June 24, 2020
The Bottom Line
Although lawmakers and the public frequently debate the size of the U.S. defense budget, a fundamental question usually receives less attention: What does U.S. military spending say about America's national security priorities? Expert Susanna V. Blume explains how U.S. strategic principles should drive key decisions in defense spending.
Learn more:
Podcast
Building the World’s Biggest Budget
What do the Pentagon's decisions about military spending say about our priorities as a nation? What goes into the DoD's $700 billion budget each year? Former Pentagon official...
Commentary
What Congress Should Do with the 2020 Defense Budget
Summary There are many things that the administration’s 2020 defense budget request gets right. However, the proposal remains too focused on both the size of the joint force a...
Commentary
Dear Pentagon: It’s Not How Big Your Budget Is. It’s How You Use It.
Over the past two months, unusually public negotiations between the White House and the U.S. Department of Defense on the 2020 defense budget request have bounced from $733 bi...
Reports
Rising to the China Challenge
The United States and China are locked in strategic competition over the future of the Indo-Pacific—the most populous, dynamic, and consequential region in the world....
Reports
Make Good Choices, DoD
In a new report, Susanna V. Blume and Molly Parrish offer a deep dive into how the U.S. Department of Defense makes decisions about what the U.S. military needs, what to buy a...
Reports
Strategy to Ask
Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan promised a “masterpiece” for 2020. The critical question this report asks is: Has he made good on that promise?...
More from CNAS
-
What's a Revolution in Military Affairs Good For?
Podcast
For decades, militaries have chased the next revolution in warfare. But what actually makes a revolution in military affairs revolutionary? Is there one happening now? Does it...
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
U.S., Israel Elections Loom Over Iran War
Video
On Bloomberg This Weekend, Bloomberg Economics Defense Lead Becca Wasser and Bloomberg News Middle East correspondent Dan Williams examine how elections in the U.S. and Israel...
By Becca Wasser
-
Charting the New Nuclear Age
Reports
Executive Summary With the continued growth of China’s nuclear arsenal, the United States will likely face two nuclear peer threats in the coming years. The United States cann...
By Stacie Pettyjohn, Carlton Haelig & Natasha Lander Finch
-
BBC World News | Saudi Arabia: Cruise Missiles and Drones Intercepted
Video
Becca Wasser, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security joins BBC World News to discuss Saudi Arabia struggling to defend itself.Watch the full interview...
By Becca Wasser
