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Resourcing the AirSea Battle Concept
China’s rapidly improving military capability and its increasingly aggressive effort to keep U.S. military forces out of striking range are raising concerns about America’s future ability to protect its vital interest and its allies in Northeast Asia.
In the News
Military Personnel, Retirees Could Face Cuts
President Obama announced earlier this year the need for about $400 billion in military-related budget cuts over the next decade.
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Gates Seeks Big Changes to Military Pay, Pensions
In his waning days as secretary of defense, Robert Gates is proposing historic changes to what he calls a "rigid, one-size-fits-all approach" to military pay and retirement benefits/.../
Press Releases
CSBA Releases New Report on the Maturation of the Precision-Strike Regime
Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments is pleased to release The Maturing Revolution in Military Affairs. The report, authored by Center Senior Fellow Barry Watts, considers the maturation of the precision-strike regime and five of the most consequential fundamental changes in the conduct of war by 2040-2050.
In the News
As IEDs Multiplied In Afghanistan, Detection Rates Improved
The surge of troops sent to Afghanistan encountered soaring numbers of bombs hidden in paths and roads over the last year — and a corresponding jump in casualties. But as insurgents increased their use of these simple and inexpensive homemade weapons, international forces patrolling on foot became far better at finding them, the latest Pentagon figures show. The makeshift bombs, which the military calls improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, cause most of the injuries and deaths of international forces in Afghanistan/.../ “There is an ever-present, constantly evolving competition between those who make and emplace IEDs and those who must find and neutralize them. As one side develops a technique, the other side accounts for it and modifies its approach to regain the upper hand,” said Dakota Wood, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and a retired Marine lieutenant colonel. For instance, to stump metal detectors, insurgents make bombs with little or no metal.
Analysis
Fool Me Twice: How the United States Lost Lebanon—Again
For the second time in three decades, a substantial American investment of time, money, and effort to strengthen the Lebanese government and support its fledgling democracy has come to very little. Hezbollah, Tehran, and Damascus now dominate the country’s intractable domestic politics. US diplomacy is left powerless, wondering how to make the best of an increasingly untenable situation in the Levant.