“Like the European powers at the start of World War I, we could find ourselves tremendously unprepared,” said Tom Mahnken, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. 

Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken and LGEN Koichiro Bansho (JGSDF Ret.) discuss Japan’s efforts to rebalance its force posture at the Stimson Center.

Dr. Tom Mahnken, President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments joined Lieutenant General Joe Anderson, Major General William C. Hix, The Honorable Katharina G. McFarland, and Dr. Bradford Tousley, for a discussion of the changing character of war at the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2016 Annual Meeting.

But Thomas Mahnken, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said he hopes Obama does not choose to adopt a "no first use" policy.

“This is likely to become more the norm in an era with constrained budgets,” Tom Mahnken, president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, told Bloomberg BNA. “It is laudable, but can be a challenging thing to do.”Mahnken noted two instances in which it would have been nearly impossible to predict the O&S costs of a particular system: the B-52 and B-1 bombers.

Tom Mahnken, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington think tank, praised Carter's emphasis on developing partnerships. "Secretary Carter was right to emphasize multilateral approaches in the Asia-Pacific region.