June 24, 2019
New Pentagon head to push NATO on military spending
Mark Esper takes over Monday as acting secretary of defense, and this week at a NATO meeting he will continue the Trump administration’s push for trans-Atlantic allies to boost defense spending to the alliance goal of 2% of gross domestic product. Esper will focus on “more equitable burden sharing,” according to a Pentagon statement.
Already there has been movement toward the goal. Several NATO members increased military investments following escalation with Russia over the past few years, said defense analyst Byron Callan of Capital Alpha Partners. It’s part of a decadelong upward trend, following a post-Cold War period of “peace dividend” spending declines, said Rachel Rizzo, fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
Listen to the full conversation and more on NPR's Marketplace.
More from CNAS
-
Examining Kushner’s European Security Framework
Podcast
This week, American, Ukrainian, and Russian officials are gathering in Abu Dhabi for the first trilateral peace talks in nine months. But the negotiations could have implicati...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
CNAS Insights
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security / Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security / Energy, Economics & Security
CNAS Insights | National Security Agenda in the New Congress: A 10-Item To-Do ListWhen Democratic majorities sweep into Congress in January, Washington will return to divided government. The prospect of stalemate will be real, with Democrats prone to opposi...
By Richard Fontaine
-
A Blue Wave in America: The Midterms and Foreign Policy
Podcast
In a stunning midterm election, Democrats have won back control of the House and Senate. Even with some races still uncalled, Democrats have secured at least 54 Senate seats a...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Transparent, Approved and Stoppable: A Standard for Government’s Use of AI
Commentary
Specific legislation should be required to approve the use of AI systems, and it should set rules for vetting AI system capabilities, limiting their use, and ending their depl...
By Jim Townsend
