Preparing for the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review

March 19, 2013

Every four years, the secretary of defense is required by Title 10 of the United States Code to undertake a review of U.S. defense strategy, force structure, budget plans, and associated policies in what is known as the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). As this process begins for the 2014 QDR, defense planners will need to consider the prioritization of U.S. defense objectives, the security environment in which decisions about U.S. defense strategy and force structure will be made, and the military capabilities and capacities (and ways of employing them) that could meet the demands of this environment.

To facilitate this process, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), with support from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, hosted a one-day conference on January 25, 2013, that convened a diverse group of expert panelists and participants. This conference, Preparing for the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, included an opening panel that identified lessons learned from past QDRs and from the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance (DSG) and three subsequent panels that highlighted considerations for the 2014 QDR, including security, fiscal, and strategic considerations. In addition, Stephen J. Hadley drew upon his experience as both former national security adviser and cochair (with former secretary of defense William Perry) of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel to deliver the keynote address (see Appendix A for agenda and Appendix B for biographies of panelists and keynote speaker).