Getting to Less — Exploring the Press for Less in America’s Defense Commitments

Some analysts argue that the United States’ post-Cold War foreign policy has not made the country any safer, has needlessly cost lives, and has been too expensive. They argue instead for a more restrained approach.

The first brief in this series explores seven intellectual strains that argue for lessened objectives, more efficient ways, or decreased resources for the U.S. defense enterprise. The following three briefs are illustrative defense strategies that reflect contemporary perspectives on the desired missions and capabilities of the U.S. military. These strategies are the: Innovation Superiority Strategy, Progressive Values Strategy, and Minimal Exposure Strategy.

The Getting to Less series is intended to inform active debates over the role of the United States in the world and over the role of the military in U.S. national security policy.

CSIS Briefs 

CSiS Briefs

Getting to Less? The Minimal Exposure Strategy

February 6, 2020 | Kathleen H. Hicks, Joseph Federici, Seamus P. Daniels, Rhys McCormick, Lindsey R. Sheppard

This is the final CSIS brief in a series called Getting to Less. In this brief, the authors discuss a strategy that they have labeled the Minimal Exposure Strategy.

 

CSIS BRIEFS

Getting to Less? The Progressive Values Strategy

January 30, 2020 | Kathleen H. Hicks, Joseph Federici, Seamus P. Daniels, Rhys McCormick, Lindsey R. Sheppard

This is the third CSIS brief in a series called Getting to Less. In this brief, the authors explore a defense approach they have labeled the Progressive Values Strategy.

 

CSIS BRIEFS

Getting to Less? The Innovation Superiority Strategy

January 23, 2020 | Kathleen H. Hicks, Joseph Federici, Seamus P. Daniels, Rhys McCormick, Lindsey R. Sheppard

This is the second CSIS brief in a series called Getting to Less. In this brief, the authors discuss a strategy they have labeled the Innovative Superiority Strategy. The strategy is guided by a focus on achieving enduring American military advantage in the U.S.-China security competition.

 

CSIS BRIEFS

Getting to Less? Exploring the Press for Less in America’s Defense Commitments

January 16, 2020 | Kathleen H. Hicks, Joseph Federici

This CSIS brief from defense experts Kathleen H. Hicks and Joseph P. Federici is the first in a series that explores the contours and implications of strategies that might reduce the U.S. military’s role through greater constraints on its ends, ways, and means.