U.S. Must Remain Pre-eminent Military Power While Reforming Department of Defense, Say CNAS Experts

U.S. Must Remain Pre-eminent Military Power While Reforming Department of Defens

Washington, May 23, 2012 — In Sustainable Pre-eminence: Reforming the U.S. Military at a Time of Strategic Change, released today by the Center for a New American Security, experts LTG David W. Barno, USA (Ret.), Dr. Nora Bensahel, Matthew Irvine and Travis Sharp argue that DOD should organize and operate America's armed forces in new ways. Click here to read the transcript from the May 29 live web chat with the authors of Sustainable Pre-eminence.

Maintaining the U.S. military's global pre-eminence is vital to protecting American interests and promoting American values. However, the Pentagon still has not enacted the types of reforms that are necessary to sustain that pre-eminence into the future.

Download Sustainable Pre-eminence: Reforming the U.S. Military at a Time of Strategic Change.

The authors recommend that DOD:

  • Sustain U.S. military pre-eminence but spend less on defense.
  • Use resources more effectively by strengthening interdependence and reducing redundancy among the services.
  • Accelerate investments in leap-ahead technologies, especially unmanned, autonomous and artificial intelligence systems.
  • Downsize military headquarters and the civilian and contractor workforce.


Report co-authors LTG Barno and Dr. Bensahel will also discuss this report at the CNAS annual conference on Wednesday, June 13 during a session on Responsible Defense in a Changing World. Learn more about the conference and register here. The conference will also be webcast live starting at 8:45 a.m. EDT on June 13.

Stay up to date on all CNAS news and events by following @CNASdc on Twitter and visiting us on Facebook. Sustainable Pre-eminence will also be available online here in e-reader and Kindle format on June 13.

For all press inquiries, contact Deputy Director of External Relations Sara Conneighton at (202) 457-9429 or sconneighton@cnas.org.

###

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is an independent and nonpartisan research institution that develops strong, pragmatic and principled national security and defense policies. CNAS leads efforts to help inform and prepare the national security leaders of today and tomorrow.

Press Contacts:

Kay King
Director of External Relations
and Senior Advisor
Email: kking@cnas.org
Ph: (202) 457-9408

Sara Conneighton
Deputy Director of External Relations
Email: sconneighton@cnas.org
Ph: (202) 457-9429