Read featured commentary from CSIS experts on the latest developments in defense and national security.
One of the largest sources of waste in the defense budget is the massive number of excess bases DoD maintains in the United States. The military has requested permission from Congress to launch another round of base closures every year, projecting savings of roughly $2 billion per year. But every year, Congress denies those requests.
By the end of June, we should have an idea of what the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will look like, and acquisition reform is sure to be on the agenda. Andrew Hunter explains why we should avoid the standard cynicism surrounding acquisition reform efforts and analyzes HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry’s latest bill.
The Defense Department has begun the formulation of a new defense strategy. Amidst the chatter surrounding the security strategy effort, Kathleen Hicks explains why significant change of Defense Department direction is unlikely to emerge from the forthcoming National Defense Strategy and recommends some tools to help manage the mismatch born of ambitious goals and inevitably limited resources.
CSIS experts Todd Harrison, Kathleen Hicks, Andrew Hunter, Mark Cancian, and Raymond DuBois recently signed an open letter calling on members of Congress to authorize a round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).
As the end of the current continuing resolution for fiscal 2017 approaches, all eyes are on Congress to do something. How can Congress ensure an enough money for to meet our defense challenges, readiness, and modernization needs while in a political stalemate environment?
The Pentagon can’t properly train and support the people and weapons it already has. Simply adding more won’t solve the problem — and could undermine long-term readiness.
President Trump has an opportunity to insert new ideas into this debate that could break the stalemate, demonstrate his deal-making skills, and provide the Defense Department with the additional funding he promised.
A stronger NATO is needed to ensure a safe world and a strong NATO relies on member states fulfilling their country’s commitments to NATO.
Washington has always managed to keep Tokyo and Seoul from pursuing nuclear ambitions, but rising tensions with North Korea and a change in administration could change that in months.
The failure of the MUOS 5 highlights vulnerabilities for the U.S. military space systems. This vulnerability shows that the current space architecture places too many eggs in too few baskets. As such the military needs to rethink its space architecture, but how should it consider changes for future space systems?