Defense Budgeting for a Safer World The Experts Speak

America is facing the most dangerous and complex geopolitical environment since World War II. Ensuring the adequacy and flexibility of our defense budget is essential to keeping our nation secure and the world safe for global democracy. Defense Budgeting for a Safer World brings together the ideas, perspectives, and solutions of America's most renowned experts on national security and the defense budget.

The volume originates from a conference held at the Hoover Institution in early 2023 and reflects the presentations, discussions, and debates among military and civilian leaders. Drawing on their remarkable experience leading the Pentagon, the services, Congress, and academe, these experts lay out the key priorities in reforming, realigning, and rightsizing the budget amid current challenges. Several topics converge: national security threats, strategy, technology and innovation, personnel, reform options, and the politics of the defense budget. This unique compilation covers each of the major areas of debate in forging and sustaining a defense budget capable of supporting the nation's security needs.

Michael J. Boskin is the Wohlford Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Tully M. Friedman Professor of Economics at Stanford University.

John N. Rader is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and the chief operating officer at Affinity Partners Global LLC.

Kiran Sridhar is the head of strategic initiatives for Resilience and serves on the investment team of Shield Capital.

Contents Foreword by Secretary Condoleezza Rice Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction by Michael J. Boskin, John N. Rader, and Kiran Sridhar 1. The Geopolitical, Military, and Fiscal Context for Defense Budget Reform by Michael J. Boskin, John N. Rader, and Kiran Sridhar Part 1: National Security Threats 2. The Military Challenge of the People’ s Republic of China by Oriana Skylar Mastro 3. I Spy a Problem: Transforming US Intelligence Agencies for the Technological Age by Amy Zegart 4. Terrorism and Counterterrorism in an Era of Great-Power Competition by Joseph H. Felter Presentations and Discussion by General Keith Alexander, Admiral Gary Roughead, and Michael McFaul, moderated by Commander Bart D’ Angelo Part 2: National Security Strategy 5. The International Environment and Threat Backdrop by Michael O’ Hanlon 6. America’ s Operational Imperatives: Some Budgetary Considerations by Nadia Schadlow Presentations and Discussion by Michael O’ Hanlon, Admiral Mike Mullen, and H.R. McMaster, moderated by Lieutenant Colonel James M. Harrington Part 3: Technology, Innovation, Procurement 7. Investing in Emerging Technologies: Lessons from Unmanned Systems by Jacquelyn Schneider 8. Our Military Debt Crisis: Preserving America’ s Strategic Solvency by James M. Cunningham 9. A Requiem for Defense Innovation? Ukraine, the Pentagon’ s Innovator’ s Dilemma, and Why the United States Risks Strategic Surprise by Christopher Kirchhoff 10. Department of Defense Budgeting: The Unrecognized National Security Threat by Michael Brown Presentations and Discussion by Michè le Flournoy, Eric Fanning, and Raj Shah, moderated by Kiran Sridhar Featured Discussion by Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary Leon Panetta, moderated by Secretary Condoleezza Rice Part 4: Personnel and Talent Recruitment and Retention 11. The Challenges of the People Portfolio by David S. C. Chu 12. Cyber: From Bleeding Talent to Bleeding Edge by Vishaal “ V8” Hariprasad and Casey “ Waldo” Miller 13. The All-Volunteer Force at Fifty: Productivity, Peace, and (Unmet) Potential by Tim Kane Presentations and Discussion by David S. C. Chu and Mackenzie Eaglen, moderated by Captain Corey Allen Braddock Part 5: Reform Recommendations and Budget Implications 14. Keeping the Pentagon Running: Commonsense Changes to Defense Budgeting by Mackenzie Eaglen 15. Reforming Defense Budgeting by Elaine McCusker 16. US Defense Budget Reform: Historical Perspectives (1940s– 2020s) by Mark R. Wilson 17. Go Big or Go Home by Roger Zakheim Presentations and Discussion by Admiral Gary Roughead, Ellen Lord, and David L. Norquist, moderated by Michael J. Boskin Part 6: View from Congress: National Security and the Budget 18. Can We Buy Like We Talk? by Mac Thornberry Presentation and Discussion by Mac Thornberry, moderated by John N. Rader About the Contributors About the Tennenbaum Program for Fact-Based Policy Index