Holding the Line: US Defense Alternatives for the 21st Century (Belfer Center Studies in International Security) - Hardcover

Inhaltsangabe

Since the end of the Cold War, the US military has reduced its combat forces by 40percent, closed about 20 percent of its bases, and withdrawn from many overseas posts. Even afterthese changes, the US military is by far the strongest in the world, with huge advantages intraining, equipment, and technology. Despite cutting its annual spending by about 30 percent, theUnited States spends more than the countries with the six next-largest military budgetscombined.Heated debates continue to rage over US military spending. In the late 1990s, manycommentators claimed that spending was too low, and the defense budget began to increase for thefirst time since the mid-1980s. Others argued that the United States had taken on too many militarymissions -- including frequent humanitarian interventions or peacekeeping operations -- and neededto scale back these deployments.Holding the Line presents objective and detailed assessments of theUS defense budget and America's military strategy. Its contributors conclude that the United Statesmust reshape its military to face the real challenges of the coming decades. They call for smallerUS forces with more modern weapons, sensors, avionics, and communications systems. They offerrecommendations that would enable the US military to transform its forces and make them moreeffective, while holding the line on defense budget increases.

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