Friday, January 29, 2010 at 7:07PM | Alexander Brozdowski Several articles by Inside Defense examine procurement and defense spending in the upcoming FY2011 budget request. Budget Insight provides a summary of these insightful critiques.
Friday, January 29, 2010 at 2:47PM | Gordon Adams A significant set of national security documents will appear next week. The Administration will deliver its FY 2011 budget request to the Congress on Monday, February 1. At the same time, the Defense Department will unveil its new Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) setting out the guidelines for DOD’s planning and budgeting for the next four years.
Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 5:10PM | Rebecca Williams From policy wonks to your average Joe, reactions to President Obama's State of the Union address are everywhere. Highlighted below are a handful of responses, including topics on international affairs, national security, and the military.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 5:43PM | BFAD As President Obama prepares for his State of the Union address this evening, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its most recent analysis of the outlook for the budget and the economy.
Friday, January 22, 2010 at 1:01PM | Rebecca Williams The Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA) released two reports this week on long-term trends in defense spending and the current fiscal dilemma:
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 12:35PM | Rebecca Williams Josh Rogin's article in Foreign Policy highlights the current state of play between DOD and State over US foreign and security assistance, with DOD coming out ahead.
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 9:12AM | Rebecca Williams About this time last year, we examined the critical FY 2010 defense budget issues facing Congress and the newly-elected administration. With the last of the FY 2010 appropriations bills passing last month, what happened?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 1:59PM | Rebecca Williams Congress is back in session today and one of the issues it must deal with is whether or not to raise the national debt ceiling. Congress is expected to raise the bar by a reported $1.0 - $1.8 trillion, totaling nearly $14 trillion, as the Treasury Department has estimated that the government will exceed its borrowing limits in February if the debt limit is not raised.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 12:12PM | Rebecca Williams An AP Exclusive released this morning confirms that the Obama administration plans to ask Congress for an additional $33 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in an emergency supplemental appropriations bill.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 9:07AM | Guest Blogger While many expect a minimal topline increase for defense spending again in FY 2011 (one to two percent real growth), this modest bump is still insufficient to pay all the Pentagon bills. The underfunding of defense plans has become predictable and why many analysts discount as unrealistic Pentagon budget outyear projections.
Monday, January 11, 2010 at 2:20PM | Rebecca Williams The toolkit of American engagement has begun to tilt increasingly to the military side. With more than 500,000 troops deployed overseas, widespread quasi-diplomatic responsibilities in the hands of regional Combatant Commanders, two significant conflicts underway, and a growing DOD portfolio of security and foreign assistance authorities, DOD and the military could now be said to be the “leading edge” of American statecraft.
Thursday, January 7, 2010 at 3:14PM | Rebecca Williams 
Gordon Adams and Cindy Williams have written a new book! Buying National Security provides a roadmap for readers on how national security budgets come together, de-mystifying the institutions, organizations, processes and politics that support planning and resource allocation. The tools of American statecraft −defense, diplomacy and public diplomacy, foreign assistance, intelligence, and homeland security− are rarely considered together, and Buying National Security uniquely examines how America plans and pays for its global role and safety at home. It is the only study of cross-government budgeting for national security that has ever been written and is an important reference for anyone interested in how America plans and pays for its global role and safety at home.
Monday, January 4, 2010 at 2:51PM | Rebecca Williams The Center for American Progress recently released a report offering several recommendations for the Obama administration regarding the funding of troop escalation in Afghanistan. As has been widely reported, the additional 30,000 troops will cost at least $30 billion. This amount was not included in the recently passed $636 billion FY 2010 defense budget.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 11:10AM | Guest Blogger Today, conflict is democratized, not in the sense of bicameral legislatures but strategic influence in the hands of non-state actors empowered by falling barriers to information acquisition, packaging and dissemination as well as easy access to the means of destruction and disruption, physical and virtual.
Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 5:57PM | Rebecca Williams Gordon Adams is featured in the latest episode of This Week in Defense News, with Vago Muradian. Gordon discusses the $100 billion increase in the Defense budget between FY 2011-FY2015. Check it out here.
Friday, December 18, 2009 at 12:34PM | Rebecca Williams The Center for a New American Security released a very interesting working paper this week on America’s reliance on contractors in wartime and its implications for successful military operations. Contractors in American Conflicts: Adapting to a New Reality moves beyond the typical discussion of private security contractors (such as Blackwater) and focuses on the bigger picture: the use of contractors has increased across the spectrum of government activities and within the business community, and that third country nations make up a significant portion of DOD contractor personnel.
Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 5:18PM | BFAD The Cable reported yesterday on the first mandated report that the administration sent to Congress as part of the terms of the Kerry-Lugar bill (The Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009).
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 9:00AM | Guest Blogger How will the Obama Administration balance commitments to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment currently at the center of the U.S. global health portfolio against a new focus on more fundamental health challenges as budget growth stalls? For those directly responsible for implementing this new initiative, the question is even more basic: can the new strategy truly integrate U.S. global health efforts fragmented not only by agency and mission, but by disease?
Monday, December 14, 2009 at 11:36AM | Gordon Adams Civilian contingency operations capabilities at State and USAID will get a major boost this year, thanks to Congress’ action on funding for State and foreign operations included in the FY 2010 Omnibus Appropriations bill (HR3288).
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 2:28PM | BFAD A recent HASC hearing is significant because as Ambassador, Mr. Eikenberry is the Chief of Mission or country team leader in Afghanistan and all US government agencies are under the leadership and direction of the ambassador while in country. Moreover, General McChrystal, the current commander of US forces in Afghanistan, received some but not all that he asked for in last month’s leaked report.
