Analysis / Reform, Strategy

Getting to Less? The Minimal Exposure Strategy

Getting to Less Series

— Kathleen Hicks, Joseph P. Federici, Seamus P. Daniels, Rhys McCormick, Lindsey Sheppard

This is the final CSIS Brief in a series called Getting to Less. The series explores different philosophies and motivations that could lead to a decreased emphasis on U.S. defense ends, ways, or means. 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. Moreover, the strategy holds that U.S. military adventurism abroad creates significant costs and risks. Accordingly, the Minimal Exposure Strategy attempts to scale down the size and operational scope of the U.S. military. The CSIS authors explore likely changes that such a strategy might entail. The brief concludes by exploring the risks and opportunities associated with the Minimal Exposure Strategy.

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(Photo: U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class J.T. Armstrong)

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Kathleen Hicks, Joseph P. Federici, Seamus P. Daniels, Rhys McCormick and Lindsey Sheppard, "Getting to Less? The Minimal Exposure Strategy," Center for Strategic and International Studies, February 6, 2020, last modified February 6, 2020, https://defense360.csis.org/getting-to-less-the-minimal-exposure-strategy/.

Kathleen Hicks is a senior vice president, the Henry A. Kissinger chair, and director of the International Security Program at CSIS. Prior to joining CSIS, she served as principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy and deputy under secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and forces. She focuses on U.S. national security and foreign policy, geopolitical trends, and defense matters.

Joseph P. Federici is an associate director and associate fellow with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he works on a variety of projects pertaining to geopolitics, national security, and defense matters. Mr. Federici also assists in coordinating the CSIS Military Fellows program. He holds a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law and a B.A. in history and political science from Rutgers University. Most recently, he graduated, with distinction, from Georgetown University with an M.S. in foreign service.

Seamus P. Daniels is a fellow for Defense Budget Analysis in the CSIS International Security Program, where he researches issues related to defense funding, force structure, and military readiness.

Rhys McCormick is an associate fellow with the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group (DIIG) at CSIS. His work focuses on unmanned systems, global defense industrial base issues, and U.S. federal and defense contracting trends. Prior to working at DIIG, he interned at the Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy at CSIS and the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute at the U.S. Army War College.

Lindsey Sheppard is an associate fellow with the International Security Program at CSIS, where she supports various projects in emerging technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, and in security applications, ranging from strategic to tactical. Ms. Sheppard contributes expertise in modeling and simulation, system architecture, electronic warfare, and radar from five years of experience in defense research and development. Before joining CSIS, she was a member of the technical staff at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory and the Georgia Tech Research Institute, during which time she served as the systems engineering lead on multiyear efforts building simulation capabilities to evaluate technology and deployment solutions to support military operations. She holds an MS and a BS in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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