What's New
Experts Release U.S. Security FY08 Budget Report Card
Is the Bush administration "making the grades" on national security spending? In anticipation of the release of the defense budget request on Feb. 5, 2007, four security and defense policy experts will offer an insider's look at the politics behind the dollars. The experts will release a report card grading the Bush administration on their handling of key national security and budget issues, expecting that the new budget will place little emphasis on much needed military reform, budget restraint, or balanced security.
Event Details:
When: Feb. 1, 2007, 9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Where: National Press Club, 529 14th St, NW, 13th Floor, Murrow Room.
Click here for more details
Five Years Later: SPWG/Mainstream Media Project Initiative
Analysts from SPWG member groups — as well as other military and security policy experts — will be conducting radio interviews in the month of September as part of an effort to generate public discourse around the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the upcoming elections. The primary focus is whether our security policies and spending choices are making us more or less secure. Click here to learn more
The Near Enemy and the Far: The Long War, China, and the 2006 US Quadrennial Defense Review
"The Near Enemy and the Far: The Long War, China, and the 2006 US Quadrennial Defense Review" by Carl Conetta, Co-Director of the Project on Defense Alternatives, forthcoming in the Fall, 2006 edition of the World Policy Journal. The article provides a thorough analysis of the 2006 QDR and why it sets America and its armed forces on a high-risk and costly road.
National Priorities Project; New Cost of War/Trade-Off data
The National Priorities Project has recently added information to the NPP Database Trade-Offs page for every congressional district. Find out how much the Iraq War is costing taxpayers in your district and what that money could afford if spent on local priorities. You can also find out what your congressional district's share would be if the tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% were instead distributed to local services by clicking here. Also, the Local Cost of the Iraq War page has been updated with new cities and counties and a handy map to navigate between states. Click here to view.
U.S. Military Assistance to Israel: U.S. Aid, Companies Fuel Israeli Military
The Arms Trade Resource Center has published a report — U.S. Military Assistance to Israel: U.S. Aid, Companies Fuel Israeli Military. Produced prior to the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, the report examines the U.S. role in fueling conflict in the region. Click here to access the report.
New From Straus Military Reform Project: Pork, Military Balance in the Middle East
The Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information has two new releases.
Winslow Wheeler, Co-Director has published another segment in a series on congressional pork and what to do about it. Published by the Independent Institute, click here to view Pork Process Tutorial.
SMRP Project Advisor Colonel Chet Richards has published a new commentary, Crossroads at the Litani examining the question of whether Hezbollah's strategic victory against the Israel Defense Forces in Lebanon means the military balance in the Middle East has been inalterably changed? Click here to view the full commentary.
Tobin Project: Leading Scholars/National Security Compendium
Cindy Williams and Barry Posen of the MIT Security Studies Program have recently contributed articles to a new National Security compendium organized by The Tobin Project which brings together leading academics and policy makers to develop new ideas that will strengthen America. Click here to view articles from eleven leading national security scholars.