The U.S. Department of Defense faces difficult strategic choices. It needs sound decision making processes to act with speed when aligning resources to strategy. The CNAS Defense Program helps policymakers make the right choices in resource expenditure, organizational transformation, and process reform through the following lines of effort:
Closing the Say-Do Gap
Implementing the defense strategy requires not only an appropriate level of resources but that sufficient funds are allocated to key strategic priorities, such as rebuilding munitions stores. In this line of effort, the CNAS Defense Program assesses the alignment between the president’s budget requests and the defense strategy and offers recommendations on how to bring the two into lockstep.
CNAS Defense Technology Task Force
In October 2023, the Defense Program launched the Defense Technology Task Force to bring together experts and practitioners from across the innovation ecosystem to include government, startups, new commercial entrants, legacy industry, and venture capital. The Task Force explores how organizations can better use existing authorities to innovate with the speed and scale required by today’s rapidly evolving threats.
A Changing Space
Space is becoming an increasingly important domain for competition and future warfare. In 2019, the United States created the newest service, the U.S. Space Force. This line of effort explores the organizational and strategic culture of the Space Force and considers its implications for joint warfare, inter-service relations, and the future of the service.
Defense
Virtual Event | Stuck in the Cul-de-Sac: How U.S. Defense Spending Prioritizes Innovation over Deterrence
Carlton Haelig, Philip Sheers
Oct 23, 2025
Research Team
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Stacie Pettyjohn
Senior Fellow and Director, Defense Program
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Carlton Haelig
Fellow, Defense Program
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Philip Sheers
Research Associate, Defense Program
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Molly Campbell
Research Assistant, Defense Program
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Kalena Blake
Intern, Defense Program
Highlights
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To Focus on China, U.S. Needs to Wean off Europe and Middle East Missions
Commentary
If the United States cannot rebalance its military focus toward the Indo-Pacific it risks expediting Chinese aggression in the region and furthering the decline of the US-led ...
By Carlton Haelig
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Integration for Innovation
Reports
Executive Summary In August 2023, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks made a clear case that the Department of Defense (DoD) must do better in “creat[ing] and exploit[i...
By Michael Brown, Ellen Lord, Andrew Metrick & Robert O. Work
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Stuck in the Cul-de-Sac
Reports
For more than a decade, the United States has sought to modernize its military to deter China, but it has become stuck in a developmental cul-de-sac that has allowed China to ...
By Carlton Haelig & Philip Sheers
