges as well as the strategic and budget context that shapes their structure. This report, a compilation of previously published white papers, takes a deep look at each of the military services, special operations forces, DOD…