What kind of military will the nation need in the future? —and at what cost?
In this defense strategy and budget book—the author's fourth and the latest in a long series dating back decades at Brookings—Michael O'Hanlon argues that America's large defense budget cannot realistically be pared in the years ahead. But given the extreme demands of the Iraq mission, particularly on the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, he suggests how reductions in various weapons modernization programs and other economies might free up enough funds to add at least 40,000 more ground troops to today's military. He also reviews the military lessons of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bush administration's new overseas basing plan, and the arguments for and against a draft.
O'Hanlon also addresses the important question of how the United States might encourage and help other countries to share more of the global military burden in areas such as Africa. Finally, he sketches several possible new conflict scenarios that could occupy the American military—or at least its force planners—in the years and decades ahead.