ISP Brief December 2017
December 20, 2017
International Security Program
It's our pleasure to send you the December Edition of the ISP Brief, the monthly newsletter of the CSIS International Security Program. ISP Brief features articles and commentary written by our scholars, their analysis as published in various media sources (including video and audio highlights), and links to recent events. We hope the newsletter provides you, our readers, a snapshot of the excellent work underway in ISP, and the engaging thoughts of our experts. As always, your feedback is welcome. Have a wonderful holiday season!
Featured
Finding Consensus for a New Authorization for the Use of Military Force
December 7, 2017
A discussion with Representatives Coffman, Gallego, Bacon and Panetta on congressional war powers authority and their proposal for a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF).
Ballistic Missile Defense: Evolving Threats and New Priorities with Rear Admiral Jon Hill
December 13, 2017
This Maritime Security Dialogue event featured a discussion with Rear Admiral Jon A. Hill, Deputy Director, Missile Defense Agency, on the evolving threats and new priorities for ballistic missile defense in the maritime domain.
Bad Ideas in National Security
December 2017
Defense360’s Bad Ideas in National Security series features short articles from our scholars on recently considered and not too obvious bad ideas in the defense and foreign policy space. Contributors for this series include Todd Harrison, Eric Jacobson, Andrew Metrick, Kathleen Hicks, Will Caplan, John Cole, Thomas Ulmer, Mark Cancian, Andrew Hunter, Alice Hunt Friend, Rebecca Hersman, Bert Thompson, Gabriel Coll, Anthony Bell, Samantha Cohen, Thomas Roberts, Gregory Sanders, and Tommy Ross.
More from Defense360
READ "Analysis of the FY 2018 Defense Budget" by Todd Harrison and Seamus Daniels.
Publications
READ "Why We Should Be Worried about a War in Space" by Thomas Roberts, The Atlantic.
READ "After a Spate of Accidents, Does the U.S. Navy Face a Readiness Crisis?" by John Schaus and Seamus Daniels
READ "Impact of Sequestration and the Drawdown on the Different Sectors of the Industrial Base" by Andrew Hunter, Gregory Sanders, and Rhys McCormick
READ "Back to the Moon? Understanding Trump's Space Policy Directive 1" by Todd Harrison and Kaitlyn Johnson
READ "U.S. Strategy in Asia: Mixing Economic Nationalism with Security Internationalism" by Zack Cooper, Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific.
READ "Dissecting the Big Missile Defense Plus-Ups" by Tom Karako and Wes Rumbaugh, CSIS.
READ "Redouble Our Whole Of Government Efforts To Fix Perfect Storm Of Strategy Goobledygook!" by Mark Cancian and Matthew Cancian, Breaking Defense.
READ "Charting Nuclear Security Progress in South Asia" by Sharon Squassoni, CSIS.
READ "Operational Security, Accountability, and Civilian Casualties" by Melissa Dalton and Joseph Federici, CSIS.
Multimedia
WATCH - Sharon Squassoni: "US, Japan and South Korea conduct military drills" on CGTN.
LISTEN - Beverly Kirk: "HER Education HER Right – Promoting Girls Education Globally" on the Smart Women, Smart Power podcast.
WATCH - Tom Karako: "Defense News Weekly December 10, 2017" on Defense News.
LISTEN - Tom Karako and Todd Harrison: "How to Counter a North Korean Missile" on CSIS.
WATCH - Ian Williams: "North Korea's 'Mars-15' Launches to Deploy ICBM" on VOA Korea.
LISTEN - Todd Harrison: "Business Report [December 5, 2017]" on Defense and Aerospace Report.
Upcoming Events
The Fourteen Points: World War One and Woodrow Wilson’s Legacy 100 Years Later
January 8, 2018
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
A Discussion with Dr. Ernest J. Moniz
January 11, 2018
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
In Case You Missed It
CORDS at 50: A Model of Civil-Military Collaboration?
December 13, 2017
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
U.S. - Korea Defense Acquisition and Security Cooperation
December 11, 2017
9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Winning the Third World: The Sino-American Rivalry
December 4, 2017
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
CSIS Headquarters, 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Media Highlights
“If they can hit Europe, they can hit the United States. We are the more likely target.” - Ian Williams in euronews on December 4, 2017.
"If you look at their testing, one interceptor versus one target, they intercepted 55-56 percent of the time" - Ian Williams in The Washington Examiner on December 4, 2017.
"Like Japan (in World War II), it resents the United States for imposing conditions that have undermined its prosperity and military strength." - Mark Moyar in The Jackson Sun on December 6, 2017.
"So now the Navy wants to grow to 355 ships, that puts the Navy roughly at the level it was in FY-97, and the question is: is that affordable?" - Todd Harrison in DefenseNews on December 7, 2017
"If the Air Force doesn’t get the increase it requested, space programs will suffer." - Todd Harrison in SpaceNews on December 7, 2017
The United States "has to be ready if the treaty goes away, and doing research and development creates leverage if there are a new round of talks." - Tom Karako in Foreign Policy on December 8, 2017
"Companies that aren't involved in selling to the government versus those that are, that may create a relative disadvantage." - Andrew Hunter in Inside Defense on December 8, 2017
"The number of prime vendors for the Defense Department dropped by almost 20 percent due to automatic spending cuts from fiscal 2011 to 2015." - Andrew Hunter, Gregory Sanders, and Rhys McCormick referenced in Politico's Morning Defense on December 15, 2017
"Unless the president is able to pull a rabbit out of his hat and get Congress to significantly raise or eliminate the budget caps, I don't think a significant increase in the size of the military is likely to happen." - Todd Harrison in NPR on December 18, 2017