Publications
"Nobody does defense policy better than CSBA. Their work on strategic and budgetary topics manages to combine first-rate quality and in-depth research with timeliness and accessibility—which is why so many professionals consider their products indispensable." – Gideon Rose, Editor of Foreign Affairs, 2010-2021
Seven Areas To Watch In The FY17 Defense Budget
President Obama’s last budget, to be released February 9th, is his last chance to put his administration’s stamp on the nation’s defense spending.
The Cost of U.S. Nuclear Forces: From BCA to Bow Wave and Beyond
The Cost of U.S. Nuclear Forces provides an accounting of what U.S. nuclear forces cost and how much could potentially be saved by cutting those forces.
Are U.S. Nuclear Forces Unaffordable?
While costs are projected to grow over the next decade due to a "bow wave" of nuclear modernization programs, Harrison concludes that the search for savings in nuclear forces continues to be a "hunt for small potatoes."
Alternative Budgets and Strategic Choices
Regardless of the budget level Congress ultimately sets for defense, choosing where to invest or divest should be informed by the external security challenges we face and the choices we make about strategy. In this regard, likely future operating environments may serve as a useful lens for evaluating programs. In particular, forces and capabilities most viable to project power in contested environments may represent areas for preserving or expanding, while those that have been designed for relatively benign operating environments may be targets for divestiture.
Joint Think Tank Strategic Choices Exercise
What our exercise helps illuminate—and what my colleagues will speak to in their testimony—are the core capabilities the military must protect, and, in some cases, increase investments in regardless of the budgetary constraints imposed.
Final Report of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) National Defense Panel
On December 2, 2014, Ambassador Edelman, Distinguished Fellow at CSBA, testified before the House Armed Services Committee on the final report of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) National